One more after-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving recipe. The general population of Thanksgiving celebrators seem to have a love/hate relationship with this one. They either love it, or they hate it. The recipe I use is basically French’s recipe, but adapted for a larger gathering. I use French style green beans (it seems to make it less… sloppy) and a larger quantity of them. I also use a lot more French fried onions because, let’s be honest… who couldn’t eat a whole can of those things in one sitting? Just me? Ok…
Ingredients
2 cans (10 1/2 oz) Cream of Mushroom condensed soup
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 tsp black pepper
5 cans Del Monte French Style green beans, drained well
1 1/2 cans French Fried Onions, divided
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix cream of mushroom soup, milk and pepper in a 9″ x 13″ baking dish. Stir in green beans and can Crispy Fried Onions.
Bake 30 minutes or until hot. Stir.
Top with remaining 1/2 can onions. Bake 5 minutes until onions are golden brown.
More Thanksgiving recipes… after Thanksgiving! This might just be my favorite one. I also don’t alter this recipe at all from the original-don’t mess with perfection!
Ingredients
2 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes, cubed into 1 inch pieces
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, divided
cooking spray
2 cups miniature marshmallows (or large if you prefer!)
Directions
Preheat oven to 375° F.
Place the sweet potatoes in a Dutch oven, and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes or until very tender. Drain; cool slightly.
Place potatoes in a large bowl. Add sugar and next 3 ingredients (through vanilla). Mash sweet potato mixture with a potato masher. Fold in 1/4 cup pecans. Scrape potato mixture into an even layer in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup pecans; top with marshmallows. Bake at 375° F for 25 minutes or until golden.
For some reason I grabbed a few bags of lentils at Target the last time I went. You know… in case the world ends during this pandemic and we need lentils. Totally logical…
I remembered making slow-cooker soup from a recipe in my favorite slow-cooker recipe book (yes, I have one… I asked for it for Christmas a long time ago and yes, it’s amazing, so don’t knock it!). I looked for the recipe and it wasn’t quite what I remembered it being, so I tweaked it a bit this time. I cut a few corners, too, because… why not?! This soup really doesn’t yield very much, so if you like leftovers like I do, double the recipe!
Ingredients
1 cup dry lentils, rinsed and drained well
1 medium onion, chopped (or use frozen chopped onion for easy prep!)
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrots, sliced
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/8 – 1/4 tsp ground red pepper
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup diced, cooked ham (or more if you prefer!)
1 cup fresh spinach
Shredded or grated parmesan for topping (optional)
Directions
Add lentils, celery, carrots, onion, garlic, lemon zest, ground red pepper, salt, chicken broth, and water to the slow cooker. Stir well and cook 2-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low heat.
Add ham and spinach to slow cooker and cook an additional 10 minutes on high heat.
I know I keep posting recipes AFTER the holiday has occurred, but I figured maybe I could help make someone’s holiday a little easier (and tastier!) next year, so bookmark this one! I’m not a fan of baking a whole turkey because a.) I’ve never done it, so it’s intimidating, b.) Ain’t nobody got time for that, and c.) I just plain don’t want to… I need easy, people!
I searched recipes and I came up with my own based on what I liked from all of the recipes I found. If you’d like to see the main recipe I pulled ideas from, take a look here! I never have time to make my own gravy from the drippings, but I’ll add the instructions in case you’d like to try it.
I love this recipe because you can adapt it easily to make as much (I made 3 3-lb turkey breasts in one slow-cooker the last time I made it!) or as little as you’d like. I also love saving the drippings from this recipe to make a great turkey broth that can be saved to use for soups, hearty turkey and noodles, and more! Check out the instructions below for saving the drippings to create a great broth to freeze or use to create other meals.
Ingredients
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp dried thyme
3/4 tsp poultry seasoning
3/4 tsp onion powder
Kosher salt and ground pepper, to taste
1 large onion, sliced
2 celery ribs, cut into thirds
2 cups chicken broth
3 lb boneless, skinless turkey breast (I used 3 in one slow-cooker to feed a large family, but you can adjust accordingly!)
7 Tbsp unsalted butter, divided (reserve 3 Tbsp for gravy), room temperature
3 Tbsp all purpose flour (for gravy, if you plan on making gravy from drippings)
Directions
In a small bowl, mix paprika, thyme, poultry seasoning, onion powder, and salt and pepper to taste.
Add onion and celery to the bottom of the slow-cooker and cover with chicken broth.
Place the turkey breast(s) on top of the vegetables and broth breast side (fat side) up. If the turkey breast(s) come in a netting, leave the netting on during cooking.
Cut 4 Tbsp of room temperature butter into thin slices and evenly cover the turkey breast(s). Sprinkle the dry rub mix evenly over the turkey.
Cook on low 4-6 hours. For a larger amount of turkey, I usually estimate an hour per pound (for example, 9 hours for 9 lbs of turkey breast). Once turkey is thoroughly cooked (internal temperature of at least 165 degrees F), remove the turkey from the slow-cooker and let rest 10-15 minutes before slicing.
Gravy Directions
Strain slow-cooker drippings in a fine-mesh sieve and discard any solids.
Melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
Gradually whisk in pan drippings. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 5-10 minutes.
Serve turkey immediately with gravy.
Turkey Broth Directions
Remove all vegetables and turkey pieces and fat from slow cooker and allow all drippings to fully cool in slow cooker.
Strain the broth into a fully sealed container and refrigerate overnight.
Once the drippings have fully cooled in the refrigerator, skim the fat off the top of the drippings with a spoon and discard.
The Engineered Mama 