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My Thanksgiving routine begins Thursday at about 9:00 AM with stuffing. Stuffing is the only thing that you have to make before the bird if you plan to stuff your turkey. Though we chose not to stuff our turkey this year, we still started early into stuffing because we use the stuffing to season the roasting pan before we begin roasting the turkey.

I always double the recipe to make enough stuffing for two people that love stuffing to eat for the weekend. I also like to get the bread I will use the weekend before thanksgiving. When I cube the bread I have found it easier to use almost stale bread rather than fresh bread because it is easier to separate and won’t just flatten together. I like to just get store brand white round top bread, but I’m sure it would be just as good with wheat or whole grain. I also like to mix the bread and herbs by hand. I have found it to be a fun thing to do with kids and as long as your hands are clean, it is a quick and easy way to mix. After it’s mixed, I usually have a bowl while I’m getting the bird started in the oven. Then I’ll refrigerate it until the turkey is done, then I cover it with foil and heat it in the oven with my mashed potatoes and rolls while I’m letting my bird set. I use salted butter with this recipe, and don’t add any other salt of pepper to the mix, though I will pour some gravy on it once it’s on my plate.

Morning Thanksgiving Stuffing

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What you’ll need

1 medium yellow onion (1 Cup)
1 bag of celery (1 1/2 Cup)
2 1/2 sticks of butter (1 1/4 Cup)
3/4 loaf of day old bread (4 1/2 Cups)
1 Tbsp Thyme
1 1/2 Tbsp Sage

• Start by washing and dicing up 1.5 cups of celery and 1 cup of diced onion
• Then in a dutch oven, add celery, onion, and 2.5 sticks of butter. Cook over medium heat until onion is translucent and butter is melted.
• Take a loaf of day old bread, and cube about 15 slices, or 3/4 of a loaf.
• place the bread into your roasting pan and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of thyme and 1.5 of sage evenly over top then mix.
• Once onion butter mix is done, pour over bread and herbs and stir to evenly coat.
• You should then transfer into 2 baking dishes and use one to stuff your bird, or refrigerate both until you want to warm it with your meal. You can eat the stuffing at this point. (I used an 11″x7″ pan, and a 9″x9″ pan)
• If you choose to refrigerate, remove from fridge about 30 minutes before the meal, cover with foil, and bake at whatever temp you are cooking at.

My family has used the recipe for years. It’s a slightly different take on Betty Crocker’s Stuffing, which can be found Here. They will also have the nutritional info and a few other twists you can make.

I also like to make celery and cream cheese in the morning after I finish chopping. Just add cream cheese instead of peanut butter and you have another healthy hearty snack.

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To see the other recipes I cooked this year, head back to my Thanksgiving: Overview post!