Our Thanksgiving Turkey and My Thanksgiving Menu

Well people, it's that time of year again; The time where everyone wants to eat but nobody wants to help in the kitchen, the time for 15 hours of cooking, for 15 minutes of eating, the time where everyone dreads clean-up after, but everyone looks forward to leftovers. Thats right! I'm talking about thanksgiving!

The only day, where you are sure to catch a glimpse of a giant snoopy balloon! I never seem to catch the full broadcast of the parade, because I am to busy cooking the bird.

And what a pretty Bird she is!

When I cook turkey, it usually starts with a long bath. I clean this bird so much, that sometimes I think I could call it a brine. I always clean out the cavity and remove the gizzards and what not, but I also clean up and pull out all the little veins and things in there. I never just rinse it out and go. It's always a big procedure.

I give it a good scrub down on the inside and outside with salt. Kinda like an exfoliation. I then set her down on my roasting pan that is fitted with a rack, and I slather it with lots of butter and salt. That's it. Just butter and salt.

I pour some water, about four cups, in the bottom of the pan,

I then cover with the roasting pan lid, or aluminum foil and create a seal around the pan and place the pan in the oven at 350 degrees for about three hours, basting about every 45 minutes then covering again.

After three hours in the tent, she is pretty much done. Now she just needs to get brown. So I take of the foil and let her cook for another one and a half hours, while basting every 30 minutes or so.

I've been doing it this way my whole life. Our dinner is usually done by 3 pm. Just in time for football. If I make a dish that is not a regular staple at my thanksgiving table, my sweet mother-in-law will of course tell me I'm going a bit too "Gourmet" 

on her.

The gravy is pretty simple and old fashioned, but I like it that way. It goes like this:

After the first 3 hours of cooking the turkey, I remove the foil and get all that water from the bottom of the pan. By now, that four cups has become a lot more from all the juices from the turkey and now all that water has become turkey broth.

After I put the bird back in the oven, is when I start on my gravy.

I pour all or most of the turkey broth in a sauce pan and bring it to a slow boiling roll. 

I put about a half a teaspoon of minced garlic in and stir. I then take out about a cup of this broth and place in a measuring cup. I then stir in about three or four tablespoons of flour in the measuring cup and stir really well and make a thick paste.

Then I pour that mixture into the turkey broth while stirring vigorously with a whisk.

I sometimes repeat this process until I get the right gravy consistency I'm looking for. I then add about three tablespoons of Soy Sauce. Yup! Soy Sauce! No need to add salt. Just a bit of black pepper. Stir for a bit, and simmer for about 20 minutes

And I promise you will have the most yummiest old fashioned Turkey Gravy ever!

So simple, so easy, so done!

Along with my turkey and gravy, here is a list of the other wonderful dishes I will be

Serving this thanksgiving.

Rigatoni and Cheese

 

Creamy Mashed potatoes

 

Sage Onion Dressing

    Southern Fried Corn

 

    Pan Sautéed Brussels Sprouts with Caramelized Onions and Bacon

 

    Noodle Kugel

 

    Buttered Rosemary Rolls

 

What will you be serving this thanksgiving?

Make Your Own Disney Holiday Wreath

  

                                    

This time of year is my favorite. It is the season for decorations. Halloween, Thanksgiving and christmas. I love to decorate. I love to get into the spirit of the holidays and make my home come alive each year.

I love shopping on Etsy and looking for inspiration on Pinterest as well. A few weeks ago, I was in one of my pinning fits, having a blast pinning away on one of my pinterest profiles, when I saw the most awesome holiday wreaths that are being sold on etsy for hundreds of dollars, and I thought to myself 'hey I can do that, I have a lot of beanie toys and disney toys that I can use to do this!' I mean- why have just one holiday wreath when you can have one for each of your favorite holidays!

So I went into the garage to find my collection of beanie toys that I stashed, I soon found all sorts of holiday beanies to put together with wreaths. 

Just search Disney Wreath for yourself on Pinterest, and you will be amazed at the beautiful wreaths that they have put together.

And while I know that the prices of the Disney Wreaths are worth it, I still find that I can make them myself at a fraction of the cost, with the things I have on hand.

I found a wreath frame at a craft store for $6, I then found a few fall garlands.

                    

I had the pilgrim disney beanies from my vacation to disney world a few years back, and a turkey beanie that was hidden in storage.

                          

                     

By just wrapping a few garlands around the frame, and attaching the dolls with orange ribbon to the frame, you get a custom, festive wreath that looks very expensive, and that you bought it at a department store or Disneyland.
 

                                        

I made one for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I plan to make more for other holidays, but for now these are perfect.

                           

I've had my Christmas wreath for many years, and just by attaching some holiday beanies, I've made it look new! And it really shows my disney spirit! I just attached the dolls by tying them on the wreath with some string, and voila! A custom disney wreath! 

    

                             

                                

So recycle those old beanies and stuffed animals into something festive and new for the holidays, and it may help you save hundreds of dollars on holiday decorations!

What have you recycled for the holidays!

Guilt Free Kale Chips

With thanksgiving done and all the leftovers eaten, my guilt starts to set in. Not only because I did not really cook anything healthy or nutritious for our holiday meal, but for the fact that my skirts no longer fit :(

So a few days later I am cleaning out the fridge and I found an extra bag of Kale that I did not need for making the turkey pretty. So I decided that I should try to make some Kale chips to help take the guilt sting away.

I did not know that Kale chips were not only very easy to make, but that they taste really good!

My daughter first gave the eeww look when she took her first bite, but then it quickly changed to " Hey these are not that bad!" Then she kept coming back in the kitchen for more.

Then she says "These are really good but I won't order them again."  0_o

Then she comes back in the kitchen for more. And more.

I think they taste a bit like asparagus. My son said " Mom, how did you make these taste like broccoli?"

Even my husband who is always reluctant to try new foods, said that Kale chips are on his list of healthy snacks!

So from now on when we are in the mood for something crunchy, these will be our go to chips. No more guilt. Love it!

1 Bunch of kale

1-2 Tablespoons olive oil

Pinch of sea salt

Dash of ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Wash Kale under cold water and dry thoroughly by patting them dry with paper towels. Be sure to then remove the ribs of the Kale when slicing. Slice into 1 inch pieces. Place Kale pieces in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper and toss with hands to get Kale evenly coated. Place Kale pieces on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes.

Rigatoni and Cheese

Well Thanksgiving is finally here and as you are reading this, I am still in full cooking mode. The in-laws are coming over today and when I tell them that dinner will be ready at 4pm, they are at my door by 1pm ready to eat!

Happens every year. So this year I made sure to leave out appetizers so they don't make me all nervous like they usually do. 

This macaroni and cheese dish was one of the first dishes ready, so I had to show you how addicting this Macaroni or should I say Rigatoni looks!

This recipe I was taught by my Mother-in-law Ruby. And as a matter of fact, she will be here shortly to critique me on the proper way to cook her traditional thanksgiving dishes. But this is one of her dishes that she does not complain about. 

After you eat this Rigatoni and cheese, you will never want that boxed stuff again. And neither will the kids. When I cook on thanksgiving, this is the first thing they ask about.

I once made three pans like this to take to a big family event feeding over 100 people. At the buffet table, it was the first thing they ran out of and all night long I was asked for the recipe.

2-16oz packages rigatoni 

32 oz Velveeta cheese block cubed and divided 

16 oz Cream cheese cubed and divided

8 oz =1 stick butter

8 cups milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In an 11 x 15 pan,  place rigatoni noodles that have been cooked and drained according to directions on packaging. 

Set aside. Meanwhile in a medium saucepan, combine milk, half of the cubed velveeta cheese block and half of the cubed cream cheese block. 

Cook on low heat until cheese has melted.

 Place remaining cubed velveeta and cream cheese pieces, scattered evenly over noodles.

 Pour cheese/milk mixture over noodles and stir a little just to make sure noodles are covered nicely. 

Stir a little just to combine.

Place butter in a small saucepan and heat on low until melted. Pour melted butter evenly over noodle/cheese mixture.

 I give it one more tiny stir to get butter a bit more incorporated. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown and bubbly, about an hour.

Make ahead tip:

 You can cook the rigatoni the night before and keep noodles in fridge, in an airtight container until ready to assemble and bake. In the morning I just zap them for a minute or so in the microwave just to take out the chill then assemble and bake.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family, friends and lots of good food.

Target's Black Friday ad is out! Check out the awesome door busters!

Check out Target's Black Friday deals that they will be having, like the  new 16GB iPad Air with Wi-Fi for $479,  that's $20 off Apple's own price. And the best part is that when you buy it, Target will give you $100 Target gift card! That's like getting it for $379

Target is also giving away $75 Target gift card for the iPad mini, $50 for the 16GB fifth-generation iPod touch and $30 for any iPhone 5s. Gift card quantities may be limited.

You can get $60 worth of iTunes gift cards for only $50, as well!

There are all sorts of awesome door busters, like a 50" LED HDTV by Element for only $229 

That's a big TV!

Beats by Dr. Dre for only $119

I love these Rachael Ray pots (hint, hint dear husband!)

And this 17-piece Pyrex glass storage set is awesome at only $18 I hope there are some sets still there when I show up!

These fleece separates for kids are an awesome price at $6

And these $5 board games are great gifts for under the tree!

Check out more deals in there Black Friday ad here.

Are you shopping on Black Friday?

Ham and String Bean Stew

I can't wait for the holidays to really begin and for me that tradition starts with eating turkey and ham and Black Friday. 

Thanksgiving is an awesome day for traditional foods but I look forward to cleaning up and heading to the late night outlet sales. My kids already made there list's and they are more excited about Black Friday than I am! I love sticking to tradition, I guess I'm freaky like that.

This recipe is kind of a tradition, in that every time we make holiday ham this is what happens with the ham leftovers. This time I cooked it with added potatoes but if you desire you can just omit the potatoes and serve over mashed potatoes. Either way it is a delicious meal made with leftover holiday ham and because my ham was baked with a sweet glaze, it makes this sauce a bit sweet which adds a wonderful fall flavor.

1 small onion sliced

1 can tomato paste

1 can cut green beans drained

1 1/2 pounds ham from shank cut into 1 inch chunks

1 1/2 pounds potatoes quartered

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Using a dutch oven, on medium-high heat, begin by sautéing sliced onion until soft and translucent about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant about 30 seconds. Add ham chunks and let ham and onions cook together for about 5-7minutes. Add can of tomato paste and let it cook with ham for about 3 minutes then add I add about 2 cups of water to pot and stir. If I feel I need more water, I add about a cup more a little at a time. Add salt and pepper, add potatoes and stir. Let stew cook on low heat for an hour, stirring occasionally.

After an hour, add can of cut green beans and check potatoes for doneness. If potatoes are still not soft, cook on low for an additional 45 minutes to an hour. Serve with crusty bread if desired.