CONTEST: Win a Bed Tray! 2 Winners

My favorite Thanksgiving food is Fruit Salad- no specific recipe and I use whatever fruit is in season or in the freezer- no sugar added, just natural juices (usually add a can of crushed pineapple in its own juice).

The apple cake recipe looks good- Im printing that out and trying it this weekend!

Kristy

I love trifles. You can use chocolate cake instead of brownies or even change it up for different flavors.

1 box chocolate brownie mix
1 large box instant chocolate pudding
1/2 cup water
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup whipping cream, whipped
1-1/2 cups whipping cream, whipped

Prepare brownies according to package directions. Cut into small chunks. In a large bowl, combine instant chocolate pudding, water, and condensed milk. Add 1 cup whipping cream and mix until smooth. In a glass trifle bowl put half of the brownies, followed by half of the pudding mixture, topped with half of the remaining whipped cream. Repeat layers and top with chocolate chunks, curls, maraschino cherries or fresh raspberries for garnish. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours before serving.

The best thing about Thanksgiving dinner is the leftovers the next day. My ex-husband was from Scotland, and loved BUBBLE AND SQUEAK.

Very simply add a bit of everything into a fry pay, coated with PAM, add turkey (In small bite sized bits), stuffing, mashed potato's, yams, green bean casserole, broccoli, turnips, and gravy,what ever you have as left over. Mix loosley, and heat up.

It does not look appetizing, but trust me, once you take a bite you get a mix of flavors bursting in your mouth. Each bite is different.

...made with lots of butter and half and half. Need I say more? I thought not.

I do not do the normal thanksgiving....turkey dinner is the furthest thing from my table. LOL!!!

Here is another of the recipes that I have made, in the past, for Thanksgiving.

Game Hens on Cornbread-Sausage Stuffing

Stuffing:

1 pound pork sausage, crumbled
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups chopped onion
2 cups chopped celery (about 8 stalks)
6 cups coarsely crumbled cornbread
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1 cup dried cranberries
2 cups seasoned sour dough bread crumbs
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 tsps fresh minced sage or 1 Tbsp dried sage
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup chicken stock

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In saute pan, over medium heat, saute the sausage for 6-8 minutes, until light brown. Drain the rendered fat into a small bowl and set aside. Place the sausage in a large bowl. Melt the butter in the same saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions and celery and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the onions, celery, cornbread, apricots, cranberries, and bread crumbs to the sausage and mix well. Stir in the eggs, melted butter, sage and season with salt and pepper. If you think the stuffing needs more flavor, add some of the rendered fat.

Fold in enough chicken stock to moisten So not add too much or the stuffing will be soggy; stuffing should not stick together when you squeeze a handful.



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Game Hens

3 cornish game hens
1 Tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Cut the game hens in half lengthwise. Rub them with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish, fill the bottom with stuffing and snuggly pack the game hens on top, cut side down. Roast for 20 minutes. Decrease the heat to 375 and continue to roast for another 25 minutes, or until the juices run clear when thigh is pierced with a knife.

To serve, place a spoonful of stuffing on each plate and top with a game hen. Serve immediately.

Serve with a Pinot Blanc from Alsace or a lighter style Pinot Noir.

To a pyrex dish, add bag of stuffing, cut up small pieces of turkey add one can of small peas with mushrooms and onions, A large can of Campbells cream of chicken soup,
add 1/2 can of milk, 1/2 can of chicken broth. mix loosely, You can add pieces of Hot Pepper Jack cheese for a different taste. Once casserole is mixed, pop in oven to bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

These sound so good and I am looking forward to trying some of the recipes out.

This is for an appetizer:

Ham, Cheese and Pineapple sticks

Use cubed ham (your choice), cubed cheese (try different varieties, medium cheddar is always a favorite, and pineapple chunks.

Alternate the ham, cheese and pineapple on toothpicks and arrange on a platter. We always do half with pineapple and half without for those that may not like it. We sometime arrange on the big leaves of lettuce, just for decoration. These can be made in advance (kept in fridge) and pulled out to keep tummies happy while the turkey (or main dish) is finishing up.

Easy AppleSauce

10 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 8 pieces each
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 (1-inch) pieces fresh ginger, peeled (Optional)
3 whole cloves
2 sprigs fresh savory (Optional)

Preparation
In large, heavy-bottomed stock pot, combine apples, sugar, lemon juice, ginger, cloves, and 1 cup water. Cover and set over high heat. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to moderate and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until apples are very soft, about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and blend with whisk, breaking up any remaining apple pieces. While applesauce is still warm, stir in sprigs of savory. Let applesauce cool, then remove savory before serving.

My favorite thing to eat at Thanksgiving is my mothers sausage stuffing. Now that she has passed and I am the one making the stuffing it seems a little like she is here with us.

There is nothing fancy to it - just that it has been made in family for generations.

2 pkg Jimmy dean sausage
2 yellow onion
butter
polutry seasoning
salt and pepper
Kelloggs stuffing mix (which I have to order from Netgrocer since they no longer sell it my area)

put some butter in a large pot
finely chop yellow onion and add to pot
sprinkle with all 3 seasonings
brown sausage in this pot

once sausage is no longer pink (drain if you are a health nut first) cover with several cups of water, add some more poultry seasoning.

SImmer for 45 minutes

Add to stuffing mix (the more stuffing mix you have the more water you add)

Then put in turkey! YUM!!!

Like I said nothing fancy but a family favorite!

OK - everyone needs to stop sharing recipes so that I can win the breakfast tray! And it is totally unfair that you are sharing those scrummy dessert recipes I can't eat right now because of this "heart healthy diet" I have been put on!!!

Low-Fat Heart Healthy Leftover Turkey Pot Pie:

1/2 cup Campbell's Healthy Request Cream of Chicken Soup
2 Tablespoons fat free chicken broth
1/3 cup frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1 low fat refrigerator biscuit
3 oz leftover turkey (or chicken)

Mix all ingredients together (except biscuit) and put into a 2 cup individual casserole dish. Mash and shape biscuit so it covers the top of the casserole. Bake at 350 until brown (about 10 minutes).

I used to top it with leftover dressing, but I won;t be doing THAT this year!!!! HA!