Turkey Spinach Casserole

I'm not sure whether to call this a casserole or a meat pie. A few weeks ago,I made something called a "cheeseburger quiche" from a recipe I saw in a magazine, and it was delicious. The past few days,I've been craving something like that again. I forgot to get a pie shell when I was out shopping the other day,so I had to improvise. A friend told me how she someitmes uses shredded hashbrown potatoes as a crust for things like this or fritattas. I did have about 1/2 a bag of those in the freezer. I was too exhausted yesterday (when am I not exhausted lately?) so I made it today.


Turkey/Spinach Casserole

2pounds ground turkey
1 bag of spinach
3 eggs
1/2 bag of SHREDDED hashbrown potatoes
1 small pack of ready chopped onion/celery
shredded italian cheeses
handful of shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 jar of alfredo sauce
salt/pepper to taste

**heat oven to 400*F or higher if needed
**thaw shredded potatoes until they no longer feel "frozen"--pour into large bowl and add in a beaten egg--mix well and press into the bottom of a baking pan (I used a large one)--bake until they start to look "done".
saute onion/celery until they are soft-add ground turkey (or chicken) and cook until done--add in the spinach a handful at a time until it's wilted down enough to add it all---cook for a few mins---add in salt/pepper to your liking---drain well-- pour into large bowl--pour in the alfredo sauce and the cheeses (I used what I had left in the fridge-you can add more/less to your taste)---mix well--add in 2 beaten eggs and mix well--pour onto the hashbrown crust and return to oven to bake until it's brown and bubbly--top with more cheese and add back to oven till it's browned and melty---let sit a few mins before cutting so it won't fall apart.

No more turkey leftovers!

Well,there is officially no more turkey in the house. I'm going to go through the fridge and see what else is ready to be thrown out. Most of the leftover turkey was eaten,not thrown out. I know we have dressing,cranberry sauce,and veggies. I think I might morph the veggies into sides for today's meal. There are 2 more cheesecakes and a sweet potato pie in the fridge-but grandpa's working on those. I put some of the cakes in the freezer,but left a few slices out for snacking. By far,the fave desserts this year was the chocolate chip pumpkin cake,the sweet potato pie, and the apple butter cheesecake. Next time I make a sweet potato pie,I am going to add a little more spice to it--that's all it needs,it was delicious! And the cheesecakes didn't firm up as much as I would have liked,so next time,I'm going to try adding more neufchatel cheese and see how that works. Zachary announced that he wanted me to buy a can of pumpkin each week when we go shopping,so he can have pumpkin pie each week! That sounds like a pretty good idea to me too! I better stock up on pumpkin now while it's easy to find. For little happies for a few special people, I'm going to make mini loaves of the chocolate chip pumpkin cake.

Next weekend,we will have my son's 9th birthday party. I can NOT believe he will be 9yrs old.I wanted to have the party out of the house this year so I wouldn't have to worry with all the cleaning and prep for having people over to the house,but it didn't work out that way. I don't really mind it,but it stresses the hubby out and you know how that works. **sigh** He wanted to have just family over,but there weren't any kids Zach's age,so I told him we had to invite some kid friends,too. I plan on making my special chili and getting a couple of ice cream cakes and calling that a party. I chose chili because it's something that everyone can eat(gluten free-can be made vegan easily). I usually bake a couple of cakes and decorate them myself,but this year,I'm taking the easy way out and getting ice cream cakes. Fun,tasty,and easy on mom. Now just have to get a few balloons/streamers/kid favors and we'll be set. I am going to have hubby set up a couple of kid-friendly games downstairs along with the air-hockey table. I think it'll be a blast!

The Day Of Thanksgiving

I was browsing new blogs I had found and looking for new and interesting recipes when I came upon this: Sopapilla Cheesecake. Doesn't it look delicious!? This will be breakfast for us Thanksgiving morning-along with scrambled eggs and the kiddo's usual HASHBROWNS. Shortly after breakfast,I will put the turkey on and assemble the sides that need to be cooked--green beans,mashed potatoes,homemade cranberry sauce,rolls, and of course the gravy. This year I'm going to try an apple-cider gravy. I am going to try to baste the turkey a little differently this year too-I'll let you know if it turns out.

Cranberry Sauce

2 bags of cranberries
sugar
cinnamon
apple cider
water

I don't really have a recipe that I follow for cranberry sauce. I loosely follow one I found on FOOD NETWORK. Because I try to make diabetic friendly recipes whenever I can,I used a spenda blend for the sugar--and I don't really measure,I just add everything until I find that I like how it tastes. Make sense? It's kind of one of those "dump" recipes where you put it all together and let it cook. Couldn't be easier,right?

Thanksgiving preparation--DAY 2

Today,I made what my son has been waiting for all year----PUMPKIN CHEESECAKES (or just pumpkin pies as he calls them). They are simple and delicious. This year I used apple butter in a cake that I made yesterday and it smelled absolutely divine. It has about the same texture as the pumpkin I use,so I thought I would try making a cheesecake with it. I can't wait to try it.The pumpkin cheesecakes are a family recipe that I make each year at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I hope the apple cheesecake becomes a family fave too! I also made 2 sweet potato pies this evening-the recipe is on the same page as the cheesecakes-I'm sure you can find it.


PUMPKIN and APPLE CHEESECAKES

Thanksgiving preparation--DAY 1

I wasn't sure if I would be able to cook everything I wanted to this year due to an unfortunate injury I incurred last week. When I was putting a dish into the sink,I missed and hit the edge of the counter and the dish broke into 1001 pieces. I had to call hubby home from work to take me to the emergency room. 5 stitches later, I was back at home propped up being pampered by the kiddo and hubby--at least for one evening. It only hurts if I bump it hard or stretch my hand or fingers too much. Tonight,I got on a baking kick and had 4 cakes in the oven at the same time. Tomorrow,I plan on baking muffins,stuffed cupcakes and the dressing. I will also make the pumpkin cheesecakes and sweet potato pie. It will be my first attempt at a scratch sweet potato pie. I will update as it all enfolds.

I intended to post the recipes on this section of my blog,but I got distracted and put all the info on my homeschooling blog LOL. Guess it's about time for me to chill out and hit the bed.Here are the links to what I made tonight. ENJOY!!

Apple Butter Cake

Cranberry Pound Cake

Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Cake

My house smells like.............SOUP!

The other day,the hubby mentioned that he wanted some soup. The weather's turned chilly again-especially in the early mornings and evenings,so that's perfect soup weather. I made him a veggie soup using stew meat that I browned and added to some home-made stock I had in the freezer. I added a couple of bullion cubes and let it simmer to perfection. For myself,I made a chicken noodle with a few green split peas. It's sooo good. I'll eat on it a few days and then freeze the rest. I think the guys will probably not have much left to go in the freezer.

Time to give thanks......

It's almost time for THANKSGIVING. I'm already starting to mentally think of everything I need to do to be ready for that week and beyond. I need to make lists of things I need to buy,I need to make a list of everything I plan on cooking,I need to get Christmas cards addressed and ready to go,I need to get holiday pics of us as a family taken this year. Last year,I cheated by taking pics of kiddo in front of the holiday decorations at the local mall and made them up into xmas cards. I want to do a little better than that this year. I'm not going to let it all stress me out this year-there are plenty of other things that are doing that at the moment. The holidays should be enjoyed,not stressed over. What are some of your favorite things about the holidays? What are some of the things you have to have on the table each year? I have to have a turkey,dressing from a family recipe, pumpkin cheesecakes-yes more than 1,and homemade cranberry sauce. I love to cook and cook BIG-so I really get into the cooking mood this time of year.