Thanksgiving Recipe Roundup

It seems that I have lost my blogging mojo lately.  My entire household has been sick since Halloween, so it's been difficult to find the time to do any sewing or crafting, let alone blog about it.  But with Thanksgiving only two days away, I wanted to share a few recipes that would be perfect to add to your holiday table.

The Pioneer Woman's Dinner Rolls - I made these for Christmas Eve dinner with the in-laws last year and they received rave reviews!  I'll be making a batch to take over to my sister's house for dinner on Saturday.

Pumpkin Crunch Cake by Cara at The Picky Apple - This custardy pumpkin cake will be another of my contributions to our Thanksgiving dinner.  I cannot wait to dig into this dessert!

Melissa's Brussels Sprouts - Having eaten these too many times to count while pregnant with Jake, I can vouch for this amazing brussels sprouts recipe, also from The Picky Apple.  I may need to make a pan of these to bring along to our family dinner too.  They are delicious!

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes by Sweet Pea's Kitchen - A new twist on the traditional sweet potato casserole, these individual stuffed sweet potatoes would make a great side dish for your holiday turkey or ham.

And finally, a little crafting for the kiddos...

Flower Turkeys by Our Best Bites - These adorable little turkeys make from artificial flowers would be a great project to keep the kids busy while you're in the kitchen.  I think these little guys are too cute and would make a great table decoration or napkin ring.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families and friends!

Friday Favorites

Pumpkin patches are popping up left and right, and the leaves on the maple tree in my front yard are showing the slightest hint of orange.  That's about as close to fall as we get here in Dallas.  Sometimes I daydream about living in a place that has a great fall season, with beautiful changing leaves and crisp, cool weather that requires sweaters and boots instead of short sleeves and flip flops.  A girl can dream, right? 

It's the end of the week and time to share some more great recipes!  Thanks to Pinterest, I've been batting a thousand this week in the dinner department.  Each one of these recipes is a winner.  All images are courtesy of the original recipe source.   

Creamy bean soup with bacon...what's not to love?  This White Bean with Bacon Soup by Centsational Girl was just as delicious as the photo makes it look.  I used canned beans instead of dried, so this soup came together in no time at all.  My husband and I loved this soup.  My daughter gobbled it up.  My son threw the bacon on the floor and squished the beans in his hair, but he's only 15 months old, so I expected as much.  In time I'm sure he'll learn to appreciate the awesomeness of bacon.

I believe that no bowl of soup would be complete without a warm, delicious piece of bread on the side.  These Homemade Olive Garden Breadsticks by Full Bellies, Happy Kids were the perfect sidekick for the White Bean with Bacon Soup.  Making yeast bread from scratch can be messy and time consuming, but this recipe was relatively quick and was definitely easy.  I mixed the dough in my Kitchenaid mixer, then formed the breadsticks and let them rise while the soup simmered.  After rising for about 45 minutes, I popped them in the oven and 15 minutes later we were enjoying a delicious meal.  I cut the amount of garlic butter topping in half (even less than half the salt) and it was perfect.  We enjoyed these so much that I'm making them again this week!

On Monday afternoons, my daughter goes to ballet/tap dance lessons at the community center.  Her class ends at 5:15, which means that when we arrive home at 5:30 I am really squeezed for time when it comes to making dinner.  This recipe for No Boil Baked Penne by Plain Chicken is perfect for those nights when you want a great meal without a ton of prep time.  I had half a pound of leftover cooked ground beef seasoned with garlic from a previous recipe, so the prep time for me was nearly zero.  Mix everything together while the oven is preheating, pour it in casserole dish, cover and cook for one hour.  I had my doubts about not cooking the pasta first, but after one hour in the oven the penne was cooked perfectly and had the taste of lasagna without all of the fuss.  And this is a great excuse to finish off the homemade breadsticks from earlier in the week!

It seems like at least once a week we have breakfast for dinner..."brinner."  Brinner usually consists of eggs, bacon, and either pancakes or biscuits.  I have tried to make biscuits from scratch in the past with less than stellar results, so I usually fall back on frozen Grands biscuits, but this week I decided to give homemade biscuits another try using this recipe for 7UP Biscuits from Plain Chicken.  The combination of 7UP, sour cream, and Bisquick sounds crazy, but it seriously makes some of the best biscuits I've ever eaten.  Give it a try...you won't be disappointed.

Have a great weekend!  :)

Recipe Round-up

Over the past few weeks, we've tried a number of new recipes that are definitely worth sharing!  Of course, I never think to take photos until after the fact, so all photos are courtesy of the original sites where I discovered the recipes.

 
First up is a fantastic dessert recipe called Eclair Pie from Real Mom Kitchen.  I made this for a cookout at my sister's house a few weekends ago.  It got rave reviews from everyone who tried it!  Graham crackers, vanilla pudding, chocolate frosting...all the flavors of a chocolate eclair in one simple, delicious dessert.  What's not to love?

My family loves NFL football.  To us, there is nothing better than watching some Colts or Cowboys football on a chilly fall day while chowing down on a big bowl of chili.  During this year's preseason football, I had decided that this would be the year that I would find "the perfect chili."  I started compiling a list of recipes to try every other Sunday throughout the NFL season until I found one that my family loved.  Well, it's only the end of Week 4 and my search is complete.  This chili recipe by the Pioneer Woman is now the official football-Sunday chili in our household.  My husband enjoys his with crackers, while Bailey and I prefer Frito Chili Pie.  Leftovers get mixed with mac and cheese a day or so later for some yummy Chili Mac.  The Colts may go 0-16 this year, but at least we'll have great chili!

This Egg Tostada Frittata from Cassie Craves has become one of my go-to meals for a busy weeknight when I find I'm running short on time.  This is a great alternative to plain old bacon and scrambled eggs that I typically serve for "brinner" (breakfast for dinner).  The bacon and green chiles cooking together smell amazing and this is a great way to use up the last of a bag of Fritos when all of your delicious chili is gone.  I usually serve my refried beans on the side.  I was doubtful about the egg and bean combo, but it's actually really tasty.

Ok, all of this talk about food has made me hungry.  Time to go heat up some leftover chili!

Mmm, Mmm Good!

It may still be 90 degrees here in Dallas, but it's beginning to feel more like fall.  Fall is my favorite time of year.  I love everything about it, but I especially love Sundays filled with football and good home cooking.  These chicken and dumplings definitely fit the bill as a perfect Sunday dinner.  I am notorious for altering recipes with a little dash of this and a little bit of that, and this is a great basic recipe that you can use as a starting point in creating your own fantastic bowl of yumminess.  The original recipe uses a crock-pot, but I didn't get mine started early enough in the day, so I cooked them in a large soup pot on the stove instead.

Chicken and Dumplings
adapted from Bubble Crumb

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons butter
2 cans cream of chicken soup
4 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
1 tube Grands buttermilk refrigerator biscuits, cut into bite sized pieces

Add chicken, butter, chicken soup, chicken broth, and seasonings to a large soup pot.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 30-45 minutes.  Remove chicken, shred with a fork, and return to the broth.  Add frozen veggies and return to a boil.  Add biscuit pieces, cover, and continue to cook until dumplings are cooked through, about 15 minutes.  Ladle into a bowl and enjoy!

To make this recipe in your crock-pot, simply add all ingredients except for the biscuits and cook on high 4-6 hours or until the chicken is tender.  Shred the chicken with a fork and return to the broth.  Add biscuits pieces and cook an additional 30 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked through.  Depending on the size of your crock-pot, you may need to reduce the amount of dumplings.  The dumplings are my family's favorite part of this dish, so I always use the largest dish in my crock-pot so we can enjoy every bite of dumpling goodness!

As you can see, this recipe is kid tested and approved!  Enjoy!

Taste the Rainbow

My kiddos' birthdays are only 4 days apart, so we'll be celebrating two birthdays in one for as long as I can get away with it.  This year we are celebrating the double birthday with a Yo Gabba Gabba party.  And what could be more fitting for a Yo Gabba Gabba party than a crazy rainbow cake?

Rainbow cakes are all the rage in blogland these days, but I originally saw this idea on Playing House.  This week I made a practice batch of cupcakes just to try out the technique and see exactly how colorful they would be.  I started by mixing up a Betty Crocker white cake mix, then dividing the batter into six small bowls.  Then I used Wilton gel food coloring to tint each bowl a different color of the rainbow...red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.  I layered the batter into a cupcake pan filled with paper liners and baked for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

I can honestly say that the process of layering the batter into the cupcake pan took forever and it was difficult to get the same amount of batter in each one, so I'll be sticking to cake form for the birthday party (and possible use 2 boxes of cake mix for a taller cake). And I will definitely be making my own frosting for the party cake, most likely a vanilla buttercream.  Yum!

As Muno would say...Razzle Dazzle!

How awesome is that?  This might be the most colorful birthday party ever!

Banana-rama!

My family gets excited when they see that our stash of bananas have turned brown and mushy, because they know they'll soon be snacking on freshly baked banana bread.  I came across this recipe many years ago on one of my favorite sites, Allrecipes, and over the years have tweaked it a dozen different ways.  This recipe is fool-proof and so versatile.  In the past I've added in ground flax seed (which makes for a super moist loaf of bread!), chopped walnuts, chopped pecans, chocolate chips, and even cinnamon chips.  Most recently I've experimented with using McCormick French Vanilla extract (delicious!) and substituting whole wheat flour for half of the all purpose flour.  I've made it in a single large loaf, two smaller loaves, and in every variety of Bundt pan I own.  Any way you slice it, this is a great recipe!

Banana Bread
adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (half white, half wheat flour is a good alternative)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/3 cup sour milk (1/2 tsp lemon juice + milk to equal 1/3 cup)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• optional add-ins: 1/4 ground flax seed, 1/2 cup chopped nuts, 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan or Bundt pan.
2. Combine sugar, butter, bananas, eggs, flour, baking soda, milk, salt, vanilla extract, and any optional add-ins in a large mixing bowl; beat well. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in a preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Dinner is Served

Photo and recipe courtesy of Picky Palate.

If you ask my husband to name his favorite meal, I guarantee he will say "Chicken Tacos."  Just about every week, I cook up a crockpot of taco-seasoned chicken (chicken breasts + one packet of taco seasoning + chicken broth to cover, cooked on low for 6 hours).  We have chicken tacos the first night, then I usually use the leftovers throughout the week in burritos for lunch or in enchiladas for another dinner meal.  This week I wanted to try something new, so I gave Picky Palate's Chicken and Black Bean Green Enchilada Rice Bake a whirl. 

The verdict...it was delicious!  And so easy too!  Since I was using leftover shredded taco chicken, it was as simple as cooking up a pot of instant rice and opening up a few cans.  Layer everything in a dish, top with cheese, and voila...dinner is served!  I love meals like this!

Chicken and Black Bean Green Enchilada Rice Bake

2 cups white long grain rice
2 1/2 cups cooked, shredded chicken breast
One 15-ounce can mild green enchilada sauce
One 4-ounce can sliced black olives
One 15-ounce can diced tomatoes (*my advice: drain the tomatoes or it will be too soupy)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet Roasted Ground Cumin
One 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Cook rice according to package directions.
3. Place chicken, enchilada sauce, olives, tomatoes, sour cream, salt, pepper and cumin into a large bowl, mixing to combine. Pour cooked rice into prepared baking dish and layer beans on top of rice. Pour chicken mixture over rice and top evenly with cheddar cheese. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until cheese is melted and rice is hot.
Makes 6 to 8 servings

A Slice of Chocolate Heaven

I take issue with the name of this cake...there is no such thing as too much chocolate!  Like the name implies, this cake is indeed super chocolatey, super moist, and super delicious!  This is my go-to recipe for chocolate cake.  You can stack it in layers and cover it with chocolate buttercream frosting, or bake it in a Bundt pan and give it a simple drizzle of chocolate powdered sugar glaze like I did this past weekend.  Honestly, it's delicious enough on its own with no topping at all.  I guarantee you will get a ton of compliments from anyone who takes a bite.  I have heard that when you slice into a cake, all of the calories fall out, so bake this cake the first chance you get and enjoy every bite of chocolatey goodness!

"Too Much Chocolate" Cake
recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
• 1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.
3. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate If desired, dust the cake with powdered sugar.

Many Thanks to the Pioneer Woman

Sour Cream Noodle Bake...it's what's for dinner y'all.

Photo and recipe courtesy of The Pioneer Woman

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

Ingredients

• 1-¼ pound Ground Chuck
• 1 can 15-ounces Tomato Sauce
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 8 ounces, weight Egg Noodles
• ½ cups Sour Cream
• 1-¼ cup Small Curd Cottage Cheese
• ½ cups Sliced Green Onions (less To Taste)
• 1 cup Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

 

Preparation Instructions  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Brown ground chuck in a large skillet. Drain fat, then add tomato sauce. 1/2 teaspoon salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Stir, then simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.  Cook egg noodles until al dente. Drain and set aside.  In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Add to noodles and stir. Add green onions and stir.  To assemble, add half of the noodles to a baking dish. Top with half the meat mixture, then sprinkle on half the grated cheddar. Repeat with noodles, meat, then a final layer of cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until all cheese is melted.  Serve with crusty French bread.