Meatless Thanksgiving Dinner...

I'll admit that we did have salmon - because my friend Lynette was having a second Thanksgiving dinner tonight, and they were having turkey, so I was flexible, because my turkey breast is going in the crockpot tomorrow for a weekend of meals...

But I really wanted to make my mother's traditional vegetarian recipe for Nutloaf. Big Sis kindly sent me the recipe and I think I can easily share it since my mother allowed it to be printed in the Unitarian Universalist Church of Roanoke's cookbook (which is ancient, I think the Women's Group had it printed in the 1970s)

Here are the ingredients:

Just in the top right-hand corner you'll see the English walnuts...

My mom had an antique meat grinder (which is not in my possession and which had never been used on meat, as I understand it) that she used to grind the nuts in. I used my Cuisinart! Times change, and I'm all about shortcuts.

The only other adaptation I made was swapping out Egg Beaters for the 2 eggs (saved a bit of fat that way...)

Aren't these lovely little loaves? (don't worry, I'm giving the recipe at the end)

I said all thru preparation of the meal that I'd take a photo of our plates. By the time I remembered to get the camera? Our plates were clean. So you get photos of the leftovers:
And I goofed and didn't baste it with the butter mixture my mom used. So maybe that, or maybe not using real eggs, or maybe both, but the nutloaf didn't slice well. It did make a lovely hash mixture on the plate. It doesn't matter. The flavor was there, and it was delish!

I also baked two organic Honeycrisp apples with maple sugar candies, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger dusted over them - these were HUGE apples:
each one weighed about a pound! I said that if these were the apples Eve offered Adam? Well...that was too much temptation for ANYONE! They are fabulous either baked or eaten out of hand!

Finally I made Pumpkin Fluff:
It's a recipe shared at Weight Watchers, and since I had to add it to etools, I don't think there's any copywrite to violate, so I'll share it:

1 can of pumpkin (NOT pie filling)
1 large package of Sugar-Free Fat-Free Vanilla instant pudding
2 cups of skim milk
1 8 oz tup of Cool Whip Fat Free
your favorite pumpkin pie seasonings (I use Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger, and Cloves)

Make the pudding with the 2 cups of milk...I wisk it together and beat it well till it begins to set. At that point, I add the spices, then the pumpkin. The very last thing I do is fold in the Cool Whip and mix it well, but don't beat it, because you'll beat the "air" out of it and you want it fluffy. Chill and serve - one CUP is 1 WW point!
Who needs pumpkin pie?

Ok...here's the nutloaf recipe:
1 and 1/2 c. ground walnut meats
1 and 1/2 c. ground peanuts (Spanish or unsalted)
4 slices bread, broken up fine (or toast them lightly and pulse in food processor)
2 Tbs poultry seasoning
1 small onion, grated (oh heck I just tossed this in the Cuisinart, too)
2 eggs (or, as I said, I substitued the equivalent in Egg Beaters)

Mix dry ingredients; add eggs slightly beaten and the onion. Mold into two small loaves. Cover & bake in oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes - basting occasionally with 2 Tbs butter in one cup of boiling water. Do not bake too dry. (oh well, I missed this part of the directions!)

Slice the loaf & serve with tomato sauce:
1 large can of tomatoes thickened with flour
seasoned with 1 tsp grated onion salt and pepper

Mix the flour with a bit of water in a small lidded container and shake well so the flour isn't lumpy - I used hot tap water - then add that into the tomatoes. Heat and allow the sauce to thicken. I also used a can of tomatoes with Italian seasoning already in there, so I didn't add more onion or seasonings.

**by the way, I'm not affliated with Cuisinart, nor with any of the products shown in the photos, and am only a Lifetime member of Weight Watchers, not a paid representative - just for anyone who might wonder about it**

Have a terrific Thanksgiving Holiday!