gobble gobble and grub

photo credit and sign maker 

happy thanksgiving to our internet family. we are humbled by all of the love and support that we have received from all of you since starting on this blogging adventure 6 months ago. we are so very thankful for all of you and wish you a day filled with love, laughter and thankfulness.

gobble. gobble. 

xoxo

chach + nellie

ps--

wondering what to do with all of those amazing turkey day leftovers? try this super yummy casserole. you won't regret it. love.

thanksgiving leftovers casserole

2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
2 cups of leftover vegetables (whatever you have: peas, green beans, mushrooms, etc.)
2 cups of leftover stuffing
2 cups leftover turkey (you could also make this with honey baked ham, or another meat)
2 cups leftover mashed potatoes
2 eggs
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees f.

2. melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat and saute the onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. stir in the remaining vegetables and the turkey. mix together and remove from heat.

3. in a casserole dish (9×13-inch), spread the stuffing over the bottom. add the turkey and vegetable mixture and spread evenly on top of the stuffing. in a medium bowl, mix together the mashed potatoes and the eggs until thoroughly combined. spread this on top of the turkey and vegetable mixture. top with the shredded cheese.

3. bake for 25 to 30 minutes. let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

mmmmm, mondays: turkey rice crispy treats

i'm always looking for cute things to make for or with my kids for the holidays. i saw a picture of something like this and thought i could duplicate it. here's what i did...

you'll need to make two batches of the following so shop accordingly.

4 tablespoons butter

1-10.5 oz. bag of miniature marshmallows

6 cups cocoa crispies

melt the butter and marshmallows over low heat in a large pot until smooth. add the rice crispies and mix until well blended. pour into a 11 x 14 rectangular dish sprayed well with non- stick cooking spray. using wax paper stayed well with nonstick spray, press the mixture firmly into the rectangular dish.

repeat this entire process but instead of pressing into an 11 x 14 dish, press into a large flat jelly role pan. you won't have enough of the mixture to completely fill the pan. that's okay. you will still have plenty to complete the turkeys.

allow both trays to cool and harden.

using round objects from your kitchen (i used a donut cutter and a round cheese shredder), cut the rice crispies into two different sized circles. use the larger pan to cut about 3 inch circles and the smaller pan to cut about 1 and 1/2 inch circles. i was able to get 24 circles of each size cut from the pans with some treats leftover.

here's what you'll need to decorate your turkeys:

1 bag small pretzel sticks

1 bag small pretzel twists

1 can vanilla frosting (this can be in a tub)

1 container of decorative chocolate frosting

1 bag of candy corn

stick the two circles together with the vanilla frosting. use two straight pretzel sticks in between the two pieces to become the turkey's legs. using more vanilla frosting, attach the twisted pretzels around the top edge of the larger circle to form wings. add another layer of frosting to attach the candy corn. using the chocolate frosting, attach one more candy corn for a beak and a little bit at the top for some brown feathers. it's not exactly the snack of champions but it is very cute and a wonderfully fun addition to your thanksgiving traditions.

enjoy!

mmmmm, mondays...cheesy baked mashed potatoes

continuing on the thanksgiving theme, i'm going to throw out another recipe to add to your thanksgiving or any day repertoire. my general stance on thanksgiving food is that it's one day where things don't have to be healthy. along those lines, here's a mashed potato dish that has more cheese in it than potatoes. enjoy!

cheesy baked mashed potatoes

6-8 large potatoes, peeled, chopped into cubes, boiled until soft in salted water, mashed

1 8-oz block of cream cheese, softened

2 cups sour cream

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

salt, pepper to taste

2 t. or more of garlic powder and onion powder (or more to taste)

extra grated mozzarella and grated parmesan cheese for topping

crispy bacon, crumbled

once the potatoes have been mashed, mix in the above ingredients with a hand mixer. pour into a large baking dish and cover with extra mozzarella and parmesan cheese. bake at 300 for 30-45 minutes.

this recipe can be made in advance and baked on the day of. if refrigerating overnight, increase your oven temperature to 350 degrees, cover your potatoes for 30 minutes and then uncover for another 30 minutes.

if you don't think there's enough fat in the recipe...go ahead and throw on some crumbled bacon for good measure.

enjoy!

thanksgiving crafts, part 2

i don't know about you, but i'm always looking for something for my kids to do during the three days they have off for thanksgiving break. it is especially difficult to keep them busy when i'm trying to cook in the kitchen and can't be their personal cruise director. i need something that will keep them entertained for an hour or so while i'm trying to get the turkey business taken care of.

this craft is super easy. the kids can do all of this themselves and you will probably have most of these materials in your house.

here's what you need:

paper plates

brown paint

construction paper

glue sticks

markers


1) paint the paper plate with the brown paint. this should be done in time for it to dry before you continue with the rest of the project.

2) trace your child's hand on different colors of construction paper. have your child cut these out.
3) have your children cut out the turkey body, beak, legs, etc. if you make one of these projects in advance, they can copy the design you have done.

4) allow the kids to write down what they are thankful for on each hand. if you have an older child, this is a great way to get them involved in helping their siblings to express what they are thankful for.

5) allow your children to glue on all the pieces.

6) have your children bring their turkey's to the dinner table as placemats. as you are eating your thanksgiving meal, they can share all the things they are thankful for.

mmmmm, mondays: sweet potato casserole

whether we want to admit it or not, the holiday season is upon us. thanksgiving is right around the corner and, i don't know about you, but i'm thankful for some amazing thanksgiving recipes. here's a great one. i'm not a huge fan of sweet potatoes but this recipe is mostly butter and sugar with a little bit of sweet potato mixed in so i'll eat it. it's definitely not something you want to feed your kids every night but for thanksgiving, you won't have any leftovers...and that's something else to be thankful for!

sweet potato casserole

3 cups mashed sweet potatoes

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 stick of butter (1/4 cup)

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix the above ingredients together. Put in a 9 x 13 casserole dish.

Make the topping:

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1/2 stick of butter (1/4 cup)

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 bag miniature marshmallows

add a layer of marshmallows over the sweet potato mixture. mix together the chopped nuts, butter, brown sugar and flour. crumble evenly over the sweet potatoes and marshmallows. bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes uncovered.

this can be made the day before thanksgiving and reheated on thanksgiving day. enjoy!