Mini Thanksgiving

Often I am drawn to the comforts of fall themed food. Thanksgiving dinner is by far one of my favorite meals. It's also one of the few meals that my entire family(even picky Madi) will eat. Here's what's cooking away in my crockpot today. If your wondering what all that is, we it's this- turkey roast from Costco

Most of the time I don't measure, I just kind of toss. Today it was a couple of sweet potatoes, a couple of carrots, one onion, an apple and a generous handful of cranberries. All in the bottom of the crockpot. Then I put that roast right on top with cracked pepper and salt. I also threw in some fresh thyme, rosemary and sage. The top right picture is fresh cranberry sauce before it cooks. Again no real recipe- a bag of cranberries, the zest of one orange, then I added all the Orange after I cut all the peel off. A cup of sugar to sweeten things up a bit, cook over medium heat,stirring occasionally till its thick and yummy. Oh and I tossed in some ginger and cinnamon. Those rolls however- frozen Rhodes Texas rolls. Shhh my family will never know! 

Foodie Pen Pal # 2

This month I received a wonderful box from Kiersten at Testing TasteBuds. It was a fabulous box of goodies. It came right before my husband and oldest son went on a road trip. She shared some Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies that were yummy. I've made them twice now there that good. The Peanut Butter Granola was so good that I hunted it down to include in my own box this month. Since my person was out of town and I sent it late. That rice Krispee treat you see was HUGE and covered in chocolate! I shared it with my husband over a couple of nights it was that big. We love fiber one bars in our house, I didn't eat these. My kids snatched them up before I even knew they were gone. Speaking of kids they saw those Dora Chocolate milk straws. I'm saving them for a rainy day when we need a little something special to get through dreary June in Washington. Thanks again Kiersten it was all fabulous!

Triple Chocolate Cherry Fudge Cake

My mom started making this cake years ago. Originally it was made in a 9x13 cake pan with chocolate pudding on top. I've taken it and changed it up and at least in my opinion made it better.

Ingredients:

1-2 Cans Cherry pie filling

1 Devils Food Cake Mix

1/2 package Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Mix cake mix according to directions on box. Add in the pie filling and chocolate chips. Bake in a bundt pan according to time and temp on cake mix box. 

Topping:

1/2 pint Heavy Cream

1 package semi sweet or dark chocolate chips

Scald Cream, take off of heat and pour in chocolate chips. The chips will melt and make a creamy ganache type topping for your cake. Cool and then pour over cake. If you want you can sprinkle with more chopped chocolate or leave as is. 

Serve with a tall glass of milk!

Slow Cooker Sausage & Peppers

Slow Cooker Sausage & Peppers

6 Italian Sausage 

2 green peppers
1 red pepper
1 large onion

couple stalks of celery
4 cloves garlic, minced- I just use a heaping tablespoon of my minced jarred garlic.
2 cans Italian diced tomatoes

                                                                2 Tbs Italian seasoning

Cook on low 8 hours in crockpot. After cooking, serve over hot pasta or on Toasted Sourdough Rolls. I loved this recipe. It was super easy and super good. Parker loved it, Cole was indifferent and Madi hated it. Really though Madi hates most things so her opinion doesn't really count. I for see this being added into our meal rotation.

Freezer Directions- Put all ingredients into a gallon size Ziploc bag and freeze till ready to use.

Rookie Foodie Pen Pal

So I purchased my goods and gathered my treats for my first go round with Foodie Pen Pals. It was so much fun. I did however learn some things. My box weighed a little more then I thought it would but that's okay! Next time I will just buy a prepaid box from the post office.

I got my box in the mail, pretty early. There was no way I could wait to open it. I opened it up as soon as I got in the door with it. I'm a big fan of chocolate. Something I love but don't get very often is spicy chocolate. You know like Chocolate and Cayenne pepper truffles etc. The very nice Alex from I eat Asphalt sent me a great little box full of yummy treats.She sent the yummiest hot chocolate. Its chocolaty and spicy all in one yummy cup of goodness. The Prune Walnut log was interesting. I has never seen anything like it. It was slightly sweet with a little texture from the walnuts. After looking it up online I read somewhere to pair it with cheese and crackers. It was so much better that way. The brown rice marshmallow treats, i thought would be a hit with my three kids. Not so much! I thought they were okay. It was a nice sweet but not overly sweet treat. Now for my favorite thing in the box. The thing that I went and hunted down at the closest Trader Joes. A dark chocolate speculos bar. I'll admit I had no idea what speculos was. I hesitantly tried a nibble, and then another and another and another. It was super yummy! I then had to look it up and see what it was. I now have a few hidden in my cupboard for those I NEED chocolate moments that life throws you at times. Thank you so much Alex for sending me a box of yummy goodness! I'll definitely be doing this again.

Foodie Pen Pals

I love food, and not just any food but I love to try new food. At any given time I can tell you the newest chocolate, candy or what ever on the market. I found a pen pal site made just for me! I stumbled across a blog called the lean green bean. They have whats called a foodie pen pal group. I get to mail a box full of my favorite treats to someone clear across the country to try, while on the flip side someone else will be sending me a box of surprises. I can't hardly wait to shop and drop my box in the mail. Want to know my favorite part about this? You have to include a hand written note to your person. I love to write notes but in an age of texts,emails and phone calls who takes the time to write anymore? I don't ever, but I love to and I will love having an excuse to pick out a cool card/stationary to send along with my treats. If you want to check out what I get in my box. come back for a visit at the end of the month and see my reveal post. I am sure it will be GRAND!

Ketchup Chicken

My friend Amy gave me this recipe. It turned out really well. The best part- the kids even ate it.

1Cup Mayo
1/2 Cup Ketchup
4T. Brown sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
1tsp Mustard
1tsp ginger
1/2tsp. Pepper
1tsp garlic powder
1T Soy Sauce
4T Vinegar
3T Worcestershire Sauce

Mix it all up and pour over chicken. I did it over chicken legs but I imagine it would be good on anything.
Bake at 300* for 2 1/2 hours.