Our First Thanksgiving Together & RECIPE ROUND UP! Crustless pecan pumpkin pie, green bean casserole, homemade cranberries, & roasted turkey breast.

December 3, 2015 -
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Hi friends! Hope you’re having a great week.

I can’t believe it’s already been a week since Thanksgiving. Time is flying and before you know it we’re traveling home to PA for the Holiday’s!

This year was a bit different for us as we didn’t travel back home for Thanksgiving — therefore it was my first T-day away from my fam. I have to tell you that I was feeling bummed out leading up until Thanksgiving thinking about not being with my family BUT Corey honestly made feel so much better & made some awesome points of how we were just lucky to have each other & make the most of that day.

Plus…technology & facetime makes it possible to at least get the home lovin’ via an iPhone. The best part of it is when my 91 year old Aunt Rita uses it — you end up seeing more of her nose as she doesn’t really get that we can see her whole face! haha I love her & it’s becoming a tradition.

Corey & I have been dating for the last 3 Thanksgiving’s but have yet to actually spend one with each other. We made this year more of a “date day” by spending time together prepping the food, cleaning, relaxing, watching football, & enjoying our first Thanksgiving meal together.

There truly is so much to be thankful for.

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Everyone kept joking that I was going to cook for an army but when it comes to Thanksgiving — I don’t mess around. I want allllll the flavors of home!

That included Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberries, gravy, & biscuits! and slippers….always in the slippers.
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Let’s break down the meal, shall we?

For the stuffing...I just got an organic brand of stuffing & followed the instructions on the package.

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I picked this carrots/celery/onion mix up at Trader Joe’s which makes prep super easy & used that in our stuffing.

Mashed potatoes were simple as well!

MASHED POTATOES

  • Take 6 Large Russet Potatoes and wash, peel, & cube.
  • Add to a large pot of boiling water & boil until fork tender (about 15-20 minutes).
  • Drain & put into a large bowl and mash with masher or hand mixer.
  • Add in about 2 TB kerrygold butter, 1/4-1/2 cup sour cream, salt & pepper, & 1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary.
  • SO DANG GOOD.

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Next, the green bean casserole.

GB casserole

GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE

  • 1 container of organic cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 can of green beans (you could use fresh as well)
  • 1 can of Trader Joe’s crispy onions 

Directions:

  1. Combine cream of mushroom soup, drained green beans, & 1/2 cup crispy onions in a bowl and mix.
  2. Pour into a baking pan & then top with crispy onions around the edges or the whole thing.
  3. Bake @ 350 for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

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These shortcuts make it so so simple!

Now, what thanksgiving dinner is complete without biscuits?

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There is just something about them that brings back childhood for me. I got us a small container for the 2 of us but really…how cute is this little can?

Now to the turkey…oh the turkey caused me stress! ha.

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TURKEY BREAST DRY BRINE & COOKING

I was so nervous about how to brine and what to do the night before so I came across a “dry brine” recipe which called for adding salt, sugar, & baking soda to a bag and then coating the bird in that and letting it sit over night in a covered container or bag.

We ended up using about 1/4 cup salt, 1/4 cup brown sugar, & 1 spoonful of baking soda. In the morning, we rinsed the turkey breast & patted it dry before coating in grassfed butter (kerrygold), salt, pepper, & fresh rosemary (KEY ingredient!) and letting that sit for a few hours before baking.

We put the turkey into the oven around 400 degrees and then turned it down to 375 for about 1 hour covered with foil then uncovered the bird and let it bake another 30 minutes until golden brown & my meat thermometer read over 160 degrees.

I have to say….this was DELISH. Not dry at all & Corey gave it a huge thumbs up.

Speaking of Corey — his request was canned cranberries. At first I was like…. I can make fresh? and then I realized well hey, I used to always love the canned stuff! ;]

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So we had the canned and fresh cranberry sauce because I love having leftovers of this as a “jam”.

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HOMEMADE CRANBERRY SAUCE

  • Just boil 1 bag of fresh cranberries, juice of 1 orange, 1 cup of water, zest of 1 orange, & about 1 TB chia seeds.
  1. Once it comes to a boil & the cranberries pop, reduce on low for about 5-10 minutes or until thick. Then take off the heat and let cool and thicken. I LOVE having this leftover — one of my favorite jams.

For dessert – a crustless pecan pumpkin pie! I love pecans & pumpkin and wanted to make a “custard”-like dessert and this worked out perfectly.

crustless pecan pumpkin pie

CRUSTLESS PECAN PUMPKIN PIE

  • 3 Eggs
  • 1 15 oz. Can Pure Pumpkin
  • 1/4 Cup Oat Flour (oats ground into flour)
  • 1/5 Cup Now Foods Sugarless Sugar 
  • Pinch of sea salt
  • 1 TB Pumpkin Pie Spice

Topping:

Directions:

  1. Combine all pie ingredients into a bowl & then pour into a greased baking pie pan.
  2. For the topping, mix together chopped nuts, maple syrup, sugarless sugar, & cinnamon to make a crumble and then top the pie with the topping.
  3. Bake at 325 for about 55 minutes or until browned & then let sit for about 30-60 minutes to set. It will be custard like but SO good with whipped cream on top ;] just sayin!

It’s safe to say that I LOVE love love baking with Now Foods Sugarless Sugar — you can check it out at iherb.com!

So yes, did we cook for a lot more than 2 people? Yes. But did we have amazing leftovers for days? YES.

And aren’t leftovers one of the best parts of Thanksgiving?

Hope you enjoy all these simple recipes!

Be true to you,

xo Kasey

 

 

What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?