Holiday Turkey Sandwich

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! I hope that you are all enjoying your version of the holiday whether it means traveling, hosting, eating turkey, or enjoying something else. I'm writing this the night before, but we are planning to watch the parade in the morning. Then if the weather holds head to my sister's to enjoy a big feast with my family.

So I decided at the start of this month to give thanks for one thing each day. It ended up being a challenging month for us (a hurt ankle for me, no power for 3 days, a broken furnace and a flat tire). I experienced the last two in the last 24 hours. Even though each one was not something I would like to repeat I did look at the positive side. Like sure I got a flat tire on the way to work, but it was close to home. We got unexpected help from a stranger... and it would have been so much worse if it happened during our travels on Thanksgiving.

Tomorrow I will take a moment to say thanks... but then I'm so ready for December. Leave the bad luck of this month behind.

Now lets talk about this sandwich. This sandwich was based off of the holiday sandwich that they have at Earl of Sandwich. We don't have an Earl of Sandwich locally, but if we are traveling and get the chance we love to go there. The best is when we get to have this holiday sandwich. I mean it just screams Yum right!  I'm so excited we were able to replicate it at home!

Ingredients

1 Sub bun
2 pieces of large turkey meat
1/2 cup stuffing
1/4 cranberries

Lay out the bread.

Cut it in half and lay out the turkey. Jim saved these pieces specifically for this sandwich.

Next add the stuffing.

Then the cranberries. We actually had some cranberry apple Lucky Leaf pie filling left so we used that instead.

Then put the top piece of bread on...

Eat and Enjoy!

This recipe originally appeared on Laura's Baking Talent.

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Turkey Alfredo Pizza

So I made this pizza a little over two weeks ago, but it seems like a decade or something. Isn't it weird how time changes on you? So tonight I'm blogging later than I would normally, because we had to make an unexpected trip to my sister's house. While we were there we decided to go out to eat at a local wings place. So I had boneless wings for dinner with this amazing garlicky Parmesan sauce. So I'm staring at these turkey pizza pics and all I can think about are wings.

That is when Ginny starts hitting the door with her paw. She has been visiting her cousin dog and playing hard all night so I know she doesn't really want to go outside. After a couple of hits though I get up and open the door for her. Its snowing again here. So she sticks her nose out there and sees its cold and snowy and decides she doesn't want to go out anymore. So she turns around and goes to the couch, and sits in my spot.

This is how I feel about black Friday shopping. We use to be hardcore Friday shoppers. We would stay up late and get up early.. and get all these great deals. Now I see the ads and I think about going, but then I remember its cold and busy out there. So I would rather go back to the couch. Steal Ginny's spot :)

Then in my imaginary perfect black Friday couch experience I would make this pizza again for lunch. Its yummy, easy, and the perfect light meal. Plus its pretty with the spinach and red peppers. Its like magical Thanksgiving Christmas pizza... eat it and get on amazon... and every one's Christmas presents will magically appear at the door.

Ingredients

1 thin pizza crust
1/2 jar of Alfredo pizza sauce
1 red pepper, chopped into long slices
1 cup of fresh spinach
1 cup of turkey, cut into smaller pieces
1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Sprinkle a cookie sheet with cornmeal. Roll out the crust. Bake for 3-4 minutes. Then cover with the Alfredo sauce.

Sprinkle on about a third of your shredded cheese and then top with the red pepper and spinach.

 
Next sprinkle on your leftover turkey.

Top with the rest of your cheese.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cheese should be melted and the crust a golden brown.

Eat and Enjoy!

This post originally appeared on Laura's Baking Talent.

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Did everyone enjoy all the Thanksgiving recipes I shared last week? I am still dreaming about Grandma's Candy Apples, and Thursday I will be filling up on my sister's corn casserole. Plus I am glad Jim took those Turkey Cookies to work, because they were just too cute for me to eat :)

The fun part of blogging is that we get to celebrate everything early and sometimes we have the weirdest meals. Last night we ate two types of cookies and then had a new soup for dinner. Yes in that order. The day I made corn casserole that was the only thing we had for lunch. My mom is probably laughing now.

So this week is Turkey Leftovers week. Jim and I baked our first turkey... it was 10 lbs and we named it Tom. Imagine that? The turkey cooking was a success, even if it did take at least 4 calls home to Mom to confirm everything we were doing. So we made the turkey and then we did Turkey Leftover week! Luckily we did this the week before last, because we would have had issues with our power being out this week. Blessings in disguise.

I'm excited about all three posts for this week. This first one is from The Pioneer Woman's New Cookbook. This book would make a fabulous Christmas present for anyone on your list that loves to cook and bake, or someone that wants to learn to cook and bake more. I love her down to earth explanations and she takes pictures of each step.

This tasted absolutely AMAZING! I actually yummed several times throughout the meal. Plus its the first time I have ever cooked with wine. I know big shock... but this is Laura's Baking Talent not Cooking Talent :) hahaha... So if you have the time and want to feel amazingly superior in the kitchen then please please make this with your turkey leftovers.

Please take note that I cut this recipe in half so that it would fill a 9X9, which was the perfect size for us.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 lb white mushrooms, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup white wine
1/8 cup flour
2 cups of chicken broth
4 oz cream cheese
1.5 cups shredded turkey
3/4 cup peas
1/2 cup Monterrey  Jack Cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
6 oz thin spaghetti noodles
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9X9 pan with butter spray.

Start out by breaking the spaghetti noodles in half and cooking them until they are al dente. While the noodles are cooking melt the butter in a large pot. Add the garlic once the butter is melted.

Throw in the mushrooms, salt and pepper. Cook them for 2-3 minutes, stirring them occasionally. Remember to not crowd the mushrooms. Pour in the wine. Cook them for another 3-4 minutes. The liquid should reduce to about half.

The next step is to sprinkle the flour on top of the cooking mixture. Then mix until its combined well with the mushrooms. Add the chicken broth and mix again. Now cook the sauce until it starts to thicken which will be about 3-4 minutes.

Now add the cream cheese, and stir until its well combined. The turkey and peas are added next. Mix them well.  The two cheeses Monterrey Jack and Parmesan go in next. Mix everything again, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Then add the spaghetti that you have cooked and drained. Mix everything again, and when its ready pour it into the prepared 9X9 pan. Make sure everything is evened out and then sprinkle on the bread crumbs.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve it warm.

Eat and Enjoy!

This recipe was adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays: 140 Step-by-Step Recipes for Simple, Scrumptious Celebrations

Chicken Pot Pie

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Turkey Cookies

So this is definitely an off week for me. My Tuesday post came out on Weds night. My Thursday post will come out on Friday. That is ok though, I'm glad that we are safe and now have power. So these Turkey Cookies are so cute. I actually made them a couple of weeks ago, and remembering them made me smile after this long week.

So I posted two side dishes that I love, but these cookies are new. They would be super fun to make with kids. Letting them pick out all the parts of the turkey.  My husband and I are still not sure if the walnut is the wattle or the snood. We did know it was important though.

So my family is huge on desserts. We will probably have 4-5 options at our Thanksgiving Dinner. We will probably have some chocolate chip cake, its pretty much a family staple.  There will also be pumpkin pie, its my dad's favorite. I may bring my new chocolate cherry ganache pie, since its so yummy! Did you see it got shared on the Lucky Leaf Facebook page. So excited!

If that wasn't enough then these cookies would be the next addition to the table. We used candy corn for the feathers. The eyes and nose are reese pieces. The waddle/snood is a chopped walnut. Its pretty amazing as you eat these cookies  you get a good mix of flavors. If you start feathers first you get candy corn and chocolate, so yummy. Then you get to the middle which is chocolate and peanut butter with the reeses, definitely can't go wrong there. Lastly you get chocolate and walnut with the last bite.

Ingredients

2 1/4 flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 package chocolate instant pudding and pie filling
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
75 candy corns
30 brown reese pieces
15 orange reese pieces
15 walnuts cut in the shape of wattles or snoods

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the flour and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside.

Mix together the softened butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Once it is well combined, add the instant pudding mix. After the pudding mix is integrated add the eggs and vanilla. Mix well.

Now add in the flour and baking soda mixture that you had previously set aside. Blend well.

Drop 3 Tbsp size cookies on the cookie sheet. Form  the cookie into a round ball so that they come out with a nice round shape. Put 6 on a cookie sheet because they will grow.

Bake for 11-13 minutes. While they are baking get the candy corn, reese pieces, and chop the walnuts.
When the cookies come out start decorating them while they are cooling on the cookie sheet. Start by inserting the candy corns around the edge of the cookie. Then press in the reese pieces and the walnut. The cookie will cool around the candy and it should stay put.

This recipe will yield 15 cookies.


Eat a cookie and enjoy!

This recipe originally appeared on Laura's Baking Talent.

Laura's Pumpkin Pie

Chocolate Chip Cake

Corn Casserole

Did you miss me on Tuesday? I sure missed all of you. We had pretty bad storms in this area on Sunday. On Sunday we lost power for a couple of hours. No biggie. I went and took a nap and all was good when I woke up. We didn't have Internet or cable, again not ideal but doable. Jim and I watched a movie from our collection and all was good.

Monday we woke up happy, and went to work. I get home from work on Monday and we have no power. What? It was pretty obvious that something happened to the power pole at the end of our sub. It was all crumbled up and was surrounded by corn. Again what? I later found out that a tractor was traveling by and hit it. Normally they probably would have had it fixed, but there were so many other people without power.

So Monday and Tuesday night we got to enjoy a simpler life. No electricity, no heat, and no water. Now that I have power I see that Jim and I actually had a little fun with it. We went out to dinner both nights, no where fancy.. but it was just nice to talk and have someone else make the food. After dinner we went shopping for nothing. Totally checked out Target for an hour, and we only bought two things. Impressed right? The second night we took Ginny to the pet store so she could window shop. She loved that.

When we did get home we read books by candlelight, and slept with about 5 blankets on the bed. We survived, it wasn't the most comfortable, but it makes me even more THANKFUL for all the amenities we do have everyday. I got home today to find power restored... and I cleaned, washed dishes in the dishwater, and started a load of laundry. What a blessing to be able to do chores :)

Ok so on to corn casserole which is way more than a day late, but still great. My sister makes this for every holiday dinner we have, no matter what the holiday. I love it, and had to ask her for the recipe to share with you. Now that I know how easy it is to make I am sure we will make it more often.

Ingredients

1 can cream style corn

1 cup ritz cracker crumbs (about one sleeve of crackers)

2/3 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup diced onion

1/2 cup celery chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon paprika

2 eggs beaten

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9X9 pan with spray butter.

Mix all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Make sure everything is well combined, this can easily be done by hand. Pour into the prepared pan.

Bake for 50-55 minutes.

Eat and Enjoy!

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Grandma's Candy Apples

I love doing my food blog. I'm really thankful for everyone that comes each day to read it. I also just love picking out the theme each week,and making all the recipes to share with all of you. The other fun thing is that I like to post before a holiday happens so that everyone has the recipes early and can plan. So I have moved up thanksgiving, and this is Thanksgiving week. I'm going to share two of our family favorites for almost any holiday, and one new recipe that I think you will just love. 

I was lucky enough to grow up with my Grandma on my mom's side right down the road. I have great memories of her stopping by at least once a week to go out to eat or chat with my mom and she was always there for all of our holiday dinners. My Grandma is no longer with us, and she is missed greatly. Around the holidays I am always reminded of her even more. For holiday dinners she would bring Candy Apples. These apples are so good. You would plan your plate around the candy apples.

My grandma and I are both Aries, with our birthdays only 2 days apart. We both loved red and were passionate and a little on the crazy side. So as I was making her recipe yesterday to share I got the feeling that she would approve :)

So please make this recipe and share it with your family. You need to make this at least ONE DAY BEFORE serving. That way it has time to age to in the fridge to get the optimal flavor. Your house will smell amazing when you make this recipe... it was like burning a candy apple candle through the whole lower level. I was slightly worried making the recipe for the first time, and Jim was like nothing that smells this good could come out bad. He was right. These really are the ultimate side dish!

Ingredients

2lbs of apples, peeled and chopped into sixths (I used Fuji apples, Grandma used Jonathon apples)
3.5 cups of water
1 box candy red hots (6 oz)
1 cup of sugar

Peel your apples and chop each one into sixths. Soak the apples in a bowl of cold water as you prepare everything to bake the apples.

Put the water, red hots, and sugar in a medium sized saucepan over low heat. Stir and let the sugar dissolve. Once the sugar has dissolved turn the heat up to medium and bring the mixture to a boil. Let it boil for 5 minutes. Stirring occasionally. The red hots should be completely dissolved at this point. 

Put in one layer of apples into the mixture. Let them bake for around 14 minutes. Stir them occasionally. The apples should be tender when you check them with a fork. Put the first layer in the bowl you plan to serve them in. Then repeat with the second layer.

After all the apples are in the serving dish pour the remaining sauce on top of them. Place them in the fridge. They should age for at least one day before serving.

Eat and Enjoy!

This recipe originally appeared on Laura's Baking Talent.

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Meatloaf Muffins

Remember on Tuesday how I mentioned it was a blizzard outside. Well we got a foot of snow. A whole foot. Crazy!  The area was totally not prepared. The roads were a mess, I drive 15 minutes to work and it took me 40 minutes on Tuesday morning. On top of that I saw two accidents. I got to work and I had permanent white knuckles!  Then I realized they hadn't plowed our parking lot at work. Epic battle to get in and out. I got home and made this meatloaf... it truly was COMFORT food for me.

I have to admit that today's post was not going to be meatloaf muffins. The other recipe I made didn't turn out quite as I expected. I would never post a recipe that I didn't like on the blog. So comfort food week had already started and I as missing the third post. So Jim and I were walking Ginny dog (pre-blizzard), and I was like what is your first thought when you think comfort food.

Jim's first answer was meatloaf. Of coarse! You really can't get closer to comfort food, then with meatloaf. In our house though we don't do meatloaf in a meatloaf pan that would not be fun. I cook it in a muffin pan. There are two reasons for doing it this way. The first is they are so cute. I mean if you can make something as hardy as meatloaf cuter you just have to do it. The second is that this one batch makes dinner for us twice, and makes a good lunch for Jim to take to work. You can just freeze and reheat the ones that you don't have the first night.

Ingredients

1 1/4 lbs ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 egg, whisked with a little milk
1 cup bread crumbs
2 Tbsp grill seasoning (I used bacon maple seasoning)
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup salsa
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a large bowl or in your stand mixer mix together the ground beef, onion, and pepper. Once combined add the egg, bread crumbs, grill seasoning, ketchup, salsa, and Worcestershire sauce. Mix until everything is well combined.

Spray a muffin pay with spray butter or brush with olive oil. The recipe will yield 15 meatloaf muffins.  Use an ice cream scoop or a large spoon to fill each muffin cup almost completely full. Bake for 20 minutes. Then sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese and bake for another 1-2 minutes. Just long enough for the cheese to melt.

Eat and Enjoy!

This recipe originally appeared on Laura's Baking Talent.

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Chocolate Chip Cookies

Its snowing out! Its not just snowing its like a blizzard outside. Some people at work were saying that we may get 6 inches. I know I live in Michigan and its mid November so this isn't out of the realm of possibilities, but it still makes me sad.

So I left work a little later than I wanted, and drove to the store in the snow. It was an essential trip to the store. So I get out of the car and I have my list. I'm going to go in, get my stuff and not get distracted. So I walk through the snow slipping because I have on silly work shoes and not boots like a sane person. I get to the door and I have this moment where I feel like I forgot something. So I'm standing in the snow thinking about what I forget, and then it comes to me... my purse is in the car. So I got to love the snow even more with my return trip across the parking lot :) 

 Once inside things went better and I only got distracted once in the baking  aisle and once in the candy aisle :) Nonetheless  I came home in the mood for comfort food. Food like these chocolate chip cookies. I had one of those awesome moms that would have a batch of warm cookies waiting for you when you got home from school. There is NOTHING better than a warm chocolate chip cookie.

This is my go to cookie recipe in times of need. Need... well when you need a for sure home run cookie that anyone will love. New neighbor moves in. Your husband accidentally forgets to tell you that he needs to bring something for the work potluck tomorrow, etc. I always have the fixings for these cookies in my house. If I don't than something is majorly wrong.

I have actually already shared variations of this cookie with you on the blog already: banana split cookies, yup those are from this base recipe. Remember the pumpkin spice chocolate chip cookies, same base recipe.

There are two keys to this recipe. The first is I use half white chips and half semi sweet chips. People love the color and taste differences of the two chips. The second is they need to be LARGE. No one can pass up a large moist cookie. I make each cookie 3 Tbsp big. Yum!

I really need to go make these cookies right now......

Ingredients

2 1/4 flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 package instant pudding and pie filling
2 eggs
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the flour and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside.

Mix together the softened butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Once it is well combined, add the instant pudding mix. After the pudding mix is integrated add the eggs and vanilla. Mix well.

Now add in the flour and baking soda mixture that you had previously set aside. Blend well.

Add the chocolate chips and white chocolate chips, use low speed on your mixer or do it by hand.

Drop 3 Tbsp size cookies on the cookie sheet. Form  the cookie into a round ball so that they come out with a nice round shape. Put 6 on a cookie sheet because they will grow.

Bake for 11-13 minutes.

Eat a cookie and enjoy!

This recipe originally appeared on Laura's Baking Talent

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Chicken Pot Pie

Any else celebrating the Month of Giving Thanks? I have been doing it on my personal Facebook account, and I have several friends doing the same. Every day we take the time to post about what we are thankful for that day. Its great way to reflect for me, and I love to see what my friend's are thankful for as well. 

What I am thankful for changes every day, but the idea is basically the same. I am thankful for all the comforts in my life. Sometimes we all have to deal with things that are hard and uncomfortable. There may have been a bad day at work, someone is sick, there is some kind of emergency. One thing I always turn to in these kind of situations is comfort food. I'm not sure it actually changes the situation, but it sure does make you feel better. So this week I am going to share with you some of my favorite comfort foods.

Starting out with Chicken Pot Pie. You can't get more comforting than Chicken Pot Pie. The great thing about this recipe is that it is super easy to make, especially if you have pie crust in your freezer. Which I totally had because I saved half from the Apple Pie that I made the week before.

Jim and I had both had a long day at work so I took the pie crust out of the freezer and we took Ginny for a walk and then I made this pot pie, and you know what we ate it and life was a little bit better :)

The filling for this recipe makes two 20 oz ramekins. The pie crust will be enough for 4 ramekins (you can freeze the extra half or make more filling.). If you leave the pie crust as is, and double the filling you can fill a 10" pie pan and its a family meal vs a meal with individual servings.

Ingredients

Pie Crust

3 cups all purpose flour
1.5 cups butter shortening
1 egg
5 Tbsp cold water
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 tsp salt

Filling (double for 4 ramekins or if you are using a 10" pie pan)

1 can (10.75 oz) cream of potato soup
1 can mixed vegetables
1 cup cooked, diced chicken
1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp black pepper
1.5 Tbsp flour

To make the pie crust put the flour in a large bowl. Add the shortening and cut it in with a pastry cutter. Keep cutting up the shortening until it is fully integrated into the flour. Crack the egg in a separate small bowl and whisk it. Pour the egg over the flour mixture. Than pour the water over that. Next add the vinegar and lastly sprinkle on the salt. Then mix everything together with a wooden spoon. Everything should be mixed, but try to not over mix the dough.

At this time get out a big Ziploc bag and divide the dough in half, putting one of half of the dough in the bag. Roll out the dough till its mostly flat so that it freezes nicely for you. Roll out the remaining dough, if you have time it will roll a little better if its cold, but if not that is fine the crust of chicken pot pie doesn't have to look perfect.

If you are working with pre-made frozen dough, then plan for it to defrost for 10 minutes on the counter.
Roll out the dough into a thin layer. Fill the bottom of the ramekins with the pie crust. Prepare dough for the top of the pie as well.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Pour the potato soup into a medium saucepan. Stir in the milk, thyme, black pepper, and flour. Make sure everything is fully combined.

Then add the vegetables and cooked chicken.  Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Let it boil for a couple of minutes, stirring frequently.

Pour the filling into the previously prepared pie crust.

Top with the remaining pie crust.

Bake for 10 minutes. When the pot pies are removed from the oven let them set for 5-8 minutes before eating.

Eat and Enjoy!

This recipe originally appeared on Laura's Baking Talent.

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