Next month I will be attempting to roast a giant bird and serve what in my head will be a very elegant cornucopia of food to eight hungry people. In preparation for that eventual dining delight, I decided to have a practice dinner with a couple friends.

Playing Suzie-Homemaker in my kitchen!

I have never cooked for more people than Tyler and myself, and I have never had more than just a couple sides. But here is what I made:

Roast Chicken
This was your standard 7 lb roasting chicken from the super market. I don’t do anything crazy to it, besides rub olive oil, garlic salt and pepper into the skin, and make 4 cuts in the skin into which I stuff a knob of butter and a sprig of fresh rosemary. Hot stuffing from the box went into the chicken, and the giblets were turned into gravy.

Creamed Spinach
I love all things skinnytaste, and it is my absolute go-to site for healthy/lightened up recipes that don’t taste like cardboard! Besides the fact that I think I added a little too much nutmeg, this recipe turned out delish! I LOVE spinach!

Green Bean Casserole
This one is a classic Thanksgiving side dish and thankfully oh-so-easy to get ready. After I put the chicken in I got this whipped up and stuck it in the oven at the last minute. I made mine the cheater’s way, using pre-packaged cream of mushroom soup, canned french onions, and cut green beans.

Mashed Potatoes (and gravy)
This is the only dish I gave to the husband to work on. Not only am I somewhat sad to watch with a peeling knife, but it takes a decent amount of strength to mash an entire bag of potatoes! I think I could have sufficed with half the bag for our small dinner party, but it’s good to know he can be useful when the big day comes around and get those muscles moving!

I also made broccoli as a healthier side dish option. All in all I think it turned out to be a good spread of food that touched on a variety of food. While a turkey is obviously a bit bigger than a chicken I think I am confident in not poisoning anyone on Thanksgiving, as well as adding a couple more side dishes (sauteed brussel sprouts, yeast roles, and sweet potato casserole will likely make the menu) without going overboard.

I love Thanksgiving, and am so excited! Anyone else have big plans for Turkey Day?