Happy X-Mas!

Yummy Sausage, Apple and Cranberry Stuffing

                     Happy Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving stuffing is fantastic! It is very flavorful and fresh-tasting. This recipe will stuff a 10-pound turkey (which serves six) plus extra. I replaced the usual pork sausage with much healthier turkey sausage. Other dried fruits may also be used in place of cranberries.

Here is what you will need. 

• 1 1/2 cups cubed whole wheat bread
• 3 3/4 cups cubed white bread
• 1 pound ground turkey sausage
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3/4 cup chopped celery
• 2 1/2 teaspoons dried sage
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 Golden Delicious apple, cored and chopped
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
• 1 cooked turkey liver, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup turkey stock
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

And here is how you put it all together. 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F (175 degree C). Spread the white and whole wheat bread cubes in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes in the preheated oven, or until evenly toasted. Transfer toasted bread cubes to a large bowl.
2. In a large skillet, cook the sausage and onions over medium heat, stirring and breaking up the lumps until evenly browned. Add the celery, sage, rosemary, and thyme; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes to blend flavors.
3. Pour sausage mixture over bread in bowl. Mix in chopped apples, dried cranberries, parsley, and liver. Drizzle with turkey stock and melted butter, and mix lightly. Spoon into turkey to loosely fill.

Yummy No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake

                                        Happy Thanksgiving

My second recipe for November is the very yummy No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake. It is so easy to make and so delicious.

Here is the list of things you are going to need.

1/4 cup cold water

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

1 pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin

3 pudding cups, vanilla

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 graham cracker pie crust

dairy whipping topping

And here is how you put it all together to make the pie.

Place water in a small saucepan and sprinkle with gelatin; let stand 1 minute. Stir over low heat until gelatin dissolved, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, set aside.

Blend cream cheese, pumpkin, pudding, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium until smooth.

Add gelatin the mixture; beat on low until combined. Pour into crust.

Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or until firm.

Top each slice with whipped topping just before serving.

Yummy Cheese Ball

                                                   Happy Thanksgiving

My first recipe for the month of November for Thanksgiving is the very delicious Cheese ball. It is a very yummy recipe and is great served with crackers. Your Thanksgiving guest (friends and family) are going to love snacking on the cheese and crackers while they wait for the great big Thanksgiving Dinner.

Here is everything you need to collect up before starting.

• 1 pound bacon
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1 cup chopped pecans

And here is how you put it all together and make your guests happy. :-)

1. In a large skillet fry the bacon. Remove the bacon from the skillet and drain on paper towels. Chop or break the cooled bacon into small pieces.
2. In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, bacon, mayonnaise, and green onions. When mixed well, form 2 balls out of the mixture. Cover and refrigerate 3 to 4 hours, or overnight.
3. Before serving, roll the cheese balls in the chopped pecans.

Marshmallow Popcorn Balls

                                  Happy Halloween

My eleventh recipe for October is the delicious Marshmallow Popcorn Balls. These are very easy popcorn balls to make. The marshmallows make them similar to crispy rice cereal bars that are so popular. Made with marshmallows, these are sweet, crispy, and chewy.

You are going to need to collect a few simple things to get started.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup  un-popped popcorn

6 tablespoons butter

5 cups miniature marshmallows

And here is what you do with the four things you have collected up.

1. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Set aside.
2. Add vegetable oil to a 4 quart saucepan, and heat over high heat. When oil is hot, add popping corn. Keep pan moving constantly. When corn stops popping, remove from heat. Put popcorn in prepared pan.
3. Melt butter In a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir in marshmallows and cook until melted, stirring constantly. Pour marshmallow mixture over popcorn and mix with spoon to coat evenly.
4. Let mixture cool slightly. Smear butter on your hands or spray with non-stick cooking spray. Mix popcorn with your hands so that it is evenly coated.
5. Form popcorn into 8 balls. 

 You can add whatever flavor you with too these yummy Halloween treats, I like to use Caramel for delicious Caramel Popcorn Balls.

Salty Sweet Caramel Apples

                              Happy Halloween

My tenth recipe for October is the delicious Salty Sweet Caramel Apples. Children love helping out making them and love helping eat them as well. It's always a good thing when you can get your kids to eat an apple.

Here is the list of ingredients that you need to make the Caramel Apples.

6 Granny Smith apples

6 wooden sticks

1 (14 ounce) package individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped

2 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 tablespoons coarse sea salt

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

And here is how you put it all together for the great Halloween treat.

1. Insert wooden sticks 3/4 of the way into the stem end of each apple. Place apples on a cookie sheet covered with lightly greased aluminum foil.
2. Combine caramels and water in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring often, until caramel melts and is smooth. Stir in the vanilla. Dip each apple into the caramel and gently run apples around insides of saucepan to scrape off some of the caramel. Scrape excess caramel from the apple bottoms using the side of the saucepan. Place on the aluminum foil. Sprinkle lightly with the coarse salt and chill.
3. Put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Cook in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until melted and smooth. Drizzle over the apples and return them to the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Roasting Pumpkin Seeds

                               Happy Halloween

My ninth recipe for October is the leftover seeds from your scary cool pumpkins that you carved just for Halloween. This time I am adding two different recipes for Pumpkin seeds so try them both and enjoy.

When you're carving your Halloween pumpkins, don't throw away the seeds! Toasted and salted, pumpkin seeds have a nutty flavor. They're even better flavored with sweet and savory spices.

  
 Super simple Pumpkin Recipe
Rinse pumpkin seeds under cold water and pick out the pulp and strings. (This is easiest just after you've removed the seeds from the pumpkin, before the pulp has dried.)

Place the pumpkin seeds in a single layer on an oiled baking sheet, stirring to coat. If you prefer, omit the oil and coat with non-stick cooking spray.

Sprinkle with salt and bake at 325 degrees F until toasted, about 25 minutes, checking and stirring after 10 minutes.

Let cool and store in an air-tight container.

Here are two of my favorite Pumpkin seed recipes and what you are going to need to bake them.

Cinna-Sweet Pumpkin Seeds

4 cups pumpkin seeds, rinsed and dried

1/2 cup margarine, melted

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup white sugar, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 

Combine the pumpkin seeds, margarine, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl; stir to coat the seeds. Spread the seeds in a single layer in a 10x15 inch jelly roll pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes; stir and return to oven for 15 minutes more; remove from oven and sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over the seeds; stir to coat. 
Return to oven and bake another 15 minutes before removing again to sprinkle with remaining sugar and stirring. Bake another 15 minutes. Allow to cool before serving. Store leftover seeds in an airtight container.  

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

2 cups raw pumpkin seeds

1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 1/4 teaspoons seasoned salt 
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). 

Rinse the pumpkin seeds and pat dry. Place them in a bowl. Add the Worcestershire sauce, melted butter and seasoned salt; stir until evenly coated. Spread out in an even layer on a baking sheet. 

Bake for about 1 hour in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally, until crisp, dry and golden brown.

"I personally just enjoy mine plain with seasoned salt, toasted in the oven but which ever you enjoy take the recipes and have fun with them. Get your kids involved because they love this kind of stuff.:-)"