Thanksgiving ~ The Menu

I can't believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving!  And I have yet to prep or bake anything!  Actually, now that I am sitting down and thinking about it, did my husband transfer the turkey to the refrigerator from the freezer earlier this week? (we have a fridge in the garage that I don't regularly look in) Hang on, now I've got to go check... He did, but it is frozen solid!! Now what?  Okay, I will deal with this in a minute.  I have had major epigastric and back pain since Sunday, which worsens when I eat, so I am guessing gallbladder.  I have an ultrasound scheduled for Tuesday, which won't get here soon enough.  For now, very bland diet and a lot of praying that it goes away.  My plan for today is not to eat at all so that I feel like at least baking my pies.  The husband can do the rest.  Wish us luck!

This year our menu is pretty basic.  #1. I'm not feeling great.  #2. It's just us.  Since we just moved to Wyoming we don't even want to think about driving the long distance to KY and don't really feel like forking out several grand for all six of us to fly, so we are staying put, but desperately missing our friends and family.

So, on to the menu:
Turkey. The husband is in charge of this and that poor bird is going to be insanely buttered and injected.  Poor guy...but I'm sure he will taste amazing!
Dressing.  I am using a new recipe this year from Paula Dean.  We shall see!
Green Bean Casserole.  A classic.  The one I learned to make at a young age thanks to my Aunt Sheila.
Mac and Cheese w/a cracker topping.  A must in our house.  Note to self: Get the recipe from my mother-in-law.
Whipped sweet potatoes with a toasted marshmallow topping.  Yum!
Homemade cranberry sauce.  Not out of a can this year folks.  I'm making the real deal!
Homemade yeast rolls.  My husband's cousin Amy just gave me the recipe this week.  They look amazing and I can't wait to try these!

Now, on to the desserts!
Pumpkin Pie ~ I am using a recipe from King Arthur Flour.

photo courtesy of kingarthurflour.com

Apple Upside-Down Cake ~ Recipe also from King Arthur Flour.

photo courtesy of kingarthurflour.com

Crisp Coconut and Chocolate Pie ~ Recipe from Martha Stewart's Collection.

photo courtesy of styleathome.com

I hope all of you, friends, family and loyal readers, have a Ridiculously Delicious Thanksgiving.  May God Bless each and every one of you!

Happy Thanksgiving! ~ The McKnight Family

Thanksgiving ~ The Menu

Crock Pot Potato Soup

I love the fact that on the weekends I can chop up a few ingredients and throw them into a pot that will cook my dinner for me, allowing me to have a day to clean, play or even nap (yeah, right!).  The Crock-Pot, what a fabulous invention!  ....and this soup, well it was DELICIOUS!

PRINTABLE VERSION
What you need for this fabulous soup:
6 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 quart chicken broth
1/4 cup of butter, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
bread bowls (optional)
*1 cup heavy whipping cream
*1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

*wait to add these ingredients AFTER soup has finished cooking

Optional Toppings: shredded cheese, sour cream, bacon, chives

Making it:
1.  Wash, peel and cut up your potatoes and onion and put in your crock pot.
2.  Mince your garlic and add to the pot.
3.  Add broth, butter, salt and pepper to pot.
4.  Stir.
5.  Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.
6.  After mixture has finished cooking, mash potatoes with potato masher.  (Soup will be lumpy)
7.  Add whipping cream and cheddar cheese and stir until blended.
8.  Place in bread bowl, if desired, and top with your favorite toppings!

Crock Pot Potato Soup

Chicken Pot Pie

With winter in full force here in Wyoming, what better pie to warm up with than a good old fashion homemade Chicken Pot Pie!  My family was thrilled when they realized I had this bubbly dish of yumminess baking in the oven.  Definitely some good comfort food for these cold winter days!

PRINTABLE VERSION
What you need:
2 pie crusts (I use Pillsbury refrigerated crusts, two come in a pkg)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 small to medium Russet potatoes
2 carrots
1/2 can peas
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 stalk of celery
1/4 cups of milk
salt and pepper to taste

How to make it:
1.  Preheat oven to 425.
2.  Prepare crusts according to directions.
2.  Put chicken in a pot of boiling water and boil for about 10 minutes.  In the mean time, peel your carrots and potatoes (I leave the skin on my potatoes) and cut up, along with the stalk of celery and add to the boiling chicken.  Boil for another 5-7 minutes until veggies are slightly tender.
3.  Remove the boiling pot from heat and drain.  Remove the chicken and cut up into pieces.
4.  Mix together the chicken, carrots, potatoes, celery, peas, chicken soup, milk, salt and pepper.
5.  After mixture is combined, place in the prepared pie plate.  Place second pie crust on top and pinch edges together.
6.  Cut slits in the top of the crust.
7.  Cook for 30-40 minutes or until crust is golden brown and mixture is bubbly.

*You may want to cover your crust edges the last 15-20 minutes of baking to avoid burnt edges!

Mixture combined and placed in pie plate with bottom crust

Add top crust, pinch edges together and cut slits in top crust

 Bake, Slice and Dig In!

just a little glimpse of our town today after a whole bunch of this white stuff got dumped on us during the night!  A little winter wonderland in Wyoming this weekend!

Chicken Pot Pie

Crock Pot Apple Butter

Yes, it is AMAZING! This was my first attempt at making Apple Butter and I just felt so domesticated once I had finished it, not to mention my house smelled absolutely fantastic for the entire day!  The recipe I used was adapted from Crystal, at Money Saving Mom and not only did she share an amazing recipe, but also free printable labels for your containers.  So, don't forget to jump over there when your done and print those off!

The most time consuming part of this process was peeling and coring the apples.  Luckily my husband jumped in to core and cut the apples as I was peeling them, so this greatly sped up the process.  So, if you have an extra set of hands around, grab them and have them join in on the fun!  Plus, my philosophy is, if the recipe flops, and you had a helper, you can always put the blame on them!! Just kidding!  ;)

So here we go!

PRINTABLE VERSION
The ingredients:

• 6 pounds of large Red Delicious Apples, however any type will work.
• 3 Tablespoons vanilla extract.  
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon 

Making it:
Peel, core, and slice apples in fourths. Put them in the crockpot with the vanilla and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir every few hours. Once apples are very, very tender, mash with a potato masher and stir in sugar and spices. Cook on low for another 5-6 hours, stirring occasionally.

Cool and pour into jars or an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator.

Crock Pot Apple Butter

Party Mix

Last night over at Mocha Mornings I blogged about the treats I made for the kids' teachers for Halloween.  The jars turned out super cute and it was such an easy project for a person, like myself, who is not that crafty.  As promised here is the recipe I used to make the party mix that I gifted. While you're here feel free to hop on over to Mocha Mornings and check out my jars! :)

PRINTABLE VERSION
You will need:
3 cups Corn Chex Mix
3 cups Rice Chex Mix
3 cups Wheat Chex Mix
1 cup Cheerios
1 cup Raisins
1 to 2 cups pretzel sticks
*2 cups candy corn (M&M's are good too)
1 cup nuts (optional)
1 stick of butter
6 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 large turkey size cooking bag

*do not bake candy. This is added after the mixture has baked and has cooled.

What to do:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
1.  In the large cooking bag mix the cereals, raisins, pretzels and optional nuts; set aside.  In a small microwavable bowl, microwave the butter until melted.  Add the Worcestershire and seasonings and stir.  Pour over cereal mixture in the bag and mix until evenly coated.  (I twist the top of the bag and toss mixture until coated).
2.  After mixture is coated pour into a large un-greased roasting pan.  Place in oven and bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  After mix is finished removed from oven and allow to cool, about 20 minutes.
3.  After mix has cooled stir in candy corn or other candy of choice.  Store in an airtight container.

TIP:  Since I make party mix often, especially during football and basketball season, I reuse my turkey bag.  After coating the mixture and putting into the roasting pan I fold my turkey bag up and place it in the freezer to use again.  I consider my bag "seasoned" and it saves me from having to buy a new one every few weeks.

part mix added to jars for teacher's gift.

Party Mix

Sweet Cornbread

Amazing!  Thank you, The Country Cook, for sharing this recipe.  The honey that you add to this cornbread mixture gives it such a delightfully sweet taste.  This will definitely be the cornbread recipe I use from now on. This, crumbled up in my Red Bean and Cabbage soup,...curtains!  I ate until I was stuffed and still went back for more!  Try it...you'll love it!

PRINTABLE VERSION
What you need:
2 tbsp. honey
1 egg
4 tbsp. butter (melted)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup yellow corn meal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

How to Make it:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray an 8x8 baking dish with nonstick spray.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the honey, egg, butter, milk and water.  In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients.  Give it a gentle stir to combine.  While whisking, slowly add your dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until all are combined.  Batter may be lumpy.  Pour the mixture into the greased pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Mixing the wet ingredients

Mixing the dry ingredients

Pour into a greased pan and bake!

Sweet Cornbread

Tater Tot Bake

This has been one heck of the week, so what better foods to indulge in over the weekend than comfort foods?!  Am I right?
On Tuesday afternoon my iphone decided to crash.  JUST FABULOUS!  I hadn't really realized how much I depended on the thing until I no longer had my calender, camera or any contacts.  After HOURS of updating, unloading and re-loading itunes, more updates and a complete restore of my phone, it is once again in working order, minus all info that I had added after my last back-up in August.  :(  I lost so many fabulous pictures of some very delicious yummies I had cooked over the last few weeks, but just hadn't had a chance to blog.  At first I was devastated, but I guess this just just gives me an excuse to recreate the dishes again so that I can share them with all of you! 


Now to the recipe.....
PRINTABLE VERSION
Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef or ground pork sausage
1 small onion, chopped
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 pkg frozen veggies, thawed
1 (32 ounce) package tater tots, thawed
1 (8oz) pkg shredded cheddar cheese
salt to taste

Directions:
Saute onion in a large skillet until soft; add beef or sausage and cook until browned. Drain set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Spread soup and veggies in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Slowly add meat mixture, then top with tater tots and cheddar cheese and season with salt to taste.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 45 minutes, or until casserole is cooked through.

Tater Tot Bake

Jalapeño Cheese Bread

This turned out better than I expected and went great with the Crock Pot Chili and with the Crock Pot Veggie Soup two nights later.  If you aren't a fan of Jalapenos you can always eliminate those and just have a delicious cheese bread.
PRINTABLE VERSION

What you need:

3 cups flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

4 ounces cheddar cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 1/4 cups milk

3/4 cup sour cream

3 Tablespoons of butter, melted

1 egg, lightly beaten

Sliced Jalapenos, couple of spoon fulls, as desired.

How to make it:

1.  Heat oven to 350.
2.  Grease a 9×5 loaf pan.
3.  In a bowl, whisk together the first 6 ingredients.
4.  Carefully stir in cheese cubes and jalapenos until covered in flour mixture. This will help prevent your cheese sinking to the bottom of your loaf of bread.
5.  In a different bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.
6.  Fold the wet mixture into the flour and cheese mixture.
7.  Stir until just combined. Do not over stir. Pour and spread the mixture into the loaf pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes and then remove from pan. Allow to cool for one hour before slicing and serving.

Jalapeño Cheese Bread

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So hurry up and hop on over to grab yours.  The code expires on Wednesday 10/12/2011 at 10 p.m.

Thanks, Deal seeking Mom!

Taste of Home Magazine subscription for $3.99!

Crock Pot Chili

Finally got moved into our house last week and FINALLY got our kitchen unpacked this weekend! YAY!  So, of course I cleaned up the crock pot and put her to use.  (isn't it insane how filthy your stuff looks once you unpack it).

Anyway, for my first crock pot meal this Fall I chose to do Chili.  It complemented the frost and cold weather here in Wyoming nicely.

PRINTABLE VERSION
This is what you use:
1 lb ground beef
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tbsp garlic, minced
1 (15 oz) can chili ready diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (15 oz) can dark red kidney beans
1 (15 oz) can chili beans
1 can water
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Optional toppings: Shredded cheese and sour cream

What you do:
In a skillet brown and crumble ground beef with onion and garlic over medium high heat until meat is completely done and onion is tender.  Drain excess grease and pour beef mixture into crock pot.  Add beans (do not rinse or drain), tomatoes, water, spices and Worcestershire sauce; mix thoroughly.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Cover with lid and cook on low for 4-6 hours (the longer the better). Serve with optional toppings.

Crock Pot Chili