MFS Thanksgiving Special

Welcome to the first issue of "Made From Scratch (mostly)". With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I know that a lot people are looking for the perfect bird. Maybe you are hosting you first family get together and you want everything to be perfect. If that's you, then we are in the same boat.

I have been married to the most wonderful man for 8 years. I adored his parents. I even get along with his two sisters, most of the time. I do get along with them more than my own family, but that is for another time, if not another place. The only down side to having 2 sister in laws is the holidays. Everyone wants to host the big dinner, this year after 8 long years, I get my chance and I can't afford to mess it up (it may not come again).

This is not, however, my first time to make this monsterous meal. It is however the first time that I will be making it nut free. Hey, I can have my pecan pie either before or after the big day, no big deal. I would now like to share some of our favorite recipes with you, well, all but the turkey, that is a secret family recipe that will be shared only with my babies, and only when the time is right. ;)

Candied Carrots
Makes 8 servings
Ingredients:
2 lbs carrots, cut into sticks
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp white pepper
Directions:
Place carrots in a large saucepan; add 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 8 to 10 min or until crisp tender. Drain and set aside.
In the same pan, combine the butter, brown sugar, salt and pepper; cook and stir until butter is melted. Return carrots to the pan; cook and stir over medium heat for 5 min or until glazed.

Cheesy Green Beans
Makes 10 servings
Ingredients:
10 slices bacon
2 (16 oz) pkg cut greenbeans
3/4 tsp black pepper
1 (16 oz) jar cheeze whiz
Directions:
Cook bacon until crisp. Drain bacon. Crumble bacon; reserve 2 Tbsp. Add bacon to cooked green beans and pepper; mix lightly. Spoon into 2 qt serving dish. Microwave cheeze whiz as directed on label. Pour over green bean mixture. Sprinkle with reserved bacon.

Holiday Stuffing
Ingredients:
16 to 20 slices white bread, cubed
1 cup butter
1 cup celery, chopped
2 cups carrots, thinly sliced
1 (14.5 oz) can chicken broth
3 Tbsp dried parsley
1 Tbsp thyme
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Directions:
Melt butter in a saute pan. Saute vegies slowly in butter, about 5 min. Toss together cubed bread, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper. Combine butter and bread mixture. Place in an oven safe dish, and pour chicken broth over stuffing until moist. Cover with foil and bake at 325 f. for 30 min. Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes or until brown.
* optional; combine all ingredients, including broth and use to stuff a 16 - 20 pound turkey. Bake according to turkey manufacturer's instructions, making sure the turker reaches an internal temp suggested by the manufacturer.

Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie
Servings: 8
Ingredients:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 (15-ounce) can Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 (12-ounce) can Nestle Carnation Evaporated Milk
1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell
Directions:
Mix the sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in a small bowl. Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Stir in the pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in the evaporated milk.
Pour the mixture into the pie shell. Bake in a preheated 425-degrees-F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate (do not freeze, as this will cause the crust to separate from the filling).

Pecan Pie
Ingredients:
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup Karo syrup
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup chopped pecans
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a saucepan, melt the butter but don't let it brown. Mix in the sugar and corn syrup and cook, stirring, over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the eggs. Mix well. Stir in the pecans. Pour into the pie shell and bake for 1 hour or until firm when shaken.

These are what I normally make, but like I said this is my first nut free Thanksgiving, no pecan pie. Instead I will be making a freestyle apple tart, even though I'm not a fan of cooked apples. Its a texture thing, I don't eat applesauce either, give me a apple off the tree and I'm good. What I won't do for family?

Added for this years meal are
Free Style Apple Tart
Ingredients:
1 ready to use refrigerated pie crust (1/2 of 15 oz pkg) or make your own
4 oz cream cheese, softened
3 red and/or green apples (1 1/4 lb) thinly sliced
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon sugar
1 cup thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 450`F. line a 9 inch pie plate with crust. Carefully spread cream cheese in 6 inch circle in center
2. Toss apples with sugar and flour; spoon over cream cheese.
3. Fold crust partially over apples. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake 25 minutes, covering loosely with foil for last 5 minutes. Cool. Serve with whipped topping. Refrigerate leftovers.

Guilt Free Double Chocolate Brownies
Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup cold water
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup mini semi sweet chocolate pieces
2 tsp powdered sugar
non stick cooking spray
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350`F. Lightly coat the bottom of a 9x9x2 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray, being careful not to coat the sides of pan. In a medium saucepan melt butter; remove from heat. Stir in granulated sugar, water and vanilla. Mix in flour, cocoa powder and baking powder until combined. Add chocolate pieces. Pour batter into pan. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on pan in wire rack. Cut into bars; sprinkle with powdered sugar.
(Makes 16 brownies; 111 calories per brownie)

In later installments look for tips on healthy eating, saving on your grocery bill and weekly shopping lists. Plus allergy free recipes, because, let's face it, we are in the middle of an epidemic of allergies that don't seem to be going away any time in the near future. As well as more of my family's favorite recipes. I welcome all comments and will take requests. The more feed back I get the more likely I am to continue. Be sure to tell all your friends and lets see just how big this can get. (Between each issue I will be posting personal posts that will give you an insite into my life.)