Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!!


So, my little man woke up at 7:30 a.m., him and I cuddled on the couch watched a movie, then I cooked him breakfast.  We watched the parade, and then my hubby and I made a great team in the kitchen cooking dinner together. :)


Here is a picture of our place settings, I got this idea from "Our Best Bites" a pin I found on Pinterest:

These are SO cute! My son saw these and immediately asked for it! LOL But he did a good job waiting till he could dig into it.


Here is a picture of our table:

We cooked everything that was on our Thanksgiving Menu Planner, and I must say EVERYTHING was delicious!!! I think that was the BEST Thanksgiving dinner I've had.  Some of the favorites were the deviled eggs, the turkey, the stuffing, the gravy, and the bacon wrapped olives!


The turkey was a recipe from Tyler Florence off of FoodNetwork.com but I added some twists to it, just because I never like to follow recipes and I go with whatever I'm in the mood for. LOL  But here is a picture of our turkey:

We bought a 13 pound turkey at a store called Aldi's for less than $15!!! We basted it every 30 minutes with watered down maple syrup and after the first 2 hours, we then basted it with the juices in the pan.  We cooked it at 350*F for 4 hours.  It was stuffed with cornbread stuffing that I made from scratch.  This turkey browned up nicely.  We baked it uncovered for 2 hours, then noticed it was browning too fast, then covered it with foil and it never burned.  It was SO moist and tender - delicious!


Here is a picture of our bacon wrapped olives:

These are so easy to make, require little preparation and are great snacks or appetizers! They are a sure hit for the bacon lover - which everyone in my house LOVES bacon.  Basically, buy large olives and low sodium bacon (trust me on the low sodium, otherwise if you use regular bacon you'll be eating salt lick) and toothpicks.  Cut bacon strips in half, wrap around the olive, secure with a toothpick and broil for 5 minutes on each side.  YUM!!! Great football snack to keep in mind when Super Bowl comes around.


So glad we got to stay home today and thankful for my family and all the food I'm blessed with!


~Bekah

Recipe: Banana Puffs

Banana Puffs

Great breakfast recipe! Easy and fast. :)

Ingredients:
1c. Pancake mix (or use homemade recipe, see below)
2 T. Brown sugar
1 egg
2/3 c. Milk
3 bananas
Vegetable Oil
Powdered Sugar

Directions:
Combine pancake mix, brown sugar, milk and egg, mix until well blended.  Peel bananas and cut into 1" pieces.  Dip into batter and fry on both sides.  Drain on paper towel.  Coat with powdered sugar and serve warm.


Homemade Pancake Recipe:
1c. Whole wheat flour
2 T. Honey

1/4 t. Baking Powder

1 Egg beaten

1 c. Milk

2 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1.  Mix dry ingredients into a bowl.
2.  In a measuring cup or another bowl, stir all the wet ingredients (egg, milk, oil, and honey).
3.  Make a well in the dry ingredients bowl, then add the stirred wet ingredients.
4.  Mix well.  Note: it will have lumps, don't over mix.
5.  Scoop out spoonfuls into frying pan that has been pre-heated and greased with butter.
6.  Fry on both sides (about 1-2 minutes per side).

Recipe: Homemade Goldfish Crackers

Homemade Goldfish Crackers

Ingredients:
1c. Flour
4T. Cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
8 oz. Cheddar Cheese (any sharpness desired)
1/2 t. Salt
1/2 t. Pepper
Fish Cookie Cutter - Click Here for website to purchase


Directions:
1. Pulse flour, butter, cheese, salt and pepper with food processor until mixture resembles course meal.
2. Pulse 3 to 4 tablespoons of water, one tablespoon at a time, and only enough so that the dough forms a ball and rides the blade.
3. Remove, wrap in plastic, chill for 20 minutes or up to 24 hours.
4. Line 2 baking pans with parchment paper (or use non-stick spray) and set aside.
5. Roll dough out to 1/8" thickness.
6. Cut out fish shapes with the cookie cutter.
7. Place 1" apart on prepared baking pans.
8. Bake 350*F until golden and crisp (15-20 minutes).


Yummy Healthy Tot Snack!!! :)