Spicy Salsa Verde Turkey Soup

1 diced onion
1 diced orange, yellow, red or green bell pepper
2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp paparika
1/4 tsp cumin
1 tbsp cilantro - chopped or dried
1 tbsp parsley
1/4 cup of margarita mix or lime juice
1 jar salsa verde
3-4 cups of stock (turkey, chicken or veggie or a bit of all)
S&P

Saute the onion, pepper, turkey, garlic and spices. Add the stock and salsa verde. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Cherry Yum Yum

2 sticks of butter
2 cups flour
1 cup of chopped pecans

1 -8oz box of cream cheese - soft
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tub of cool whip

2 cans of cherry pie filling

Mix the butter, flour and pecans. Press into the bottom of a 9X13 pan and bake for 25 minutes or until browned on 350. Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Fold in the cool whip. After the bottom has cooled, add the cream cheese mixture and layer on top. Then add the cherry pie filling to the top. Put into the refridgerator until cool and set.

Thanks Grandma! This is one of my all time favorite desserts!!

Green Beans with Onion and an Apple Cider Reduction

1-2 lbs of fresh green beans - washed and ends snipped
1/2 medium onion - diced
3/4 bottle of Woodchuck Apple Cider
1/2 tsp ground sage
1 tbsp minced garlic
S&P

Blanche the green beans for about 3 minutes and remove.

Add onions, garlic, sage S&P to a pan (sprayed with Pam) . Saute for 2 or 3 minutes. Add 3/4 of the bottle of Apple Cider to the pan and reduce for about 10 minutes or so. Add the green beans and toss.

** You can use regular Apple Cider if you can find it. **

Mom's Dressing with Apples

1 box of Jiffy Cornbread Mix
1 loaf of Wheat Bread (from the bakery at the grocery store)
2 cups of diced chicken
1 medium onion
3-4 stalks of celery
4 hard boiled eggs - chopped
2 medium apples - chopped
2 cups of chicken stock
S&P

Follow the directions on the cornbread mix. Bake the night before and leave out to dry. Take the bread out and leave it out to dry also.

The morning of add the diced chicken, onion and celery to the food processor. Add the cornbread, wheat bread, chicken, onion, celery and chopped hard boiled eggs and apples. Combine and add enough stock to wet the mixture. Add S&P to taste.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour.

** To make individual portions spray a muffin tin with Pam and bake as listed above. Let them sit for about 30 minutes or more before trying to remove them from the pan - or they fall apart **

Turkey with Herbed Butter and Citrus

1 -12 lb Turkey
1 stick of butter - soft
1/2 tsp ground sage
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp basil
3 oranges peeled and chopped
1 lemon peeled and chopped
1 lime peeled and chopped

Clean out, rinse and pat the turkey dry. Peel all the citrus fruit (make sure to get to the flesh and all the white pith off) and chop. Stuff the cavity with the citrus. In a bowl add the soft butter and herbs. Rub the skin and under the skin around the breast meat with herbed butter.

Bake on 325 for 10-12 min per pound.

Thanksgiving Dinner

This year was my first year to make all of Thanksgiving Dinner without Mom. I had a great assistant (Kristine) who helped to make all things go smoothly... The menu included:

Turkey with Herbed Butter and Citrus
Mom's Stuffing with Apples
Citrus Cranberry
Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Beans with an Apple Cider Reduction
Frog Eye (Fruit Salad)
Cherry Yum Yum

Everything turned out very well and all the recipes will follow. Hope everyone had a faulous Thanksgiving and was able to spend time with those you love.

Chicken & Rice Soup

64 oz Homemade Stock (1/2 Vegetable & 1/2 Chicken)
1 cup Brown Rice
5 carrots - peeled and chopped
5 celery stalks - cleaned and chopped
Left over Shredded Chicken
2 tbsp Butter
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp dried cilantro
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried parsley
S&P

Melt butter and add carrots, celery and garlic. Add all spices. Mix together. Add all the stock and bring to a boil. Then add shredded chicken and rice and S&P. Stir and cook on low with a lid for about 1 hour or until brown rice is done. Stir & Serve.

** You can use one BOX of each chicken stock and vegetable stock if you don't have any homemade. **

Appetizer Meatballs

1 pkg frozen Turkey Meatballs
1 jar Heinz Chili Sauce
1 jar Grape Jelly
water

Add Turkey Meatballs, Heinz Chili Sauce and Grape Jelly with 1/2 jar (Heinz Chili Sauce) water to a crock pot. Turn on low for 2-4 hours. Stir every hour to coat the meatballs. Serve with toothpicks. Serves 4-6.

Sweet Potato Casserole

4-6 large sweet potatoes
foil
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tbsp nutmeg
2 sticks of butter
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c heavy cream
1 bag of large marshmellows

Scrub sweet potatoes and wrap in foil. Bake on 350 for 1 1/2 hour - 2 hours. Remove and let sit for about 15 minutes. Remove from the foil and scrape out the insides and throw the skins away. Add to a large bowl with cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, brown sugar and heavy cream. Stir together until smooth. Put mixture in a 9X13 glass pan and bake on 350 for about 20 minutes. Add the marshmellows to the top and bake for about 10 minutes until marshmellows are melted and starting to brown.

** Baking the sweet potatoes the night before and skinning them and putting them in the fridge overnight saves about 2 hours. **

** This can also be added to a roaster (in small aluminum pans) and put on 350 for about 30 minutes with the marshmellows on top. The sides will brown and the marshmellows will melt but the middle of the marshmellows will not brown **

Asian Turkey Meatloaf

1 pkg ground Turkey

3 carrots

1 onion

2 stalks celery

3 garlic cloves

1 small piece of ginger (about 1/2 inch piece)

1 tsp brown sugar

2 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped

1/2 lemon juiced

1 tsp dried cilantro (or 1 tsp chopped fresh cilantro)

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

S&P

1/4 c panko bread crumbs

Add carrots, onion, celery, garlic and ginger to a food processor. Pulverize until almost smooth. Add vegetable mixture to the ground turkey. Combine. Add sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, parsley, cilantro, red pepper, lemon juice, S&P and panko to the mixture and combine well.

Place in pie plate and make a well in the middle. Smooth edges and bake for 45 - 60 minutes on 375.

** This is a really easy and simple take on Turkey Meatloaf. The juice can be used for a cooking liquid for vegetables. Just drain into a pot and bring to a boil. Then add vegetables. **

Thanks to Constance Kern for the idea.

Baked Ziti

1 lb of ziti - cooked according to directions

2 lbs of Ricotta

2 eggs

8 oz of shredded cheese

1 small block of Mozzerella Cheese

2 large jars of Red Sauce

1/8 c chopped parsely

S&P to taste

Cook the Ziti according to the directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Add to a large mixing bowl and combine with Ricotta, eggs, 8 oz of shredded cheese, S&P and parsley. Mix well to combine but don't break the pasta. Add 1 jar of sauce to the bottom of the pan. Spread the pasta and cheese mixture in the pan. Add the second jar of sauce to the top. Slice the mozzerella cheese thinly and layer accross the top. Bake for 45 minutes on 350.

This is a great recipe for family get together's. You can freeze a portion of it before you bake it.

** This recipe is from Kristine Cahill and her mom **

Tomato Salad

18 Tomatos - chopped

3 or 4 sprigs of fresh dill - chopped

1/3 cup fresh oregano - chopped

1/2 c fresh basil - chopped

1/4 c black pepper

3/4 c olive oil

1/2 - 3/4 onion - thinly sliced

2 containers feta cheese

3 lemons - juiced

Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix. Refridgerate for 1 hour or overnight. More tomatoes can be added if you need. Good to make for a large crowd!

** This recipe is from Kristine Cahill & her mom **

Sausage, Peppers & Onions

6-8 Sausage Links

2 large sweet onions (peeled)

2 large yellow bell peppers (seeded)

4 large red bell peppers (seeded)

2 tbsp minced garlic

S&P

1 tbsp parsley

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp crushed red pepper

1/4 c balsamic vinegar

Sear the onions and peppers on the grill for about 3 minutes on each side. Remove from the grill and add the 6 -8 sausages. Cook the sausages on the fire for about 3 minutes then turn and cook 3 more minutes. Remove from the heat and finish cooking about 10 -12 minutes (depending on how large your sausages are). Slice the onions and pepper and add to large pot on medium with a dash of oil (to keep from sticking). Once everything starts getting soft add the S*P, parsley, Italian seasoning and crushed red pepper. Stir and turn down to medium low for about 10 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and continue cooking about 15 more minutes.

Serve either on hoagie rolls or plain.

This is an easy recipe that can be manipulated for more or less people.

Applesauce

20 - 25 Apples (I used Macintosh)

2 Oranges (Zested and Juiced)

1 Lemon (Zested and Juiced)

1/3 c Brown Sugar

1 tsp Allspice

1 tbsp Cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

Core, peel and slice the apples. Toss with lemon and orange juice and zest. Add brown sugar, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg. Toss all together and add to a dutch oven and bake at 350 for 1 hour and then turn up to 450 for 1 more hour.

This recipe was adapted from a Barefoot Contessa recipe for homemade applesauce.

Chocolate Cheese

2 pkgs 8 oz Cream Cheese (room temperature)

2/3 c of brown sugar

1/3 c of white sugar

4 tsp vanilla

1 pkg Heath Bar bits

Cream together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Then add in the Heath Bar bits and stir.

You can use chocolate chips, cinnamon chips, etc or whatever you like.

** Original Recipe from Amber Wrinkle. I adapted to my taste **