Cherry Cranberry Salad - Perfect for Thanksgiving

If you were to ask me what our Thanksgiving traditions were as a child I'd have to reply that I don't think we had any. Although we had plenty of tradition's in general, Thanksgiving wasn't one of them.

One Thanksgiving around 1982 I know we were at home that year because my Uncle and four favorite cousins came to visit and we had a blizzard that year complete with the power going out. Our family had oil lamps for camping that we dug out of the garage and lit for light, along with two wood burning stoves that heated our house. However, with eight (8) kids between the ages of 2 and 15 coupled with those stoves the house was almost 90 degree's and we had to open the windows! The power went out about 3/4 of the way through preparing dinner, so we finished cooking the turkey and gravy on the old Franklin stove in the family room, and had a complete Thanksgiving dinner despite the power outage. Other Thanksgivings were spent at my Grandma N's house where we always, always, always had cherry dessert.

Although I don't specifically remember spending Thanksgivings at my Grandma H's house, I know we did some years, because I do have a very specific memory of this holiday at her dinner table. She served cranberry sauce from can in which she plunked out onto a crystal serving dish and put it in the middle of the table. With the ring lines from the can still in place, they served as her slicing marks and the cranberries looked to me like big round beet slices. This is my only memory of Thanksgiving at her home.

Now I have to say that using a can of cranberries this holiday season is actually a good idea if you don't relish the idea of cooking and popping and spicing your own cranberries. But... let's not serve it straight from the can, shall we? How about trying this simple and quick recipe on for size?


Cherry Cranberry Salad

1 6 oz. package cherry gelatin
1 1/2 c boiling water
1 (20 oz) can cherry pie filling
1 can (16 oz.) whole cranberry sauce

Combine the cherry gelatin with the boiling water and mix. Add pie filling and cranberry sauce to the gelatin and mix well. Pour into a large pan (9X13 works) and freeze it for an hour if you are in a hurry or chill it (preferred) for 3-6 hours before serving. This will serve about 6 people.

It's THAT time! Mini Thanksgiving Dinner Cupcakes!

It's an annual tradition in our family that my kids have grown up with and even at 18, 17 and 13 they still won't let me slack... this weekend is the weekend to make our mini Thanksgiving Cupcakes! 

Want to join me? 

• Brach's Maple Nut Candies 
• White frosting 
• Yellow gel food color (in a little tube) 
• nonpereils - red or green (for tiny red cranberries and green peas) I bought the long shapes and called them 'green beans' 
• caramels, melted or chocolate chips or butterscotch chips for 'gravy' 
• a package of cookies - I choose the ones with the 'pretty edge' to look like a plate 
• yellow frosting or other for the 'plate' 

Bake and cool your favorite cupcake recipe.
Place frosting on the cupcake and top each with a cookie while the frosting is soft to 'adhere' the cookie-plate to the cupcake.
Slice the maple nut candies thin and layer them as 'turkey'.
Dab some white frosting next to it for 'mashed potatoes' followed with a little dab of yellow gel food color as 'butter'.
Melt your caramels, butterscotch or chocolate chips and thin with a little oil. Drizzle over the 'turkey' as gravy. Finish it off with the 'cranberries' (red colored sugar or non-perils) and little green 'peas' or 'beans'.

 

You can slice the top off the cupcakes if you filled them 3/4 full and they have a little peak. This will let the 'plate' evenly on the top of it.

 

Homemade, Incredible, Beef and Bean Burritos

This week I made the most amazing beef burritos. So good that I had to share with my readers. Regular readers will remember that we bought 1/2 a cow this year which included a lot of beef roasts... and we are not a 'roast' family. We only like traditional roast beef dinners a few times a year, usually on a very cold, snowy winter day. Coming up with new idea's for roasts, I've stumbled upon one that I will use over and over and over (and over!) again... all year long. It's THAT good.

Homemade Beef and Bean Burritos

1 good sized roast - mine was about 4 1/2 pounds and was chuck
2 packages of taco seasoning (I used Penzey's Salsa Salad Seasoning in place of one of them - but you can use 2 regular taco seasoning packets. Only use 1 if you have a smaller roast!)
salt and pepper
tomatoes - either 2 (15 oz) sized cans of diced tomatoes or the equivalent. I used tiny tomatoes from my garden that I had frozen at harvest
1 Tablespoon oil
jalapeno's or chilies if you desire a level of hotness
1 can refried beans (leave this out if you are doing strict low-carb)

Trim the roast of excess fat now or be sure to cut it off after cooking before shredding. Place your roast in a crock pot and sprinkle the oil, seasonings, salt and pepper and tomatoes (and chilies if you use them) over all. Cook on low for 8-10 hours until completely done. There will be a lot of liquid, but don't drain it.

Using two large forks, shred the beef. Cook for another hour. Just before serving, stir in 1 can of refried beans. Warm through until all is hot and serve on tortilla shells with salsa, cheddar cheese and sour cream.

*This is one of those meals you can make ahead of time and either freeze it for future use or if possible, make it a day or two ahead, don't add the refried beans yet. It's like chili - it's even better the second day! Add the beans when you reheat it - and serve as usual.

I froze my tiny cherry tomatoes from the garden this summer and
used them - but you can use two cans of diced tomatoes

Shredding the beef with two large forks is quick and easy!

A family favorite!

*To make this very low carb you can leave out the refried beans or just use 1/2 of a can for the entire recipe and you will only have about 1 carb added per serving.




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Apparently we are too 'busy' to make more than 1 weeks worth of meals... all year long!

I was reading the UK news tonight and saw an article that stated a recent study found that mother's there rotate just 9 meals to feed their families.

Researchers found that hectic lifestyles, fussy children and partners who work long hours mean mothers are stuck in a rut when it comes to experimenting in the kitchen.

Nine in ten mothers polled admitted cooking the same meals over and over again while one in four make the same meals on the same day of the week.

The research found that the average mother has eight cookery books in their house, but has attempted just five recipes. Two thirds have at least four books that have never seen the light of day.


Their nine most relied-upon meals are....

1. Spaghetti Bolognese

2. Roast dinner

3. Shepherds Pie/Cottage Pie

4. Pasta dish

5. Meat and two veg

6. Pizza

7. Casserole/stew

8. Sausages and chips/mash

9. Indian/Curry


Ahhh... so painful for me to read!

American parents aren't much different - although our list of top foods have a few American substitutions such as cheeseburgers. Still, as a Mom who knows how easy it is to improvise, to stir up homemade in the same amount of time that store-bought takes, and who knows the taste of home made verses most store bought, canned or frozen meals can out beat it in a heartbeat... I also lament the loss of the 'skills' our children are being raised with.

Learning to cook was a mandatory class when I was in junior high in the 80's. "Home Ec" was for both boys and girls. I know my own children's Middle School requires the kids to take a semester of cooking and of sewing in 8th grade. For that I'm thankful! Just a few basics can not only set them on the path of self-sufficiency later in life, but it might just spur the imagination and help the kids to discover a life-long love of cooking!

Low Carb 'Chocolate Chip' Cookies

I thank Dana Carpender for the inspiration behind this one. I knew my husband would love some chocolate chip cookies but I also knew he was serious about wanting to do 4 weeks of no-sugar and low carbs. Thumbing through my copy of 500 Low-Carb Recipes, I spied this one and even though I didn't have all the ingredients it called for, I knew I could improvise. (Ok readers, what do I always say? Play with your food! Improvise! Use recipes as a guide and then make them your own!)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c butter
1 1/2 c Splenda
1 1/2 t black strap molasses (yes it's molasses but it's it's the lowest sugar/carb and it helps for flavor)
2 eggs
1 c ground almonds
1 c vanilla flavored why protein powder (I used NNW brand - which we love)
1/4 c wheat bran (or oat bran)
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 c chopped pecans or walnuts
1 small package sugar free chocolate bars (I used Hershey's brand - about 8 mini bars)
I banged the mini candy bars with my rolling pin to break them up into pieces and crumbled them into the dough in place of chocolate chips


Preheat your oven to 375. Beat the Splenda with the butter and molasses until well mixed. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well. In another bowl stir the ground almonds, whey powder, wheat or oat bran, baking soda and salt. Add this to the butter/Splenda mixture about 1/2 cup at a time to incorporate.

Stir in the nuts and chocolate chunks. Drop by tablespoons onto a sprayed/greased cookie sheet or parchment paper. Form into nicely shaped rounds and flatten a bit with your hand. Bake for approximately 10 minutes, let cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes and then remove to a rack or counter to cool. The original recipe said each cookie yields about 3 carbs.







The dry mix; almonds, whey powder, oat bran, etc.


















Forming into rounds (a bit sticky)

















Great with coffee... My husband dunks his in half & half.