1. If you can find some turkey cutlets (turkey thighs would probably work, too), brown them in a little fat in small fry pan (with lid) and add a can of Cream of Chicken Soup + some milk to thin it plus poultry spice (this will become gravy - jarred turkey gravy could also be used). Cook covered over low-med. heat until turkey is cooked through (45-60 minutes - depending on thickness of the meat - check meat with a thermometer for doneness).

2. Stove-Top Stuffing and canned sweet potatoes or cooked or instant white potatoes

3. Pumpkin Pudding
(no cooking)
1 can (15-oz.) canned pumpkin
1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice
1-1/2 c. milk
3.5-oz. package instant vanilla pudding (you can use sugar-free, if you'd like)

Mix pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice together in a bowl with a wooden spoon or whisk. Slowly stir in the milk. Mix well. Add the instant pudding mix and stir slowly for about one minute until it thickens. At this point you can pour it into individual servings or leave it in the bowl. Refrigerate.
[If you happen to have some gingersnap cookies on hand, serve them whole or crumbled on the top of the pudding.]

-Grainlady

Do you normally make a traditional Thanksgiving? Family favorites?
Nearly the entire meal is prep ahead stuff. Often a day ahead. I always make my fresh cranberry the day before. Nice mashed potatoes can be made that morning, re-heated in the micro. Any veggie also. I would just buy a pie.
A grocery deli counter or sandwich shop could slice their turkey, normally thin for a sandwich, but you could request thick slices to heat in a pan with gravy.
We also prep our stuffing the night before. It has mushrooms and lamb sausage chilled separate from the other ingredients and mixed together that morning. With some butter it could crisp a bit on your burner as all the ingredients are already cooked.
So that is re-heating two things in the micro, a pan sear 1/2 hour stove-top dressing, 15 min warming turkey w/ gravy. Cranberry is fine room temp. While eating, put the pie, out of its tin, in a pan with a lid and a bit of butter on low heat. It will warm nice and slow.
(can you tell i don't have an oven at the cabin?) But we do have a grill. I use the grill as my oven. Bake everything off to the side of the coals....even if it is snowing we use the grill.

A camping butane stove is about $20.00

You can get various electric stove, toaster, Foreman grill from Goodwill stores for less than $5.00, or a small Hibachi.

May be that will give you a little more flexibility.

dcarch

I had to look for the recipes, but I recently watched Rachael Ray on a video make "Thanksgiving 365" and it could be adapted to meet your needs and uses ground turkey.

I purchased several packages of discounted ground turkey this week, and I made the meat base for this dinner and divided it in freezer containers for smaller amounts for 2-people - because the recipe could easily feed 6-8 people.

The "Turkey Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie" has all the flavors of Thanksgiving. It was topped with mashed sweet potatoes and cheddar cheese on the top of them, and put in the oven long enough to melt the cheese. Personally, I'm leaving the cheese off the top, and then you won't need an oven - although cheese would melt on hot sweet potatoes if you put the lid on the pan or tented it with foil for a few minutes.

You could also heat canned sweet potatoes and mash them for this recipe, and there are also boxes of instant sweet potatoes (add butter and hot water), that you could use instead of cooking sweet potatoes.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Food Network

Those are great ideas - particularly to add another burner. I get stupid under stress sometimes. I could look for a thrift store toaster oven too.

Y'all are so clever. I love the pumpkin pudding, too.

Do you have a slow cooker, or can borrow one? I have made a recipe similar to this one, I think I used more broth and made my own gravy. I tend to use chicken breasts. Should work fine in a covered casserole dish on a grill too. especially if you used turkey cutlets.

8 oz. pkg. herb-seasoned stuffing mix (Pepperidge Farm)
1 onion chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
1 (3 pound) frozen boneless turkey breast, thawed
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 pkg. turkey gravy mix

Coat inside of 4 quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Add stuffing mix, onion, celery, and cranberries. Combine broth and melted butter. Pour over stuffing, and stir gently.Place turkey in slow cooker on top of stuffing. Combine salt, pepper and thyme; sprinkle over turkey. Cover and cook on HIGH 1 hour. Reduce to LOW, and cook 5 to 6 hours or until meat thermometer inserted in turkey registers 170ð.Remove turkey to serving platter. Stir stuffing gently; cover and let stand 3 - 5 minutes.Prepare gravy. Spoon stuffing around turkey.

I've copied this turkey crepe from a Disneyland before. Everything can be made ahead and reheated/assembled and you don't have to worry about the turkey looking nice.

Here is a link that might be useful: Skip to about 20:30

Most dishes can be cooked ahead and then reheated in the microwave, so given enough lead time, one burner can produce the same dinner as six burners.

Not having an oven is limiting, I would get a toaster oven. Either a $10 Goodwill one as dcarch says, or a fancy new one. They are pretty useful, especially when cooking just for two: no waiting for pre-heating, no warming up the oven, adds a second oven for smaller dishes. Everyone seems to love their Breville Smart Ovens, I don't have one :-(

What is going on with your range/kitchen? I have not been in Kitchens so have mssed the story.

I cook turkey breasts in my Crock Pot (slow cooker) and they are moist and delicious.

I also always use the slow cooker for my stuffing/dressing on holidays and it, too, is delicious. The recipe is in my slow cooker recipe book and is the same or close to Pioneer Ladies recipe.

This post was edited by lizbeth-gardener on Fri, Nov 22, 13 at 15:13

@johnlilu 20 weeks of hell and a range that the maker is refunding. It's over in appliances. Now I have to pick a new choice and just no way it would be here for Turkey Day. Plus I got filet tastes on a burger budget.

Crockpotting isn't something I had thought about, but yes, I do have one of those - that sounds like it would work well. Making things like the potatoes a day ahead and reheating never occurred to me either.

Thanks for the ideas, everyone.

Bmore - there's threads for make-ahead mashed potatoes here if you search. I can vouch for prairie lady's. They reheat well.

Could you purchase a small Nesco Roaster for the turkey? Then you would have it for future holidays as there is never enough burners on a holiday.

Justsaying, you beat me to it. I use the Nesco roaster for everything from turkey with stuffing to ham dinners to baked potatoes to brownies.

I know you can get one of the big ones right now at Walmart for $29.00, someone here got one, I think it was an Oster brand. It's basically an oven, you could get a small turkey, a pan of stuffing and the ubiquitous green bean casserole all in a big one. I have a 6 quart that doesn't hold as much as the big ones but I use it all the time, love the thing.

I've seen no-bake pumpkin cheesecake recipes and my kids love that peanut butter pie with the cream cheese and whipped topping. My youngest, Ashley, has asked for "Death by Chocolate" this year, it's just a layer of baked and crumbled brownies topped with a layer of chocolate pudding, a layer of whipped topping and a layer of candy bars of your choice. Repeat ingredients until you run out. It actually looks kind of pretty in goblets or a clear bowl and you could easily use pumpkin bread, butterscotch pudding and candied walnuts or any other combination that you would prefer.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Annie

There's this. Thanksgiving dinner in a crockpot.

Hope it all works out for you

Happy Thanksgiving

Here is a link that might be useful: Recipes for Thanksgiving in a crockpot

This post was edited by momj47 on Sun, Nov 24, 13 at 11:45

How about braising the turkey?

I don't think I have a big enough pan to braise a turkey.

Those nesco-style ovens work? Cause that would be much better than what I just did - baby meat loaves in a wok "steam oven."

bmorepanic, yes, the Nesco roasters work. They are essentially an oven, although you lose a lot of heat when you remove the lid.

I've used mine to bake brownies and it makes the best baked potatoes I've ever had. I've done both a turkey and a ham at the same time in the big one, and chickens roast wonderfully in the 6 quart. I've made quick breads, like pumpkin and banana in the Nesco, and used it to do side dishes like sweet potatoes. I've never tried yeast breads because it doesn't brown as well as I would like, and so I'm not optimistic about bread or dinner rolls or biscuits. Cornbread is good, though.

Just put your food into a pan and put it into the Nesco, just like you would the oven.

Let's see, what else? I've done baked beans, scalloped potatoes, sloppy joes, pulled pork, apple butter, all in the Nesco roaster.

Annie

Probably if it were just my husband and me, I'd cook stuff up using the one burner and whatever else you have and just fill a plate up and microwave it come meal time.

Your home page says you are in the Baltimore area. You could get carry-out from Bob Evans or any number of other local restaurants.

I cook for one and do not have a real kitchen yet. However a toaster oven and a induction hot plate is enough 90% of the time. My current toaster oven has a basic rotisserie set up. Nice for a chicken or cornish game hens. My mom had a few years of having Tgiving for two and cornish hens became a tradition for them.

I will go in a different direction and say do something completely different. I'm know for saying to my family traditions are meant to be broken. In our area we have a run/walk for the YMCA on Thanksgiving that is very popular. Perhaps think out of the box and do some different things and eat different foods.

There was an article in our local paper yesterday about "Trash Can Turkey" and it is apparently legitimate. I Googled and got tons of hits. I also looked at the images to see just what it looks like. It is done outdoors and looks fairly simple and seemingly gets rave reviews.
Here's one link.
http://www.food.com/recipe/trash-can-turkey-69818

Who knew?

Just wanted to pop back and thank everyone for all the ideas - including the alternatives to a traditional dinner.

One of our best holiday dinners, a few years ago, can't remember if it was TG or Christmas, was when, at the last minute our dinner plans had to be cancelled.

We went to McCormick and Schmick and had a wonderful dinner, on the waterfront, with a fire in their fireplace, quiet music. We figured out that it costs about as much to assemble all the ingredients and prepare a meal as it did to go out and eat.

This was a pleasant, relaxed day, no messy kitchen, no cleanup, and we ate everything, at a leisurely pace.

We dressed up a bit, no one was frazzled and tired. I recommend it for a lovely change of pace at the holidays.