Thanksgiving Dinner menu

This is mostly for my reference, but planning our menu for turkey day, which is almost two weeks away!  This time is just flying by!

Breakfast:
Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Baked French Toast
Sausage

Appetizers:
Cheese ball and Wheat Thins
Artichoke/Spinach dip and pita chips
(I really wanted to make buffalo chicken dip, but I think I have a lot on my plate with cooking, especially since I work Tuesday)

Dinner:
Turkey (prepped with Williams Sonoma's Apple & Spices Turkey Brine)
Mashed potatoes w/gravy
Stuffing
Green bean casserole
Butternut squash puree
Fresh Market cranberry sauce
Yeast rolls

Dessert:
Pumpkin pie
Carrot cake (made by MIL)

Meat Loaf (Better Homes & Gardens)

I've made this recipe a bunch of times, and always have forgotten to post it on the blog.  It's my go-to meatloaf recipe.  I found it in one of our wedding gift cookbooks, Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook:  Bridal Edition.  It pretty much has everything in our pantry (except for the meat), and it's simple to make.  Makes great leftover sandwiches! 

INGREDIENTS:

* 2 beaten eggs
* 3/4 cup milk
* 2/3 cup dry bread crumbs
*1/4 cup finely chopped onion
* 2 T snipped fresh parsley (we used dried)
* 1 tsp salt
* 1/8 tsp black pepper
* 1/2 tsp dried leaf sage, basil, or oregano (we used oregano)
* 1 1/2 lbs ground beef, lamb, or pork (usually use a combo of lean ground beef and pork)
* 1/4 cup ketchup
* 2 T brown sugar
* 1 tsp dry mustard

DIRECTIONS:

1.  In a bowl, combine eggs and milk; stir in bread crumbs, onion, parsley, salt, oregano, and black pepper.  Add meat; mix well.  Lightly pat mixture into a greased/Pam-sprayed meat loaf pan.

2.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until internal temperature registers 160 degrees.  Spoon off fat.

3.  In a bowl, combine ketchup, brown sugar, and dried mustard; spread over meat.  Bake for 10 minutes more.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

(You can substitute 1/3 cup BBQ sauce for the ketchup/brown sugar/mustard topping)

Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

Nate has been complaining of eating chicken all of the time...at home and at the fire house...so...I found a great slow cooker beef recipe.  It's actually very healthy, since the cut of meat (sirloin) is lean and low-fat.  And a great way to incorporate veggies for my picky guys!  I found this off of allrecipes.com.


INGREDIENTS:

• 2 pounds beef sirloin, cut into 2 inch strips
• garlic powder to taste
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cube beef bouillon
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 large green bell peppers, roughly chopped
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, with liquid
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Sprinkle strips of sirloin with garlic powder to taste. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the vegetable oil and brown the seasoned beef strips. Transfer to a slow cooker.
2. Mix bouillon cube with hot water until dissolved, then mix in cornstarch until dissolved. Pour into the slow cooker with meat. Stir in onion, green peppers, stewed tomatoes, soy sauce, sugar, and salt.
3. Cover, and cook on High for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low for 6 to 8 hours.

Firecracker Raspberry Chipotle Glazed Shrimp

I found this in a sales flyer at The Fresh Market.  It was different and very tasty  :)  Here is a link to the recipe.

Pasta with Roasted Garlic, White Cheddar, & Wine Sauce

This was amazing and such a hit at dinner time!  I didn't change anything about this recipe, and I give Annie's Eats all of the credit!  (the link goes to the recipe w/ingredients and directions).

So behind with blogging!

Have new recipes to post...hopefully, this weekend won't be too crazy and I can update this blog!

Spaghetti Casserole

A group of friends and I participated in a freezer cooking session, and it was a lot of fun!  Little did I know how great freezer cooking is!  What a time-saver!  I definitely plan to dedicate a day every couple of weeks to cooking about 5 or so meals.

The recipe I chose was a spaghetti casserole I had found on Taste of Home, a great recipe magazine.  This was so good!  Evan even approved...he finished his plate!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 package (16 ounces) angel hair pasta
• 1-1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 jar (26 ounces) spaghetti sauce
• 2 cans (8 ounces each) tomato sauce
• 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
• 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese

DIRECTIONS:

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce. Remove from the heat.
• Drain pasta. Combine soup and sour cream. In two 8-in. square baking dishes, layer half of the meat sauce, pasta, soup mixture and cheese. Repeat layers.
• Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months. Cover and bake the remaining casserole at 350° for 55-65 minutes or until cheese is melted.
• To use frozen casserole: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake as directed. Yield: 2 casseroles (6 servings each).