Our traditional family stuffing with mushrooms, celery and onions

For as long as I can remember we have been making this stuffing for Thanksgiving. It has been in my Dad’s side of the family for many generations. We would get up early every Thanksgiving morning and start to tear up the bread. That was always my job when I was little. As I got a little older I was able to add all the spices and there are a lot of spices in this dish. I would love to taste the stuffing at each stage. First you have to taste the bread once the spices have been sprinkled on. You really want to be able to taste each spice on each piece. Once the bread itself tasted right, the butter and sautéed vegetables would be poured in. We would mix again and taste again, and again and again. The stuffing would go into the refrigerator to wait to be cooked. Meanwhile I would find any excuses go into the refrigerator and grab a few more nibbles. Finally the egg would be mixed in. I think my family purposefully left out the egg until the last-minute because they knew we would all snack on the stuffing.

Now we get to make this stuffing with my daughter. She started with tearing up bread and I let her put in the spices for the stuffing I made for these pictures. She was very proud that she was allowed to put in the spices. She tasted each time and decided if she needed to add more spices. It was, of course, the best stuffing ever!

My little one making stuffing 2 years ago.

There wasn’t much I needed to do to make this stuffing little more healthy. I switched out white bread for a whole wheat bread with grains. I used light butter in place of regular unsalted butter and egg substitute. We always had a lot of mushrooms, onions and celery in the stuffing. I always wondered where my great, great-grandmother got the idea of using that trio. I had heard once on a cooking show you could tell someone’s cultural heritage from the trio of vegetables they use as a base to their dishes. I haven’t been able to figure out where mushrooms, onions and celery would be from.

There is a large amount of thyme, poultry seasoning and sage in this dish. The addictive aroma always means Thanksgiving to me. My mouth starts to water just thinking about how good the house smells while the stuffing is baking. What Thanksgiving spices are traditional for your family?

The smell of Thanksgiving is wafting through the air while the stuffing bakes.

Mushroom Stuffing (Serves 16)

1 loaf whole wheat with whole grains bread
3 tbsp. light butter
2 cups finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cups finely chopped celery
8 oz sliced mushrooms
2 tbsp. dried sage
2 tbsp. dried thyme
2 tbsp. poultry seasoning
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 cup egg substitute

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Melt butter in a non stick skillet over medium heat.  Add onions, celery and mushrooms and sauté until tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Break up the bread into bite size pieces and place in a large bowl.
4. Add sage, thyme, poultry seasoning, salt and black pepper to the bread and mix well with your hands.
5. Add sautéed vegetables and any juice in the skillet to the bread.  Toss well to combine.
6. Add broth and egg substitute and mix well.
7. Place stuffing into an 8 x 8 inch oven proof dish.
8. Bake for 40 minutes.

Nutritional value per serving:

Calories 153    Fat 3 grams    Carbs 28 grams    Protein 7 grams

You can also see this recipe at many link parties listed on my Link Party Page.