Thanksgiving Sides

Thanksgiving is upon us!  Are you still deciding which side dishes to serve this year?  Maybe these will help!

 

Cranberry Chutney

(recipe here)

 

 

Sauteed Green Beans and Garlic

(recipe here)

 

 

If you’re having guests that are not big pie eaters, try this for dessert:

Cranberry Upside-Downer

(original post here)

 

 

I found a great new Crescent Roll recipe recently too.  It’s from a great blog that I subscribe to called Little Birdie Secrets.  I think I’ll be trying this roll recipe out tonight – don’t they look yummy?  I’ve never really attempted crescent rolls before.  They have always seemed too fussy of a thing to make.  I love this recipe’s step-by-step instructions though, and I am definitely going to try out that garbage bag trick.  

(photo courtesy of Little Birdie Secrets – used with permission)

 

I also recently added this recipe for Maple-Pecan Sweet Potatoes to my favorites list.  I discovered the recipe in this month’s Cooking Light Magazine.  We tested this recipe last week and it is ah-mazing.  There’s just enough maple syrup to add flavor without being too overpowering, there’s a hint of cinnamon, the lovely crunch of pecans, and of course the ubiquitous marshmallows!  I’m making a small dish of these tonight – I’ll try to remember to take a photo. 

 

Happy feast-planning everyone!

Pecan Tassies

The other day I was waiting in the eternally-long line at JoAnns and (of course) my toddler became impatient and quite loud. I grabbed the nearest colorful item and handed it to him. It happened to be this magazine.

I had no intention of buying it, and I really just thought he would want to look at the fun cover and then would soon become bored with it. Silly me. The first thing he did was to scrunch the cover right up and rip the edge. Great. So then into the cart it went. Twelve minutes later, I was the proud new owner of a cookie magazine.

As I flipped through it that afternoon, I found several (okay, about a dozen) recipes that I want to try. The first one on the list was Pecan Tassies.

When a recipe starts off with cream cheese and butter being whisked smooth, you know it’s got to be good!

To evenly scoop the crust dough into the mini muffin cups, I used my small scoop. It worked perfectly! I love this tool and use it all the time! Mine is the OXO Small Cookie Scoop. I highly recommend it, in fact I’m hoping Santa brings me the Medium & Large Cookie Scoops.

After scooping the dough in to the cups, I smooshed them down with my fingers. Here’s a tip I discovered (that the recipe does not mention): See the rough edges on the crusts below? Well, if you scoop out the dough and roll it into a ball and THEN press it into the mini muffin cup, the edges will be nice and smooth.

I used the same small scoop to fill the cups with the pecan filling.

Easy. Yummy. Made exactly 24 little tassies. They’re gone already.

You can find the recipe here!

Menu Week 102

Sooo...... I've been absent for a few weeks. Every couple of months this little blog of mine has to take a back seat to real life. Hope no one minds. That's just how it is though, right?

Here's our menu for this week. (I'm going easy on myself - we have a lot going on.)

Baked Rigatoni with Roasted Vegetables

Monday - Tacos, Chips & Salsa
Tuesday - BBQ Chicken over rice
Wednesday - Potato Soup, wheat rolls
Thursday - Sweet & Sour Chicken, rice, Egg Drop Soup
Friday - eat out
Saturday - Baked Rigatoni with Roasted Vegetables

Menu Week 101

tostadas

Monday - Robyn's Meatloaf, baked potatoes & corn
Tuesday - Chicken & Wild Rice Soup w/ rolls & fruit
Wednesday - Tostadas
Thursday - Sticky Coconut Chicken, black beans & rice
Friday - eat out
Saturday - pizza
Sunday - Cuban Chicken Salad - yes again! It's really good (scroll down to find the recipe)

Giveaway Winner

And the winner is.....

Comment #9.....RITA!!!

Congratulations to Rita (please email me your mailing address: dinnersonme (at) gmail (dot) com) and thank you to all of you for your comments. It was fun to see what beef recipes you chose from the Beef. It's What's For Dinner website.

I thought the Monster Mash Meatball Soup chosen by Kristi was a cute Halloween idea, and the St Pat's Beef Pot Pie chosen by Ms Abelnap is just what a mama needs on a chilly fall evening.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Brunch Ideas

Anyone else planning on staying in their jammies until noon this weekend? Here are some yummy brunch ideas for you to enjoy with your families!

Oh and a quick reminder to enter the giveaway for the grilling gift bag. I've had a couple of emails about it and I guess I wasn't very clear in my last post - sorry. There are three separate ways you can enter, but you don't have to do all three. Also, I'm extending the cut off for the giveaway until Friday at midnight (MST). Not for any good reason, but just because I don't have any time to sit at the computer tomorrow until really late at night. So head back to the giveaway post and leave us a "where's the beef" comment! Now back to the brunch recipes....

German Apple Pancakes (recipe here)

Really delicious - very sweet. It's almost hard for me to eat something this sweet for breakfast. Almost. This was excellent in my cast iron skillet.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Strata (recipe here)
I wasn't sure how I would like this one, but it was yummy enough for me to make again! Mr. DoM said it reminded him of quiche. I don't want to talk about quiche. (see this post for why) I made a half-batch and it fed our family of 3 1/2.

Baked Oatmeal (recipe here)
This was my favorite of the three, although I would recommend adding to the recipe. We tried cinnamon & diced apples (oh so good!) and a friend of mine added cardamom to hers and topped it with peaches and cream. Next time I make this (probably Saturday) I will try a blueberry pecan.

100 Menus Giveaway (closed)

update: Giveaway is now closed. Thanks everyone!

I have two great things going this week: my one hundredth menu post, and the final week of the Beef. It's What's For Dinner Wednesdays Challenge. I have to say that it's been fun to participate in the BIWFD Challenge, and I've learned a bit more about beef after surfing around on their site (like this very handy little chart). As part of the final week of the Challenge, and to celebrate my 100th menu post, I'm giving away a grilling gift bag to one of my lucky readers, courtesy of the BIWFD people.

The grilling gift bag includes a copy of The Healthy Beef Cookbook -



a set of four Sur La Table Mini-Steak Thermometers -



a set of Crate & Barrel Grilling Tools, including a cute carrying bag -


plus a few more goodies! (As a thank you for being an ambassador for the Challenge, I was sent one of the grilling gift bags as well - that's what I used for the above photos. Your gift bag will be un-used and un-photographed :-)


Ready for the details? There will be three ways to enter the giveaway -

1. Leave a comment on this post that simply says "where's the beef?"
   
2. Blog about the giveaway on your blog, link to here, and then leave a comment on this post to let me know. (Be sure to include your blog address)
   
3. Visit the recipe finder on www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com then leave a comment on this post and tell me which yummy recipe has caught your eye.

The giveaway will be open until Friday, October 2 at Noon (MST). US residents only, please. Winner will be chosen using Random.org and announced Saturday morning. Good luck!