Thanksgiving in a can?

My sisters are foodies and they make Thanksgiving. Nothing comes from a can. Quite honestly, we're not big canned food people. Other than diced tomatoes, tuna and beans (legumes) there's not much that comes from a can in my house.

Mashed potatos
gravy
noodles (homemade spetzel I think?)
pumpkin pie (using fresh pumpking)
cranberry sauce
roasted veggies
stuffing/dressing

Not all things are out of the can this year, but the casseroles are, green bean, and corn.

I never host Thanksgiving so I'm going to substitute Christmas dinner because I basically make the same meal.

The only thing that comes out of a can is the cranberry sauce (whole berry, not the plain jelly). I do make frozen corn but my other veggies are fresh. I hate canned veggies except for corn but I prefer frozen. Only fresh mashed potatoes; I can't stand instant. I don't make pumpkin pie because I don't like it, but if I did, the filling would probably come out of a can. Maybe some of my appetizers would use things from a can, like diced tomatoes or tuna.

I don't normally cook Thanksgiving dinner, my mom does. We have a lot of casseroles at our dinner, nothing (besides the cranberry sauce) comes straight out of the can but there are ingredients that she mixes in the casseroles that come out of a can. For instance, cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup are some examples.

I notice several PPs say they used canned diced tomatoes. That reminds me of an article someone posted recently about 7 foods experts won't eat and canned tomatoes is on the top of the list. Apparently the acidity of the tomatoes causes BPA to leach into the food! So it's one of the worst canned foods.

http://wakeup-world.com/2011/10/06/7-foods-experts-wont-eat/

BritnHouston_BZCL wrote:I don't normally cook Thanksgiving dinner, my mom does. We have a lot of casseroles at our dinner, nothing (besides the cranberry sauce) comes straight out of the can but there are ingredients that she mixes in the casseroles that come out of a can. For instance, cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup are some examples.

I notice several PPs say they used canned diced tomatoes. That reminds me of an article someone posted recently about 7 foods experts won't eat and canned tomatoes is on the top of the list. Apparently the acidity of the tomatoes causes BPA to leach into the food! So it's one of the worst canned foods.

http://wakeup-world.com/2011/10/06/7-foods-experts-wont-eat/

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Oh great! I used canned tomatoes a lot. Going to try and erase this from my memory

no canned foods. I do use some frozen things, corn, tomatoes

I guess I never thought to use frozen veggies instead. Will have to do that next year, since I already have all the ingredients. Thanks!

My grandmother hosts our TG dinner, and the only thing she uses canned is the cream of mushroom soup for the green bean casserole Yum! She makes everything from scratch or uses fresh/frozen.

Like some of the others mentioned, we rarely used canned foods. Black beans and tuna are the only things I can think of that we get from a can. Technically we are hosting Thanksgiving this year, but turkey, gravy, stuffing, and cheesecake are the only things I'm making...all from scratch. Oh, I will be preparing some frozen vegetables though. And stuff to pick on while the food cooks, but that consists of cheese and crackers, a veggie platter, and some chips.

Others will be bringing cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, apple and chocolate pies, etc. All made fresh.

Oh! Our whipped cream will come from a can. I think that's the only canned food for our Thanksgiving dinner.

I use canned cranberry sauce, Yams, cherry pie filling, and canned mushrooms for my stuffing. I know that I'm not the best cook, but the above list ^^^^is for multiple recipes.

My MIL will make GBC with canned green beans and slimy cream of slimy-ness soup.

The only things that come from a can, or are packaged, are the cranberry sauce (that no one eats), the pumpkin pie filling and the tomato sauce for the green beans. I will actually eat some green beans even though they will make me sick because they are sooooo good!

Everything else is fresh. Mom even cuts up the bread for the stuffing & we use homemade salad dressing. OH! Except the corn. We get the Trader Joes frozen white corn. YUMMY!!!!

Meloly wrote:
How much of thanksgiving dinner do you make from fresh non-canned (of boxed or jarred or packaged) ingredients?

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Almost all of it. The only thing that comes from cans is the green bean casserole.

When my family has Thanksgiving (October for us) nothing is canned. We make everything from scratch. Gravy, cranberry sauce, buns, bread for stuffing, pies and other desserts, turnip puff, carrots, peas, potatoes, even the pickled veggies (my mother makes them.)

I use canned goods in my day to day cooking as a shortcut, but when I have the time to dedicate to it, I always prefer fresh.

DanaNJ wrote:I never host Thanksgiving so I'm going to substitute Christmas dinner because I basically make the same meal.

The only thing that comes out of a can is the cranberry sauce (whole berry, not the plain jelly). I do make frozen corn but my other veggies are fresh. I hate canned veggies except for corn but I prefer frozen. Only fresh mashed potatoes; I can't stand instant. I don't make pumpkin pie because I don't like it, but if I did, the filling would probably come out of a can. Maybe some of my appetizers would use things from a can, like diced tomatoes or tuna.

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Word for word the exact same thing I would write. (and I don't really like pumpkin pie either - the look of it turns me off).

I can't think of anything we have other than the cranberry sauce that comes from a can. Maybe the green beans and the peas from the English pea casserole. Otherwise, everything is made mostly from scratch. Pecan pie, pumpkin pie (that might be canned pumpkin), dressing, mac n cheese, mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin cheesecake, sweet potatoes, glazed carrots, turkey and spiral sliced ham. Thanksgiving prep in our family usually starts the night before. It's crazy.

my.3.sons wrote: Thanksgiving prep in our family usually starts the night before. It's crazy.

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It does here too. Every family that joined up at MIL's house was cooking on Wed.