Friendsgiving In The Forest (Healthy Mini Bundt Stuffing + Pomegranate Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad)

Happy Monday, friends!

This week is super special, because we have teamed up with Cari at Well-Made Heart to bring you the MOST EPIC Thanksgiving post! Welcome to Friendsgiving In The Forest!

We have tons of healthy Thanksgiving recipes (2 on each post!), DIY’s, table decor ideas, and so much more coming your way all week long! Check out the Jar Of Lemons Instagram (opens in a new tab), Facebook (opens in a new tab), and Twitter for the promo video and updates. We will also be posting photos every day on #FriendsgivingInTheForest, so be sure to follow along!

Today, we’re kicking it all of with a Healthy Mini Bundt Stuffing recipe and a Pomegranate Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad!

If you’re looking to style your Thanksgiving table in a non-traditional way, yet keep some of the traditional themes, and healthify the meal (but still keep it deliciously Thanksgiving), this post is for you! Our goal was to do something new and different. We invited our friends to the beautiful outdoors and enjoyed this delightful Thanksgiving meal among the sound of chirping birds, a fresh and chilled breeze blowing through the trees, leaves falling calmly all around us, and the sound of joy and laughter! We all agreed: There are many ways to do Thanksgiving right, but this was something else. Dreamy. Adventurous. Beautiful.

There’s nothing like gathering around a dreamy table and eating a delicious meal to appreciate the people you adore the most. I love that about Thanksgiving! But who said it has to be confined to Thanksgiving, anyway?? Create this table look and healthy meal ANY time of year to celebrate your friends and family!

Ok, let’s get to these recipes, shall we? The Healthy Mini Bundt Stuffing was a HUGE hit with our friends. I used Ezekiel Bread (opens in a new tab)  and a mini doughnut pan (opens in a new tab) to create these. This recipe is super easy and perfect for a unique twist on traditional Thanksgiving stuffing!

Healthy Mini Bundt Stuffing

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Celery (chopped)

1/2 White Onion

1 Tbsp Coconut Oil

6 Slices Ezekiel Bread (lightly toasted)

4 Egg Whites

1 Cup Vegetable Broth

1 Tbsp Sage

2 tsp Parsley

Salt/Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sauté the chopped celery and onion in the coconut oil over medium-high heat. In a large bowl, mix the vegetable broth and eggs. In a blender, lightly chop the toasted bread slices and add it in to the broth and egg mixture. Add in the vegetables, herbs, and salt/pepper. Pour the mixture into a mini doughnut pan and bake for about 40 minutes.

This recipe makes 8 servings (3 Mini Bundt’s each) at 93 calories a serving!

There was a big debate between my husband and I about whether my recipe should be called stuffing or dressing. Apparently, everyone in Texas calls it dressing…but for some reason I have always called it stuffing! What do you think??

Looking for something colorful and fresh to bring to the table? This Pomegranate Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad recipe is the BEST! In this case, I served it without a dressing. As in a salad dressing…..not stuffing dressing….which proves my point even MORE on why it should be called stuffing, not dressing! However, if you would like a dressing to go with it, the recipe from the Roasted Beets and Sweet Potato Quinoa Salad (opens in a new tab) post is perfect! Here’s the salad recipe:

Pomegranate Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

2 Small Butternut Squash

1 Cup Cooked Quinoa

3 Pomegranates

8 Cups Kale/Spinach Mixture

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Peel and cube the butternut squash, then bake for about 30 minutes (or until soft). While the squash roasts, cook the quinoa (according to directions) and extract the pomegranate seeds. Toss the squash, quinoa, and pomegranate seeds over the kale/spinach mixture and serve!

This salad serves 8 people and contains about 170 calories per serving.

Annnnnd…..we need to talk about this beautiful table for a second. I SO badly wanted to take it home with me! Not only was it lovely, but it was light and easy to move around. Perfect for an outdoor dinner! Cari made this herself and has the DIY on Well-Made Heart today!

Stay tuned for more Friendsgiving In The Forest recipes and DIY’s all week long!