Homemade Stuffing

This is my mother-in-law's stuffing recipe. Her whole family goes crazy over it. Whenever we have Thanksgiving with my family, my husband has to make this so he doesn't miss out on his mom's stuffing. This is the best stuffing ever!

Printable Recipe

Homemade Stuffing
1 loaf of bread, toasted and broken up
1 onion, diced
2 eggs
1 can evaporated milk, with a little water
1 cube butter, melted
1 cup celery, diced
2 Tbsp poultry seasoning
1/2 cup turkey drippings
salt and pepper

Pour turkey drippings in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Add all ingredients and mix well. Loosely cover and bake at 350 for 1 hour. Stir every 15-20 minutes. Remove cover for the last 15 minutes to brown.

Roasted Turkey

I hate to admit it but I've never actually made a turkey. Yep, that's right. My husband makes the turkey every year. It actually makes my Thanksgivings pretty stress free. He found this recipe on the Food Network about five years ago and he's been making it ever since. This is the most tender and moist turkey I've ever had. It's so delicious! I promise if you make this, you'll never make a turkey any other way!

Printable Recipe

Roasted Turkey

1 (14-20 lb) turkey

Brine:

1 cup kosher salt

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 gallon vegetable stock

1 Tbsp black peppercorns

1/2 Tbsp allspice berries

1/2 Tbsp candied ginger

1 gallon iced water

Aromatics:

1 red apple, sliced

1/2 onion, sliced

1 cinnamon stick

1 cup water

4 sprigs rosemary

6 leaves sage

canola oil

*The first two steps need to be done at least 6-7 hours before you make the turkey. We do this the night before and let it soak in the brine overnight.

In a large pot, combine all of the brine ingredients except for the ice water and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until chilled. 

Combine brine and ice water in a clean 5-gallon bucket. We use a large cooler. Place thawed turkey breast-side down in brine. Cover and refrigerate or place in a cool area (like a basement or garage) for 6 hours or overnight. 

When ready to roast, preheat oven to 500. 

Combine apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and 1 cup of water and microwave for 5 minutes. 

Remove turkey from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard brine.

Place turkey on a roasting rack in a large roasting pan. Pat dry with paper towels. Add aromatics into cavity along with rosemary and sage. Tuck back the wings and coat whole turkey liberally with canola oil.

Roast on the lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover breast with double layer of aluminum foil. Insert thermometer into the thickest part of the breast and return to oven, reducing temperature to 350 degrees. Set thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees. Cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. For a 20 lb turkey cook for 3 1/2 hours. Let turkey rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving.

Recipe adapted from Good Eats

(Deal is expired) Earn 50,000 Bonus Points When You Sign Up For The Rapid Rewards Credit Card

If you're looking for a rewards credit card to earn flight miles, now is the time to do it! Southwest Airlines is currently offering 50,000 bonus points when you sign up for their Rapid Rewards credit card and spend $2,000 in the first 3 months. You have until February 28, 2015 to sign up. The bonus is normally 25,000 points so this is an awesome deal!

Here is how the points break down:

If you booked a flight that was $200, you could redeem it for about 10,000 points. A $300 flight would be about 16,000 points and a $400 flight would be about 25,000 points.

The 50,000 bonus points would be enough for at least 2 roundtrip tickets, depending on where you fly to. Plus you earn one point for every dollar that you spend using the card. 

This is such a great deal. If you want to sign up, you can apply here.

Frosted Pumpkin Sugar Cookie Bars

I love sugar cookies but I don't always love making cookies. So when it's a bar instead of a cookie it's perfect. These bars were a little thicker than cookies. They were in between cookies and cake. The pumpkin flavor combined with the cream cheese frosting was heavenly!

Printable Recipe

Frosted Pumpkin Sugar Cookie Bars

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup pumpkin puree
5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp cinnamon

Frosting:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp milk
3-4 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Mix in vanilla and pumpkin.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Spread into a greased cookie sheet (15x10x1). (Spray your hands with nonstick cooking spray and use your hands to spread the dough onto the pan because the dough will be really thick and sticky.)

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the bars are golden brown. Cool completely before frosting.

To make frosting, cream together cream cheese and butter. Add vanilla, milk, and powdered sugar. Spread frosting over cooled bars.

Recipe adapted from Six Sisters' Stuff

Black Friday Ads (2014)

A lot of stores have started to post their Black Friday ads online. I compiled a list of some of the ads that are available. I will continue to add more links once the ads come out so keep checking back.

Best Buy
Kmart
Kohls
JC Penney 
Radio Shack
Sears
Shopko
Target
Walmart

*Also, check my post on Black Friday shopping to find out how to get these prices online without going to the stores on Black Friday. 

Great Deal ~ Franz Bakery

I recently discovered Franz Bakery and I thought it was amazing! I bought all of this bread for $15!

They have so much bread to choose from and it's all delicious. It freezes well so you can easily stock up. Plus, if you spend a certain amount you get to pick some bread for free! We all know how much I love getting things for free! 

They have stores all over the Northwest. Check it out!

Chicken Corn Chowder

I love this soup! It's packed with flavor and it has the perfect amount of heat.

Printable Recipe

Chicken Corn Chowder
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, finely chopped, seeds and membranes removed
1 cup chopped cooked ham
3 cloves garlic, minced
28 oz chicken broth
3 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 cup frozen corn
1 1/2 lb chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup milk
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup cheese

Heat oil in a large pot. Add celery, bell pepper, onion, and jalapeno. Saute for about 5 minutes until tender. Stir in ham and garlic. Cook for another 3 minutes. Whisk together chicken broth and flour; stir into soup. Add corn and chicken. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Whisk together cream cheese and milk. Whisk into soup. Add salt, pepper, and cheese. Simmer until heated through.

Serves 6

Recipe adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe