Happy Thanksgiving!

Six hours of cooking followed by 15 minutes of chowing down.  Or maybe that's just Thanksgiving dinner with my family.  I am happy to be running in the "Turkey Day 5K."  The idea is that you burn off calories, and then replace them by triple later on when you eat.  In the spirit of the meal, I came up with two possible scenarios- figure out which one's going to leave you awesomely content vs. crap-tacularly stuffed.

Meal 1:
-1/2 cup homemade green bean hotdish
Mix 4 cups fresh/frozen green beans with 1 can fat-free cream of mushroom soup.  Slice and broil a raw onion until deeply browned.  Bake in a casserole dish until heated through.
-1/2 cup fresh cranberry sauce
Stir 1 bag fresh cranberries with 2/3 cup sugar and 1 cup OJ.  Heat to slow boil and cook until thickened.
-1/2 cup stuffing
Um, just read the instructions on the box of Stove Top.  Bonus points if you add chopped onions, celery, carrots, etc (the more veggies to bulk it up, the fewer the calories per serving).  Bonus points if you find whole wheat stuffing.
-1 cup sneaky mashed potatoes
Scrub some red potatoes (or potato of your choice), cut into quarters, and add to large stockpot of boiling water.  Boil for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile cut up a head of cauliflower into 3" chunks.  Add to boiling potatoes.  Cook both until tender.  Drain.  Add 4 oz Neufchatel cheese (or ff cream cheese) 1/3 cup skim milk.  Smush together with a potato masher (or use a stand mixer for creamier texture).  Optional- add chives or garlic.  Again, more veggies = lower cals per serving.
-4 oz roasted white meat turkey
Be sure to remove that baggie of guts before baking!
-1/2 cup pumpkin pie pudding (see earlier post for recipe)
It's our family's m.o. to use Reddi-Whip on most all desserts.  God forbid we use Cool-Whip.  Mmm...aerosol cream.
 

Dum-da-dum!  Calorie total: 700 calories.  Splurge?  Yes.  Insane?  I will use the lovely dietitian phrase "it's okay in moderation!"

Contrast that with meal #2:
-1" slice Ocean Spray jelly cranberry sauce
I'll admit that this was my absolute favorite part of the meal as a kid.  My brother and I would fight over who got to dump the can out.  It makes such a great 'thup-thup-thup' noise as it wiggles out of the can's ridges.  But sound effects aside, the homemade version has a richer texture, and far less sugar.
-1/2 cup green bean hotdish
We're talking the full-fat mushroom soup plus gobs of processed crunchy fried onion bits.  Pass the...fat?
-1/2 cup stuffing
Soooo...no changes here really. 
-1 cup mashed potatoes
Prepared with 2% milk and butter adds a lot of unnecessary fat.
-4 oz dark meat turkey with skin
Bleh- skin?  Really?  I get that it's acceptable to eat poultry skin, but I can't get over the idea that it is fatty epidermis.  
-Generic pumpkin pie
Most everyone I knows just relies on Cub or Baker's Square, because pie is difficult to get right.  So why bother?  Make the pudding version 'cause it's all the pumpkin-y custard-y filling that's the best part anyway.

Whomp whomp!  Meal #2 calorie total: 1,130.  To put this in perspective, you'd have to go walk 11 miles to burn that off.  Or spend 3 straight hours jumping rope.  Or spend 12 hours vacuuming your home (should this appeal to you, let me know.  We can arrange something).

With that said, enjoy your meal!  Savor the food, package up the leftovers, and feel good about your choices!