Thanksgiving Planning

I apologize for the temporary absence from my blog. I haven't really been in the mood for blogging and I have  had many other things on my mind. My husband and I are expecting a baby! I am due May 18th and we are so excited. I have constantly been thinking about the food I am eating, but not in relation to my blog. I have been reading the book Real Food for Mother and Baby by Nina Planck. It's amazing how overwhelming it can feel when you hear everything about what you should and shouldn't eat. Nina's book breaks it down into simple, whole, real foods and makes nutrition easier to grasp.

As I got on my computer tonight, I browsed through my blog pictures folder...apparently I haven't been taking any food pictures either! So I decided to share my Thanksgiving planning with you. I am very excited to be hosting again this year. My husband's parents are coming from Iowa. Right now we have 6 guests and are planning on a few more possibly. I am making a few changes from my menu and preparation from last year. I am making more items ahead of time to make the holiday more relaxed. I will be brining my turkey like I did this summer and will use Alton Brown's recipe again. Anyway, enough with my talk! Here is my tentative plan (subject to some changes) to prepare for Thanksgiving. You can watch these videos from Good Eats if you want to learn about brining the turkey and feel like a little bit of weird Alton humor. : )

• Already made
• Alton Brown's Cranberry dipping sauce (in freezer)
• Dinner rolls (in freezer)
• Sunday
• Shop for final fresh ingredients
• Monday
• Put turkey in fridge to thaw
• Clean house after work...family arrives tomorrow!
• Tuesday
• After work, make pie crusts and keep in fridge
• Wednesday
• Morning:
• Make brine and keep in fridge
• Bake pumpkin and chocolate meringue pies
• Make Cheesy potato casserole and keep in fridge
• Make Green bean casserole and keep in fridge (or maybe this recipe?)
• Make cheeseball dip
• Make fluff (technical name...it's Cooper family recipe)
• Prepare relish tray with olives (another Cooper thing : )
• Afternoon
• Do something fun with family! : )
• Evening
• Place turkey in brine
• Thursday
• Morning:
• Make mashed potatoes and place in crock pot on warm
• Prepare stuffing and place in crock pot to cook
• Sweet potatoes...I don't have a recipe yet. 
• Get turkey in the oven, save giblets to boil for stock to make gravy
• Relax for a couple hours :)
• About 12:45
• Make topping and put cheesy potatoes in the oven to begin cooking (45 minutes)
• After turkey is done and resting
• Make topping and put green bean casserole in the oven (20 minutes)
• Put rolls in the oven to bake
• Make gravy 
• About 1:30 
• Enjoy a meal and count your blessings together!

Now for a few final tidbits. I would love a probe thermometer for my turkey (early Christmas present anyone??). This eliminates opening the oven to check the temperature. Instead you set it to the temperature when the turkey is done, and the timer goes off when it reaches the correct temperature. I also watched this video from Alton Brown (yes, I like his shows and info!). Did you know that bubble wrap will keep food warm for hours? Interesting idea that I may try out. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for!

This post is linked to Mingle Monday

Skillet Squash

Zucchini and yellow squash are bountiful right now. This side dish is so simple and delicious, you may wonder why you have never made it before (at least I did). Squash is almost tasteless and will pick up any flavors that you toss at it. Recently I have enjoyed making a combination of zucchini and yellow squash with either Mexican or Italian seasonings to compliment the main dish. In this picture, I made Mexican seasoned zucchini to go with the fantastic cheesy chili mac. It takes about 10 minutes to make this side dish. I don't really have a recipe, but do give credit to Deborah over at Antiquity Oaks for the inspiration. This is simply a method to help you get creative with some squash!

Skillet Squash
Cook time: 10 minutes
Yield: 2 servings

Olive or canola oil
1 small zucchini or yellow squash, thinly sliced (or do a combination of both)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
About 1/4 cup diced onion
1-2 garlic cloves, pressed

Mexican Seasoned
Ground cumin
Ground coriander
Chili powder

Italian Seasoned
Dried or fresh basil
Dried oregano

1. Heat oil in a skillet on medium-high heat. Season squash with salt, pepper and either Mexican or Italian spices.

2. Place squash and onion in the skillet. Let sit for a couple minutes then begin to stir. When the squash begins to look transparent on the edges add the garlic. Continue to cook until squash is transparent to the middle of the slices a little bit of browning is okay. Serve immediately.

My Review

• Preparation: 5
• Super fast and simple
• Taste: 5
• I have made this side dish many times
• Cost: 5
• Inexpensive and healthy
• Clean-up: 5
• Changes
• Experiment with some of your favorite flavors. Squash is so easy to cook with!

Cheesy Potato Casserole

I made this recipe for our Thanksgiving meal. My family has been enjoying it on the holidays for several years and it is always a big hit. This is a popular potluck dish, but I can promise you that I have never had a version as good as this one. And trust me, I'm a potato expert.

Cheesy Potato Casserole (Print)
from my sister
Prep: 20 minutes / Bake: 45 minutes
Yield: 12 servings

For the casserole
30 ounce bag frozen hash browns, defrosted
1/2 cup white onion, chopped
1 cup milk
1 cup sour cream
1 large/family size cream of chicken condensed soup (you won't use it all)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups (8 ounces) cheddar cheese, shredded (or more if you like!)

For the topping
2 cups crushed corn flakes
1/2 cup melted butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine all the casserole ingredients in order and mix well. About the cream of chicken soup: you won't need all the soup. You will probably only need 16-20 ounces of it. Basically, decide how creamy you want the casserole. I would err on the side of too little if you can. I suppose you could just get 2 small cans of soup, but I like the freedom of the big can I guess.

2. Spread casserole ingredients into a 9-inch x 13-inch baking dish. Mix the crushed corn flakes and butter; put on top. Bake for 45 minutes, or until center is hot and bubbly.

3. You can also make this casserole a day ahead. If so, skip the corn flakes topping and cover the dish with foil. Keep it in the refrigerator until 30 minutes before you need to bake it. Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, if possible, before baking. Top with corn flakes and bake as directed.

Chicken & Broccoli Twice-Baked Potatoes

This recipe is a twist on your typical twice-baked potato, and it's filling enough to use as a main dish. Jeremiah made this for dinner on my first day of work. He had worked hard to make me a nice dinner and they tasted delicious! We have made them twice and I know we will enjoy them in the future too.

Chicken & Broccoli Twice-Baked Potatoes (Print)
adapted from cooksrecipes.com
Prep: 30 minutes / Bake: 30 minutes
Yield: 8 servings

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 large russet potatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup butter or margarine
8 ounces reduced-fat sour cream
1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) cheddar cheese, shredded
1-1/2 cups broccoli, chopped small
2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
Milk and additional butter (to taste)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Clean potatoes. Prick potatoes with a fork several times on each side. Place on a plate and microwave for approximately 7 minutes, rotating and turning potatoes halfway through. The original recipe says 14-17 minutes. I have a 'baked potato' setting on my microwave, so I just use that. I halved the recipe last time, so it was 6 or 7 minutes for 2 potatoes and I'm not sure how long 4 would take. Just make sure that the potatoes are slightly softened and tender.

2. While potatoes are cooking, sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes in oven.

3. Set potatoes and chicken aside to cool when done. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Combine remaining salt and pepper, butter or margarine, sour cream, cheese, broccoli, and garlic.

4. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Carefully scoop out pulp with a spoon or melon baller, leaving the shell intact. Mash pulp with additional milk and butter to taste (to sort of make mashed potatoes). Cut chicken into small cubes. Combine potatoes and chicken with the remaining filling.

5. Scoop filling into potato shells. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Optional changes

• You can cut the chicken and cook it in a skillet with a small amount of oil instead of cooking it in oven.
• You can also bake the potatoes in the oven instead of using the microwave. To do this, clean and prick the potatoes, then rub with vegetable oil. Bake the potatoes at 400 degrees for about 1 hour.
• You can put half the cheese in the filling and save the other half to sprinkle on top before placing the potatoes in the oven.

Garlic Bread

I made up this garlic bread recipe several years ago and it has become a staple whenever we have spaghetti. It is super simple and very delicious! Most of the time I just use normal slices of bread, but I had some of my french bread on hand, so I decided to make it with that. Either way, it's a winner!

Garlic Bread
Prep: 5 minutes / Bake: 5-10 minutes
Yield: how ever many you want!

Bread, as many slices as you need (whole wheat, white, french...whatever you have)
Butter (real butter, margarine, or spread. Again, whatever you have on hand. We use Smart Balance)
Garlic Garlic (from Tastefully Simple)
Parmesan cheese (I use the pre-grated, processed kind haha)

1. Butter your bread!

2. Sprinkle with Garlic Garlic

3. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, however much you like!

4. Bake the bread. This can vary. I range anywhere from 350 degrees for 10 minutes or 400 degrees for 5 minutes. I usually just gauge it off of when my pasta will be done. There's no real set time. Just check the crust and when it gets to your desired crispiness, it's ready!

I hope you enjoyed my super simple garlic bread! I'm not even gonna bother with a review... I made it up on my very own, I eat it often, aaand I'm feeling kinda lazy! Have a good weekend and don't forget to set your clocks back tonight!

 

Scalloped Potatoes

I'm bound to love anything with the word potato. Thus the reason I had to try these and subsequently loved them!

Scalloped Potatoes

from Taste of Home Cookbook

3 T butter, divided

1 T flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1-1/2 cups milk

4 cups potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 small green pepper, finely chopped

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

3/4 cup shredded cheese

In a small saucepan, melt 2 T butter; stir in flour, salt and pepper. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 mintues or until thickened.

In a greased 9x9 inch baking dish, arrange half the potatoes, onion and green pepper in layers; cover with half of the sauce. Repeat layers. Cover and bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

Melt remaining butter; combine with bread crumbs and sprinkle over potatoes. Bake, uncovered, 40 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Yield: 6 servings

Nutrition facts (1/2 cup): 250 calories, 28g fat,  8g saturated fat, 36mg cholesterol, 97 mg sodium, 27g carbohydrate, 3g fiber, 8g protein.

My Review

• Preparation: 2
• Preparing the dish is easy enough, it's the lengthy baking that gave this a 2 rating. It took about 1 hour and 45 minutes from start to finish, but there's lots of down time while it's baking.
• Taste: 4
• I will make this dish again. It had great flavor, and as I said before, I love anything potato!
• Cost: 5
• This is less than $1.50 per serving. It's an estimate but I think it's pretty accurate. Potatoes are dirt cheap and the only other ingredient I had to buy was the green pepper.
• Clean-up: 4
• This was a molehill of dishes (see review scale tab if you are confused and think I'm strange); cutting board, chopper, sauce pan, baking dish and a few utensils.
• Changes
• I would use less onion next time, there was a little much for me but it was still good.
• I made a loaf of bread last month and froze half of it. I thawed that out and let it dry to use as bread crumbs. The store bought ones are so small, I like them a little chunkier. I would probably use more bread crumbs too.
• I use Pampered Chef stoneware, so I don't have to grease the baking dish. The recipe called for a 1-1/2 quart dish, I don't have that so I used my 9x9 inch stone.
• Summary
• Great recipe! The creamy homemade sauce goes nicely with the potatoes, onion, and green pepper. My husband's favorite part was the cheesy, crunchy topping. Good as a main or side dish. Definitely a keeper!