There are some things people prefer you don’t mess with. You don’t rearrange someone’s sock draw. You don’t add spices to someone else’s spaghetti sauce. And you don’t change the traditional Thanksgiving menu everyone is used to. Well, this year I plan to make some changes to our Thanksgiving menu. I hope I can do this successfully without picketing and rioting from my family members.

My plan is to turn many of our favorite dishes into healthier versions. I have become much better at substituting lifeless, void of nutrients ingredients with flavorful, healthy and nutrient dense alternatives. So I think with some help of some of my favorite healthy cooking bloggers and some of my own knowledge, everything will work successfully with happy faces and full tummies. Don’t get me wrong, even if my family hated my food they would still be very thankful for the meal. But, let’s just hope they don’t hate it.

A few weeks ago my husband and a few of our friends butchered our Thanksgiving turkeys and a few of our other chickens. I chose to butcher only one of the three of my Royal Palm toms. Since Royal Palm’s are not a large breed we ended up with a small bird for cooking. It’s just the right size though for the small group we will be having for dinner. I would say he’s probably around 12- 14 lbs.

I did have to compromise some with this meal planning so I wouldn’t call the entire menu healthy but it’s much healthier than last year. My oldest daughter loves ham, so even though it’s not a grassfed-nitrate-free ham, this is one compromise I was willing to make. A healthier version of the grocery store ham is far too expensive.

Thanksgiving Dinner Menu

Main Dishes

Homegrown Roast Turkey

Ham

Side Dishes

Mashed Potatoes

Green Bean Casserole

Sweet Yams

Dressing

Whole Wheat Bread Rolls

Sauces

Cranberry Sauce

Gravy

Desserts

Pumpkin Pie

Apple Pie

Vanilla Ice Cream

Drinks

Eggnog

Apple Cider

Iced Tea

I will be making the mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, yams, dressing and rolls from scratch. The green bean casserole will include homemade mushroom soup and homemade french fried onions. The cranberry sauce and gravy will also be from scratch, as well as the apple and pumpkin pies, apple cider, iced tea and possibly the eggnog. Another compromise I will probably allow is the pie crusts being made from white flour and I will be buying store bought ice cream.

I am hoping everyone will enjoy the healthier versions of their favorite meal. Next year I hope to make even more changes if everything goes well this year.

What does your Thanksgiving menu include? Have you made any healthy changes to this year’s holiday menu? Please share .

Have a Wonderfully Blessed Thanksgiving!