I’m not saying I regret last Thanksgiving…

But I feel that in retrospect I possibly (most certainly) made some bad choices. Any of you who are 21 and over know what I mean when I say you need to eat before you start consuming adult beverages. Only amateurs drink hard liquor on an empty stomach. Or girls who’d had a really long week and felt like they had every right to unwind and kick their heals up because they weren’t driving and like, what’s the worst that could happen at your parent’s house, right?

That got personal.

Anyway, usually I’m OK at limiting my intake of pure, 100 proof Vodka or at the very least having a snack, but last Thanksgiving neither of those things happened. In my defense there wasn’t a ton of “Liz approved” food available. I was a mess. And though I’m not placing the blame on anyone specific, my sister may or may not have had a hand in what went down.

“C’mon Lizzy. It’s a holiday” she said. “Isn’t it smooth?” she said.

Long story short –loud obnoxious karaoke, bouts of uncontrolled giddy laughter, lots of repetitious “I love you”- I’m bringing lots of snacks. No way will I be caught staring down the business end of witty shot glass without an ounce of (gluten free approved) food in my stomach.Nor will I hammer down a bottle of homemade hooch with my sister and sing karaoke until I pass out.

I still get queasy if old school Kelly Clarkson comes on the radio. So now that’s ruined.

These babies ⇑ are first on the list. My saviors. Flavorful, packed with nutrients, and shaped like one of my favorite guilty pleasures- The Gluten Free Donut. Doughnut? Do-nut. Never mind.

Butternut squash was my main choice because I had no pumpkin and, let’s be honest, pumpkins are kind of a pain to prepare. You can’t taste the difference so if you have pumpkin puree, by all means use it. They will be just as moist and cinnamon-ee as mine.

YOU DON’T NEED A FANCY DONUT PAN TO MAKE THESE!

Sorry for yelling, but it’s an important fact since that was the only thing keeping me from making donuts for all these years. All you need is a muffin tin and a shot glass with a really small opening. I guess if you had a teeny round cookie cutter or something it would work too. Really anything that is a tiny, round cylinder will do.

Bake them 3/4 of the way, remove from oven, plunge the shot glass into the heart of your “donut”, twist and remove. The suction should pull the guts right out and leave you with a donut shape. Finish baking and that’s it.

So while everyone is out on the biggest bar night of the year, I’ll be hammering down healthy donuts over booze in hopes of actually being able to enjoy my government mandated holiday pay. Or maybe I’ll do both, only in moderation this time. ∗Fingers crossed∗