Thanksgiving Dinner Favorite Recipes

November 15, 2021November 14, 2021 RefreshHer2 Comments

In case you need a little inspiration for your upcoming Thanksgiving celebration (or for Christmas), I’m going to share some of my favorite recipes for special holiday meals. That doesn’t mean they’re difficult or fussy, they’re simply delicious!

Everyone needs a great start to the day. What will you serve for breakfast? Here are a couple delicious breads:

Breakfast

Nutty Orange Coffee Cake
3/4 C Sugar
1/2 C chopped pecans
2 tsp grated orange rind
8 oz. pkg reduced-fat cream cheese
2 (11 oz) cans refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1/2 C butter or margarine, melted
1 C sifted powdered sugar
1 T orange juice

Combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside.
Place about 1 tsp cream cheese on half of each biscuit; fold biscuit over cheese, pressing edges to seal.
Dip biscuits in melted butter, and dredge in sugar mixture; place, curved side down, in a lightly greased 12-cup Bundt pan, spacing evenly. Drizzle any remaining butter over biscuits; sprinkle with any remaining sugar mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until done. Immediately invert onto a serving plate.
Combine powdered sugar and orange juice, stirring well; drizzle over warm coffee cake. Serve immediately. If you’re fixing this ahead, warm in oven or microwave before serving.

OR Pumpkin Scones

Now some other suggestions for your Thanksgiving Dinner:

Breads:

These are my favorite biscuits. They’re Angel Biscuits done lighter! Now you can have another piece of pie!These are my favorite rolls. You can make them ahead of time and stick them in the freezer to bake on Thanksgiving Day! So easy!!

Salad:

This is a great salad that is also made ahead of time. It has all the cranberry goodness that a Thanksgiving dinner needs!

Another easy Cranberry relish is to simply pour a can of Whole Berry Cranberry sauce into a pretty dish and break it up with a spoon. Top with a drained can of Mandarin oranges, then topped with chopped walnuts. So easy and so good!

Sides:

Here a few of my favorites:

Crock Pot Mashed Potatoes make for an easy way to cook the potatoes while the turkey is in the oven. You’ll mash them after they’ve been in the crockpot and just before it’s time to eat. Leaving mashed potatoes in the slow cooker will make them runny…not the best. But the instructions on the page I’ve linked makes it super simple and delicious!
Corn Cheese Bake is the best creamed corn you’ll ever taste!
Broccoli Corn Scallop is creamy and a nice change from the usual casserole.

Dessert:
Can we talk PIE???? This Peanut Butter Pie is over the top! It’s also really easy!
If you want a show-stopper then Peanut Pie with Peanut Crust is for you!
Kentucky Derby Pie is our family tradition. Someone might die if this isn’t on the counter when it’s time for dessert!I’ve shared LOTS of pumpkin recipes you can search here on my blog, but among the favorites for most people is the Pumpkin Roll. My recipe shows step by step instructions. You can do it!
An easy cake is the Pumpkin Crunch Cake. It comes together in a few minutes and will remind you of a pumpkin pie in cake form! Yum!!

Whether you’re doing the whole meal or just bringing a dish for the meal, you can cook with confidence with any of these recipes! You know what else will help? Pray and ask the Lord to help you make the most of your time, your resources and your heart!Whatever your plans are for Thanksgiving, I pray you will give thanks to the God Who allowed you the blessings you enjoy. He is a God who loves you and has given His Son so you can enjoy more than a happy turkey day – He wants you to enjoy a personal relationship with Him and an eternity in heaven through trusting Christ as your Savior. What joy He brings to my life every day!

With love and blessings from my country kitchen,

Comfort Food · Crock Pot · Dinner · Ground turkey · Main dish.

Turkey Meatloaf in the Crock Pot

September 14, 2020April 19, 2023 RefreshHer17 Comments

My husband loves Cracker Barrel’s meatloaf and with good reason – it’s delicious! However, it’s also high in calories. Because we’ve both been trying to eat more healthy, and are avoiding those high cal Cracker Barrel entrees, I looked for a meatloaf recipe using ground Turkey. That was when I came upon this gem – BBQ Glazed Turkey Meatloaf that turned out to be FANTASTIC and also cooked in the crock pot! What? Meatloaf in the crock pot? You talk about easy! This recipe is a winner all the way around!! Take a peek!

Clean-up was a cinch! Pull the foil out of the bottom of the crock pot and wipe it out! Ta-da! Friends, this recipe is for you if you’re looking for:

Delicious
Healthy
Easy to make
Easy to clean up

A friend of mine told me she steers away from ground poultry because it just doesn’t seem right! Well, I understand, but you need to give it a try! It’s so good, and so much better for you! Now for the recipe!

BBQ Glazed Turkey Meatloaf

1 1/4 pound ground turkey
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/4 Cup shredded Mexican style shredded cheese
1/4 cup minced onion
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp Dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 Tbl ketchup
2 tsp light brown sugar
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp spicy brown mustard (I used Dijon)

1. Fold a 24-inch length of foil in half lengthwise. Fit into the bottom and up the sides of a 5-6 quart slow-cooker.

2. Put the turkey, bread crumbs, cheese, onion, egg, oregano, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl; mix with hands until well combined. Shape the mixture into a loaf and place on the foil in the slow cooker.

3. Cover the slow cooker and cook until the meatloaf juices run clear or an instant read thermometer inserted in the center of the meatloaf registers 165°F, 3–4 hours on high or 6–8 hours on low.

4. Combine the ketchup, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard in a small bowl. Spoon the mixture over the meatloaf, spreading it smooth. Cover the slow cooker and cook until the glaze is heated through, about 30 minutes longer. With the help of the foil, lift the meatloaf from the slow cooker and transfer to a platter. Discard foil and cut the meatloaf into 6 slices. Yields 1 slice meatloaf per serving.

This meal was absolutely delicious! My husband isn’t pining away for his Cracker Barrel meatloaf anymore!

I made this meal for our Sunday dinner and it was so great that it was ready when we got home from church! I mixed up the meatloaf the night before, then popped it into the crock pot before we headed out the door. What a great meal when you need something savory and have time to let the crock pot do the work!

Do you eat ground poultry? If not, I really hope you’ll get some turkey and try this recipe! I believe it will convert you!

Here are a couple other turkey recipes we love.

With love from my country kitchen,

Crock Pot · Dinner · Soups/stew

Lazy Day Stew

December 16, 2019December 14, 2019 RefreshHer7 Comments

Cold winter days just need hearty soups and stews, both to warm the body and comfort the soul!

One day last week I decided to make an old favorite stew recipe of mine – Amish Stew, and I went to my blog to pull up the directions, and I couldn’t believe it when I discovered I haven’t shared this gem of a recipe with you! Let’s fix that today!

I could give this dish a couple other names that would be more appropriate than Amish Stew. It could easily be called, Lazy Day Stew or Poor Man’s Stew. Both would be appropriate! Let me share the recipe and you’ll see why!
Continue reading “Lazy Day Stew” →

Crock Pot · How-to Video

Make Good Use Of a Leftover Chicken Carcass

February 13, 2019February 12, 2019 RefreshHerLeave a comment

I just hate to see good food go to waste! That’s one reason I’m the Queen of the Freezer! Leftover baked potatoes get scooped out and frozen for future pots of Potato Soup. Leftover Chicken Carcasses get cooked in pots of herbed water so we can enjoy homemade chicken stock.

Last week when I used five chickens to feed a group of people, the Lord brought a spiritual truth to my mind. Even greater than wasting good food that can be used for a future meal, how tragic it is when I waste a lesson He has taught me. It’s so crucial to journal the truths that I’ve learned by means of a trial, sickness, or difficulty so I won’t forget them – this would be the boiling of the chicken bones! I need to get down to the bottom of what I’ve learned. That takes prayer, quiet and then time to write in a journal.

The next step is pulling it back out and reminding myself of the Truth on days when I need it. Preaching to myself is something that happens frequently because my mind likes to dwell on things other than truth (ever been there?). I’ll flip back to my journal and reread what God did in my life, what He taught me or how He answered a prayer request and provided a need and I have food to go on for that day! This is the freezing process of the stock making lesson. I can pull that frozen stock out and make a meal with it such as Chicken enchiladas, pot pies or Golden Winter Soup . I’m always so thankful that I took the time to make the stock! I’m doubly glad to have that truth hidden away to encourage my heart.

Sometimes I also get to make a meal for someone else with that stock! I love to give other people good food. The spiritual application here is that sometimes I get to take the lessons God has taught me and share them with others. When I do that, I’m giving them Divine view point rather than my human view point. That will help them so much more than my feeble words ever could!

If I threw that chicken carcass in the trash I would be wasting something good. If I finish a time of trial and simply breathe a sigh that it’s over, I’ll be wasting those precious lessons God has graciously given to me. It wasn’t a waste of time in my life, so I should value it enough to hold fast to it so I can benefit from it in the future!

Here’s a simple video and pictures of the process I go through to make my own stock. It helps you make good use of the whole chicken, plus it’s a real money saver, considering that a can of broth is a dollar or more and you get less than two cups in each can!

Do you ever make your own stock?

What spiritual lesson has the Lord recently taught you that you could share with others or remind your own self of in the days ahead?

Don’t waste it!

denise a

Crock Pot · Dinner · freezer

Making Frozen Leftovers Tonight’s Supper – The Easy Way!

January 29, 2018January 28, 2018 RefreshHer7 Comments

Leftover collage

What, oh what would I do without my freezer? I’ve said it before, but my freezer is my best friend…well, you know what I mean.

It’s there for me!

It has supper waiting!

It has gifts inside, both for me and many other friends!

Isn’t that a great friend?!

I’ve always put leftovers in my freezer, but I’ve not always stored them in the best way, or in a way that was easy to reheat them. But I have two new tricks using frozen leftovers that have worked for me and I want to pass them along to you!

Slow-Cook leftovers from a frozen state.
Last Sunday I went to the freezer before heading to church and I pulled out a container with a yummy casserole, Countryside Chicken Bake, full of great things, aside from the chicken, like Cream of Mushroom Soup, sour cream, rice, and carrots (or peas, if you prefer). I had marked the container saying, Countryside Chicken Bake, Two Servings. Knowing that would be perfect for our Sunday dinner, I took it in its frozen state and put it directly into my slow cooker, adding about 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth to keep it moist . I put the crock pot on High for one hour, low for 3 hours. I think going slow and making sure there is plenty of liquid is the best way to reheat so you’ll have a good outcome.
When we came home from church, it was hot, juicy, tender and ready to eat! That is a freezer win!!

Does this look like leftovers to you? I don’t think so!!
Put small amounts of chili, soups or stew into muffins tins for individual servings.
I love this so much! You know how the last half of the chili doesn’t look too appealing after eating it two days in a row? This makes it a cinch to store and reheat for dinner another day when you’ll be glad to see it again!

I had leftover Taco Soup last week with just a little left over. I used the large muffin tins, but regular sized one will work, too. Fill them up, cover with syran wrap and freeze for a couple hours or overnight until frozen solid.
Then run warm water on the bottom of the tin and then pop them onto a tray.
Store the frozen soup “pucks” in freezer bags, labeled with the soup name.

When you need lunch or supper, pop the frozen soup into a microwave container and warm it up! You could do one serving or six, depending on your needs (and the amount of leftovers, of course!). At one time this winter I had three different soups in the freezer. It made for a really easy lunch, which seems to be the hardest meal for me!

Leftovers don’t have to have a bad name! They can be reused at a later time and used in a way that will make a busy day much less stressful if you store and reheat properly.

If you try these tips I bet your freezer will become your best friend, too!

One more thing that I love about my freezer is freezing breads that are ready to bake, like these rolls or these muffins! They’re super good and so handy to have on hand!

Happy freezing!

Denise Signature 150 px