Thanksgiving Fare

Turkey 2009 turned out delicious!

Dressing 2009 wasn't too bad either LOL--this year I added cranberries.

Relaxin' after the Holiday

Well,Thanksgiving 2009 is a memory.I hope everyone of my blogger friends had a super time with family and friends.How was your holiday,I'd love to hear your memories.Our Thanksgiving went well.We had a quiet dinner with just me,hubby,his dad and Zachary.Zachary had a pb sandwich,a few marshmallows left over from the watergate salad (or as he called it green dessert).He ate almost a whole piece of pumpkin cheesecake and has asked for more as these days have gone by and he has eaten every bite of the ones he's been given.Seems he likes pumpkin! I did forget to bake the apple pie for the hubby,but it definately wasn't missed with all the other offerings at our table this year.They have already been zipper bagged and frozen for later or waiting for tomorrow when I will turn the turkey into a pot pie of sorts with a sweet potato topping.I meant to do that today but I met a friend for a play date/shopping outting with her kid and zachary and got kinda side tracked.And when I got home I definately was NOT in the mood to put together supper-the hubby and his dad will have to scrounge for themselves tonight.I'm having leftover pizza from yesterday and Zach's having peanut butter "burritos" with cheese chips. Now the countdown till my son's 7th birthday begins.Invites have been sent out so there's no turning back-there will be a party at our house on dec 12 or there will be devistation! I've gotten most of the things for the party already-just have to get the decorations for the cake and the food and we'll be in good shape.Gotta put together another game or two and put the goodie bags together.December is a busy time in our family.

Thanksgiving 'Eve

Today,I have the intent to clean out the fridge and make a couple of cheesecakes so I won't have to worry with having them ready and set by dinner time tomorrow.I might even go ahead and prep a few other things for tomorrow so I won't have to do that either-like chopping celery and making a few snacks.And hopefully this time NOT cut my finger like the last time I chopped a bunch of celery.I know I won't this time-I'm going to use the processor! Tomorrow's menu is: roast turkey,dressing,brussel sprouts with bacon and cranberries,homemade cranberry sauce/relish,mashed potatoes,sweet potato gratin,little christmas tree rolls I found in one of those food catalogs,pumpkin cheese cake and apple pie.I cheated this year and bought a ready to bake apple pie.The husband wants apple pie and I want the pumpkin cheesecake-and I wasn't up to making both from scratch.Now I just gotta figure out what to make for my picky eater son who has already told me he doesn't LIKE TURKEY (even though I don't think he's ever tried it).He will probably get a pbj sandwich and a roll.His diet lately has been dry frosted flakes and pbj sandwiches or burritos.So is the life of my almost 7 yr old picky eater. The husband has to work different hours today-he's working 11-7:30 so that has really thrown us off schedule today.I usually get my allergy shots on thursday but of course they will be closed tomorrow.They are open today and I really should get out and do it but I just don't have the gumption,so I will have an extra few days between shots and go monday.HAPPY THANKSGIVING,BLOG FRIENDS!

COOKIES ANYONE?

I guess I'm starting to feel better-I have the urge to bake cookies! Tonight I made dough for sugar cookies,magic peanut butter cookies,butterscotch chip cookies (improvised on a choc chip recipe)-I froze those three doughs so I can bake them later this season with Zachary.I pulled out the cookie cutters and will probably make up some more sugar cookie dough so we can make a ton of cookies and decorate them.I have another batch of the peanut butter granola bars in the oven for now! Gave the mixer a pretty good workout this evening,I'd say! Now if I can just get the kinks outta my back-it's killing me!

sewing---love to sew

I found some cute puppy paw print fleece fabric at the craft store yesterday and just had to get it.We're doing a puppy themed birthday party and used about a foot of the fabric to make puppy tails for a game of "pin the tail on the doggie".I had plans of making a doggie play costume for my son who loves to pretend he's a dog,but the son said he wanted a blanket.I made a simple square blanket and kinda folded the bottom under and made a little pocket so he could tuck his feet into the pocket and keep them extra toasty.I think it turned out fabulous for my ancient sewing machine.I want a new one sooo badly LOL-maybe hubby will take my hint! But after trying the blanket out,of course,my son changed his mind and said "I wanted the costume".So next payday I've gotta go back and hope they have more of this fabric. I made a pillow case for a friend's son's christmas gift and I have plans of finding a simple stocking pattern tonight and making a cute little stocking to go with it.He likes trains and I got some cute train fabric yesterday too and had some extra "transportation" theme fabric in my stash I hope to make the stocking out of.

healthy granola bars

I can NOT wait to cut into these-these are fresh from the oven and it smells SOOOO GOOD!

Thankyou Giada! I watched both her shows on foodnetwork today.The one in the morning had a "kidz kitchen" day.She made the granola bars herself.I had to improvise a little and use what I had on hand but let me tell you these look fabulous! You can find her recipe for PEANUT BUTTER GRANOLA BARS at this link.

**I had to use agave nectar instead of the honey---and instead of the mini chocolate chips I used butterscotch chips--and I had quick cooking oats instead of old fashioned oats--I think that's the only substitutions I made**

bottom of the pantry supper LOL

This turned out better than I had expected! I will definately have to try with shrimp and lobster-YUM!

Still haven't made it to the grocery store.The checks for hubby's dad's household account were late getting in and this kidney infection I've had since last week kept me from going grocery shopping-at least going to re-stock things.Tonight's supper was a grits casserole and cheese quesadillas.

I though I had a bag of quick cook grits in the pantry but didn't LOL so I had to improvise and use pre-made packets.It turned out really good to be a "scratching the bottom of the pantry dish".

Grits Casserole

4-5 packets of instant grits

handful of shredded cheddar

1cup+ of warm milk

pat or two of butter

handful of shredded italian cheeses

1-2 cups of "hashed" chicken sausage

1egg

Empty grits packets into medium sized bowl--add the butter-heat the milk until warm and pour into the grits-you want them kinda loose but not soupy--Whisk one egg until it is foamy-stir into the grits mixture--in processor chop the chicken sausage until they are the size "bites" you prefer--cook in skillet with a splash of olive oil--once they are heated through,pour as much of the chicken sausage into the grits as you desire---add the cheddar cheese and stir well---pour into a casserole dish and top with the italian cheeses and bake in oven till the cheese is nice and bubbly and melty.

**I also added in a couple of pork sausage patties I had left over from breakfast**

Cheesy quesadillas

few handfuls of shredded cheddar

smaller tortilla shells

few pats of butter

In skillet melt butter--place cheddar cheese onto one side of the tortilla,fold in half and cook in skillet until the tortilla is browned and cheese is melted-flipping to brown both sides---cut into wedges and enjoy

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Mashed Sweet Potatoes
agave nectar
2-3 large sweet potatoes
few pats of butter
brown sugar to taste
dash pumpkin pie spice
dash of cinnamon

peen and dice sweet potatoes---place into large pan and add dash of pumpkin pie spice and dash of cinnamon--boil until fork tender and mash--add a few pats of butter and a few tbs of agave nectar (or honey)--stir until well mixed

**I used agave nectar because it's supposed to be easily digested by diabetics--it is YUMMMMY too**

Thanksgiving Recipes----desserts-----

Pumpkin Cheesecake

8oz lowfat cream cheese (or like I use neufchatel)
1cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar (I use splenda blend)
dash of pumpkin pie spice (don't measure-I just dump in)
dash of cinnamon
8oz cool whip
ready made graham cracker pie crust

Mix well with blender--pour into graham cracker crust
and chill till firm

**this pie is a yummy tradition of my family**

cookies,cookies,cookies

First time I've made chocolate chip cookies from scratch in a long,long time.I usually get those ready bake freezer doughs from the store.But didn't have any on hand today and zach wanted chocolate chip cookies so I found an easy recipe and gave it a whirl.THESE CAME OUT WONDERFUL! I will definately be making from scratch again----SOON!

I use Paula Deen's "monster cookie" recipe for my oatmeal cookies-but I leave out all the candies and extras she adds and just do a basic oatmeal cookie using the base recipe.YUM!

SORRY-I don't feel like typing out the entire recipe as it's very very long so I'll provide you with a handy link--food network Chocolate Chip Cookie. Try these-you'll be glad you did!

**in chocolate chip recipe,I followed recipe except for the part where it says to roll the dough into little balls-I just used a small ice cream scoop instead**

cookies!

I must have a sweet tooth today (think my little visitor is on the way)....While I was making supper I made some "magic" peanut butter cookies.They were so good i could have eaten the whole batch! LITERALLY. LOL The original recipe called for smooshing them out and placing a hershey kiss in the middle but I was out of those and just decided to make the plain old peanut butter cookie. I've got a stick of butter getting soft and plan to make the MONSTER OATMEAL cookies I made a few weeks ago.Zachary informed me that he didn't like either of my cookie choices so I better make him a chocolate chip cookie too.So after I find an easy recipe for that I'm off to unload the dishwasher and bake more cookies! Hubby's going to be really happy when he gets home!

Magic Peanut Butter Cookies

1cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 cups splenda sugar blend
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350*F
Beat egg,peanut butter,and sugar until a dough forms.Shape into balls and bake on wax paper
about 1 inch apart.Bake for about 10 minutes.

no blogging lately

Sorry for the non-updates LOL--A few days after our halloween gala,the husband got to feeling really bad and went to the dr.Like most men,he has to be feeling REALLY BAD to do that.They tested for the dreaded FLU and it came back positive.He was on tamiflu but wasn't feeling any better and started to get a really hacky,chesty cough so he went back to the dr on thursday I think and they gave him another medicine.So he has been off work almost a week now.Thank goodness for sick time and sick pay.I've made a rough sketch of our THANKSGIVING menu.Working on a shopping list and gathering all recipes up so I can have them all in one place when I get ready to cook.I'll post that soon---PROMISE! Hope everyone has been doing well.What are your favorite Thanksgiving recipes or family traditions.I'd love to hear them.

halloween treat recipes

For these spooky halloween ghost cookies I took "nutter butter" cookies-you know the ones shaped like a peanut-and dipped them in almond bark.I placed them onto wax paper and let them harden in the freezer.Once they were set I decorated with different colored gels.They were GOOD! I had wanted to make cupcakes from scratch but the batter I tested 2 weeks ago didn't turn out the way I liked,so I decided to use a box mix.I used Devil's Food chocolate cake mix.I couldn't find my muffin pan so I picked up some disposable cupcake pans that came with giant cupcake cups.The recipe I wanted to try was called "HIDDEN TREASURE"cupcakes.The hidden treasure was a hershey kiss in the middle of the cupcake.Since they were so big,I used 2 kisses in the center of each cupcake.I frosted with chocolate frosting and misc halloween sprinkles.The cupcakes themselves were delish but the kisses in the middle dried out when baking.But this is another keeper recipe I will definately try again.

I also found some wafer thin gingerbread cookies that I made into sandwich cookies using strawberry yogurt spread (brummel and brown) in between two cookies.They were wonderful!

I didn't get to try a couple of other recipes I had planned on so I will either do them at thanksgiving or christmas parties.

made it through the party...........now Thanksgiving

SHEW.....made it through the halloween party yesterday-3guests didn't come cause the mom wasn't feeling good and one of her kids woke up running a temp....so there was TONS of candy and food leftover-I cut up the cake that wasn't even touched yesterday and stuck it in the freezer along with the leftover cupcakes-so next time I have a sweet attack I can just go pull a bite out of the freezer! Had fun but I am really glad it's over.LOL Now I can focus on thanksgiving.I have a huge extended family and it's so hard to be at everyone's house in one day so a few years ago we decided NOT to do that anymore.We wanted to do our own dinner and start traditions/memories with "our little family" (myself,husband,and zach).It's much more relaxed than getting up rushing to cook something at be at "so and so's" house by dinner time.It's just not fun that way.So I told hubby we are going to have to get out and see MAMAW soon.Mamaw is a very special woman.She is my sister's mother in law.After my mother died and I moved in with my sister,her inlaws took me in as part of the family and considered me one of the kids (cousins/grandkids).I'm closer to some of the Raines family than I am with my blood relatives.

One of the first memories I have of her and a special "cousin" is that one day, we were in the grocery store shopping and Amanda (she was about 2yrs younger than I was) was asking me why I called mamaw "miss nell" instead of mamaw.She said that I could call her mamaw too and that I was part of the family now.Don't remember how I reacted then,but now that memory brings tears to my eyes.It just warms my heart.We lost Amanda about 8 yrs ago-very suddenly and it's still an ache in my heart.We lost her mother about 2 yrs later-very sad.

We will probably take some fried chicken and a few veggie sides and some sort of dessert out to mamaw's house wednesday afternoon and then relax at home doing our own Thanksgiving dinner.I love that day.