Thanksgiving Candied Sweet Potatoes

One of my favorites. A good way to get kids to eat a LOT of sweet potatoes...unless they're smart and eat only the marshmallows on top. :)

4 x-large sweet potatoes
**peeled, chopped, boiled until soft, and placed in a greased 9x13 glass baking dish,



then make the sauce:

1 c butter
1/2 c brown sugar
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
4-6oz orange juice
**Place all together in a sauce pan over med-lo heat until all melted together. Pour over sweet potatoes. Place 1 bag marshmallows (or two if you're in Finland) on top (big or small, it doesn't matter).



Bake at 350F/180C until marshmallows are browned--about 10 minutes. Mmmmm....

Thanksgiving Turkey

Another of my favorite dishes... Turkey! This year, we were lucky enough to actually have found one here at a local supermarket! Wow! So, we had a wild Finnish turkey! Very Thanksgiving-y! :) It was SO good, though! And so easy to make!

1 Turkey
Olive Oil
Seasoned Salt (I make my own! Better than Lawry's! Click here for the recipe)
Herbs: I use parsley, basil, rosemary, oregano, and thyme. I like to use fresh. Probably about 1-2 Tbsp of each!
3-4 c Water

Place defrosted and washed turkey in roasting pan. (To clean, run under cool water. Rub the thing clean! Flush the inside out with water as well until it runs clear.) Pour in water. (With the water, I'm only guessing on the amount. This depends on if you're planning to make gravy with it after it's been cooked! And how much gravy you want! :) I am a gravy FIEND, so I usually use a lot of water! :) As a rule of thumb, I usually fill my roasting pan until it's about an inch or so deep with water on the bottom. More or less.) Pour olive oil on the turkey. I also pour a bit into the water! Add salt as desired on top (and to the water!) and rub it in. Sprinkle the herbs ALL over. If the lid can go on your roasting pan with the turkey inside, place the lid on top. If it doesn't fit, make a tent out of kitchen (aluminum) foil. Bake at about 300F/150C until done. It should be golden brown, and the juices will run clear with no pink in the meat. Usually around 3-4 hours, depending on the size of your turkey. However, if you happen to overcook it a bit, the gravy will mask it pretty well! :)

Gravy:

Turkey drippings
Flour
1/2 c Water

Pour all the turkey drippings into a sauce pan and place on medium heat on the stove. Take out about 1/2 cup from the turkey drippings, add another 1/2 c cool water, then add flour (1 Tbsp at a time) until you can make a thick yet runny paste. Add this concoction to the remaining drippings in the sauce pan using a wire whisk. Cook until thick and bubbly! (If it's not thick enough for you, repeat the above steps until at desired thickness! If it's too thick, just add water.)

Mmmmmmmm....

Thanksgiving Stuffing

I LOVE stuffing. LOVE it. Thanksgiving is NOTHING without stuffing. I used to use the old StoveTop standby, but then I began making it myself, and let me tell you-it's SOOOOOOOOOO much better!!!!!! So, here's a basic idea of what I do to make this traditional Thanksgiving side dish:

Lots of bread broken into small pieces (I use many different kinds--white, whole wheat, oat, rye--and mix them all together)
1/4 c Fresh Parsley (about 3 bunches)
2 tsp Thyme (dry--OR 1 Tbsp fresh)
3-4 stalks Celery (including leaves!), finely chopped
1 small Onion, finely chopped
3 c Chicken broth (3c water+3tsp chicken bouillon)
1/2 c Butter (as needed....probably quite a bit unless you like it lighter...but I like it buttery!!)

Break bread into small pieces and save in a super large mixing bowl.


(The kids love to help with this part!)

In a sauce pan, saute celery and onions in butter until slightly transparent. Add everything else (except bread). Bring to a boil. Add more butter! Ha! Pour over bread a little at a time until all the bread is moist. Not TOO soggy, but not TOO dry. :) Taste it to make sure it's good! (Yes, that sounds weird, but it really should taste good!!)



Pour into 9x13 baking dish (um, coated with butter...) and bake at 375F for about 15 minutes. Stir, then bake again until the top is slightly crisp and the bottom is slightly browned--about 15-20 min (unless you have the option of a fan assisted oven...then it's only 10 more minutes). Serve! Top with lots of homemade gravy and you have a gourmet dish!




I've also in the past added sausage. It is SO good! I don't do it anymore because I don't have any sausage available to me. If you want to use sausage, cook it with the celery and onions. :)

Chocolate Almond Zuchinni Brownies

These turned out to be the YUMMIEST brownies I've ever made. I suppose that really isn't saying much, though, because I don't often make brownies. But, they were GOOD! Interestingly, as I was researching Zucchini Brownies on the web, trying to find recipes/hints/ideas, I came across something very interesting! Did you know, that you should NOT add eggs to zucchini brownies? Eggs make them more cake-like. Instead, you leave out the egg. There really is very little liquid in the recipe--only 1/2 c of oil and a little flavoring of some sort (vanilla--or I like to use almond)--in addition to the zucchini itself. So it looks like a nasty mass. But the natural moisture of the zucchini is what moistens the batter as it cooks, and makes the most wonderful moist brownie texture you can imagine! AND, since I use whole wheat, added with the zucchini, I felt pretty good about letting even my kids chow down! :P

1 1/2 c Sugar (I actually used just a little less...)
1/2 c cocoa
1 tsp salt
1 c whole wheat flour
1 c white flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 c oil
3 med zucchini, shredded (ends up being a little over 2 cups or so)

Sift all dry ingredients. Add extracts and oil. It will be SUPER dry. Add zucchini and fold in. This will be very thick and pretty dry. Don't worry, though!!! It's supposed to be!!! Pour into a 9x13 greased pan. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350F/180C. Let cool a bit...Frost!

**Frosting:

6 Tbsp Cocoa
1/4 c Butter
2 c Powdered Sugar
1/4 c (+/-) water (or milk)
1/2 tsp almond extract

Melt butter with the cocoa in the microwave! Put sugar in a bowl, add water and extract and mix. Add the butter/cocoa mixture. Mix using a hand mixer. This is AMAZING chocolate almond frosting!!! :) You can even sprinkle slivered almonds on top. Heavenly!!

These brownies are chewy and gooey and absolutely delicious!

"Creamy" Asparagus Soup

This sounds absolutely disgusting. I admit it. I found this recipe in a recipe book, and thought it looked interesting, as these are all things that I like...I just wouldn't really put them all together, and especially not in this way! However, I have made a goal to make something really weird and 'out of my comfort zone' every week, and since I had the ingredients, I decided to go ahead and try it! :) It turned out FANTASTIC! Even the kids liked it and ate it! I, of course, added a few things, and didn't add some things that I knew the kids wouldn't like...and voila! Here's the recipe that I ended up with!

500 gr (1 lb) asparagus
5 c water
5 tsp chicken bouillon
1 tsp season salt
1 small onion, finely minced
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp parsley and chives, finely chopped
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 1/2 c fresh Spinach, rinsed (can remove stems)
1/2 c minced fresh dill
Small pinch crushed red pepper
A few dashes ground Nutmeg

Trim the tips of the asparagus, and set them aside. Cut all the stalks into 1 inch pieces and place in large pot along with water, bouillon, salt, onion, bay leaf, parsley/chives, and olive oil. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 1/2 hour. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer--uncovered!--for about 5 more minutes. Remove the pot from heat and let cool. Process in a food processor (I added all the 'chunky' parts to the food processor, then enough liquid to really get it liquefied) until smooth. Return to the pot and add the asparagus tips. Let simmer for about 5 minutes or so--until the tips are tender. To serve, pour the soup into the bowls, then just before eating, drop in a small dollop of butter! It's great without it, but add that little butter to it, and this is a most fantastic soup!!! Serve with roast chicken and garlic bread. Oh man. It's good.

Dairy Free Chicken Enchiladas

I do love enchiladas...and I do love them smothered in cheese and sour cream! However, it just doesn't agree with my kids, so I invented a dairy free version. These are still incredibly tasty! Try them out and see if you really miss all the dairy...

1 small chicken, cooked (take all the meat off, discard bones, place meat in a large bowl)
6 or 7 tomatoes
2 bunches fresh parsley
1 clove garlic
1 small hot green pepper, finely chopped (wear gloves!! I often skip this part, as my kids don't like the 'bite', and it still tastes just fine)
1 onion, finely chopped
3 c cooked black beans
1 c Mexican Gravy (**see below for recipe)
8-10 flour tortillas

Place tomatoes, parsley and garlic in blender, blend until smooth. You can dice a few of the tomatoes and add them like that, as the diced tomatoes do give a nice flavor and texture! Add to chicken in the bowl. Add chopped hot pepper, onion, black beans and Mexican Gravy. Toss to mix.

Preheat oven to 350. Pour about 2 c of the Mexican Gravy in the bottom of a 9x13 rectangular pan (either glass or aluminum, doesn’t matter). Hold a tortilla in one hand and place about ¾ cup of the chicken mixture in the tortilla, then roll it up place in pan. Do this with all the tortillas, filling them with chicken mixture, rolling them up, then placing in pan until all the tortillas AND the chicken mixture is gone. Pour the Mexican Gravy over the top to cover the tortillas. Sprinkle with cheese if desired. Bake for about 30 minutes—the sauce will be bubbling and it will smell delicious!! Serve with rice and salad!!

**Mexican Gravy!!

60 g butter
1/3 c flour
3 Tbsp Chili Powder
¼ tsp Garlic Powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp cumin
About 4 c water
1 Tbsp chicken bouillon
1 small (8 oz) can tomato sauce (OR one can diced tomatoes OR 5-6 fresh tomatoes finely chopped)

Mix flour, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, oregano, and cumin in a small bowl. Melt butter in sauce pan. When butter is melted, add bowl of dry ingredients. Stir constantly until it is all mixed. SLOWLY add water and chicken bouillon. Stir constantly to get rid of any lumps and mix completely. Add tomato sauce. Sauce should be fairly thick. It’s ready to use in the recipe!

Shepherd's Pie Variation

Tonight was a 'food storage experiment' night for me. For those of you who are familiar with Shepherd's Pie (the hamburger-green bean-tomato sauce-mashed potatoes-cheese dish that's pretty popular in Utah), I always had a variation...I used cream of mushroom soup instead of tomato-whatever. Since we don't really do the cream of-- soups anymore, I was trying to think of another variation. This is what I came up with, and it was a BIG hit!

1+ lb hamburger
1+lb frozen veggies mix of some sort (I used a carrots, cauliflower, peas and green beans mix that we had in the freezer)
1 Box Mori-Nu Tofu
2 Tbsp Canola Oil
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 4oz can mushrooms
1 Tbsp beef bouillon
3 cups mashed potato flakes
2 Tbs butter
salt and pepper to taste

Cook hamburger in skillet. Pour frozen veggies into 9x13 glass baking dish. Add hamburger. In blender, blend tofu, oil, vinegar, salt, and sugar until creamy. Add mushrooms WITH liquid and beef bouillon. Blend until the mushrooms are the size you want--chunky or smooth. (Most of my family like mushrooms, but Claire does NOT...she didn't even know that she ate a TON of mushrooms tonight! Ha!) Pour the liquid over the hamburger/vegetable mix. Heat water for potatoes in a sauce pan. When it is boiling, remove from heat and add mashed potato flakes. Mix until smooth, then add butter, salt and pepper. Pour over the top of the other mix, like a crust. Bake at 375F until bubbly (about 30 minutes?). (The ingredients sound seriously gross, but it turned out SO good that Josh and Claire even had THIRDS and even Andrew and Peter ate everything on their plates!)