Honey spiced chicken

chicken pieces
1 1/2 cup ketchup
1 1/2 cup honey
1 cup Worchestershire sauce
1/2 cup cider vinegar
3 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp paprika
2 tsp crushed garlic
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin


Mix together all ingredients except the chicken. Pour over chicken and let marinate overnight. Grill, bake, or crockpot the chicken until done.

M&M cookie bars

1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter, melted
1 tbsp vanilla
2 eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups m&ms

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Beat together all ingredients (except the m&ms) until smooth. Stir in candy. Spread into a 13x9 inch baking pan/stone. Bake 20-30 minutes, or until slightly browned around the edges.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish you all a great, happy, and stress free Thanksgiving, full of laughter, love, and many memories. I find myself grateful for God, my country and those who fight for my freedoms, my hero- my husband, my awesome kids who inspire me to be a better mom, friends who love me despite my faults, my best friend-Sarah- who would do anything for me, and my family who helped to mold me into what I am today. Love to you all!

CRAFTS: Thankful tree

Construction paper: brown and assorted leaf colors
Tape
Low-temp glue gun
Twigs
Fine-point permanent markers in assorted colors

Instructions:Tape sheets of brown construction paper together. Draw and cut out tree shape.glue twigs to tree trunk.
Cut leaf shapes from assorted colors of construction paper. Write one thing you are thankful for on a leaf .Glue leaves onto the tree, adding a new leaf for each blessing.

Chicken broth

2-1/2 pounds boneless chicken pieces
2 celery ribs with leaves, cut into chunks
2 medium carrots, cut into chunks
2 medium onions, quartered
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
8 to 10 whole peppercorns
2 quarts cold water
Directions: Place all ingredients in a soup kettle or Dutch oven. Slowly bring to a boil; reduce heat. Skim foam. Cover and simmer for 2 hours. Set chicken aside until cool enough to handle. Remove meat from bones. Discard bones; save meat for another use. Strain broth, discarding vegetables and seasonings. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Skim fat from surface.

HINT: 1 1/2 cups of this broth equals 1 can of commercial chicken broth.
HINT #2: Can be frozen.

Cider brined turkey(s)

2 up to 15lb turkeys, washed
turkey oven bags

BRINE:
10 cups apple cider
1 tbsp black peppercorns, crushed
1 tbsp ground allspice
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp whole cloves
4 bay leaves
4 oranges, sliced

AFTER THE BRINE:
8 garlic cloves
2 tbsp ground sage
1 tbsp ground thyme
2 tbsp parsley
2 cans chicken broth
1 tsp pepper

To prepare brine, combine first 8 ingredients in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook 5 minutes. Cool completely.
Remove giblets and neck from turkey. Rinse turkey with cold water; pat dry. Trim excess fat. Stuff body cavity with orange slices. Place a turkey-sized oven bag inside a second bag to form a double thickness. Place bags in a large stockpot. Place turkey inside inner bag. Add cider mixture. Secure bags with several twist ties. Refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours, turning occasionally.
Preheat oven to 500º.
Remove turkey from bags, and discard brine, orange quarters, and bags. Rinse turkey with cold water; pat dry. Lift wing tips up and over back; tuck under turkey. Tie legs together with kitchen string. Place garlic, sage, thyme, parsley, and broth in the bottom of a baking pan. Arrange turkey, breast side down, in pan. Brush turkey back with 1 tablespoon butter; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bake at 500º for 30 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 375º.
Remove turkey from oven. Carefully turn turkey over (breast side up) using tongs. Brush turkey breast with 1 tablespoon butter; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bake at 375º until a thermometer inserted into meaty part of thigh registers 170º (make sure not to touch bone). (Shield the turkey with foil if it browns too quickly.) Remove turkey from oven.

Another way to do this is to follow the directions for brining all the way to adding the spices before baking. Put oven on 375 degrees and bake slowly, rotating turkeys every hour, until they are done.

And yes, for those who are curious, I really bake 2 turkeys every Thanksgiving. :-)

Stuffing/dressing

4 1/2 cups cornbread crumbs
1 16oz package of Pepperidge Farm cornbread stuffing mix
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cans chicken broth
1 tbsp ground sage
4 tbsp butter, sliced

Stir all ingredients, except butter, into a large crockpot. Put butter slices on top. Cook on low for 4 hours until thoroughly cooked and set.

Pumpkin Pie

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 3/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated low-fat milk
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
1 (15-ounce) can unsweetened pumpkin (or you can use what you made after Halloween :)
Pie crust

Position oven rack to lowest position.
Preheat oven to 425°.
To prepare filling, combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add pumpkin, and stir with a whisk until smooth.
Pour pumpkin mixture into the crust. Place pie plate on a baking sheet. Place baking sheet on lowest oven rack. Bake at 425° for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350° (do not remove pie from oven); bake an additional 50 minutes or until almost set. Cool completely on wire rack.

Sweet potato pie

2 pounds sweet potatoes (about 5 medium)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
Pie crust

Preheat oven to 375°.
Pierce sweet potatoes several times with a fork. Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet. Bake at 375° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until tender. Cool slightly. Peel and discard skins. Place the pulp in a medium bowl, and mash. Add 3/4 cup brown sugar and the next 8 ingredients (through eggs) to pulp. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended.
Pour sweet potato mixture into pie crust. Bake at 375° for 55 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool pie completely on a wire rack.

Pie crust

1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 1/2 tbsp shortening
2 tsp lemon juice
6 tbsp ice water

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cup; level with knife. Combine flour and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in butter and shortening with a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Combine 3 tablespoons water and juice. Sprinkle surface of flour mixture with water mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time; toss with a fork until moist. Repeat. Gently press mixture into a 4-inch circle on plastic wrap; cover. Chill 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 325°.
Unwrap and place chilled dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough to an 11-inch circle. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Fold edges under; flute.

Frozen key lime pie

1 9 inch graham cracker crust
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 6oz can frozen limeade
2 cups whipping cream
green food coloring

In a medium bowl, mix together the condensed milk, limeade, and whipping cream. Add a few drops (I did 5) of green food coloring. Pour into pie crust and freeze until you're ready to serve.

GOING GREEN: Recycle those packing peanuts!

Besides the obvious choice of reusing packing peanuts in packages you will mail out, there is another alternative!
Too many packing peanuts?
Recycle them with The Peanut Hotline!
Call 800-828-2214 for the nearest recycling location. Your purchases often arrive protected by packing peanuts. You keep some for future packing needs but eventually have too many.
Don't throw them away, recycle them!
The Peanut Hotline (800-828-2214) is a 24- hour, toll-free service that directs callers to the nearest location that accepts plastic loosefill (packing peanuts) for reuse. The drop-off locations are convenient pack-and-ship stores or gift shops in your community. These stores reuse the loosefill you return and often will accept and reuse your boxes.
If your community doesn't have a Peanut Hotline location, you may check with local packaging stores, gift or craft shops, artist galleries or school art programs to find somewhere that can reuse packing peanuts.
For more information about the Peanut Hotline, go to the Plastic Loosefill Council's website at www.loosefillpackaging.com.

Natural finger paints

I suggest thick construction paper for both of these paints. They are thick and goopy (and yes, that IS a word, in my head)

3 cups water
1 cup cornstarch
food coloring

In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Dissolve cornstarch in a separate bowl with water. Remove boiling water from heat and add cornstarch mixture. Return to heat, stirring constantly. Boil until the mixture is clear and thick (about 1 minute). Remove from heat.
As the mixture is cooling, divide into separate bowls and add food coloring. Let the children carefully mix in the coloring.

____________________________________
2 cups flour
2 cups cold water
food coloring

Put water into a large bowl. Slowly add the flour, while the children are stirring. Once it's all mixed together, divide into smaller bowls and add food coloring.


Or, you can do it my way: follow the directions, but make a new pot for each color. I have just that many kids to use that much at once. Though this paint doesn't generally stain (go light on the food color), I have my kids take off at least their shirts. Store any leftovers in airtight containers until the next day you're brave :-)

Chicken and rice casserole

2 lbs cooked and shredded chicken
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 cups water
1 can corn
3 cups uncooked rice

Place everything in the crockpot. Cook on low for about 4-5 hours.

Hawaiian chicken

6-8 pieces of chicken (boneless is easiest)
1 jar of BBQ sauce
2 cups pineapple juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tbsp dry mustard
1 1/2 tbsp ginger
1 tsp pepper

Place chicken in a slow cooker. Mix together all ingredients for sauce. Pour over chicken. Bake on low 6ish hours. Serve over rice.

Orange chip muffins

6 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups orange juice
4 eggs
2 15oz cans of mandarin oranges, chopped
1 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together all ingredients. Spoon batter into cups of a greased muffin pan/stone. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Makes 48 muffins

Applesauce

I don't usually make my own applesauce, but if we have a large enough batch of apples that the kids haven't eaten and need to be used, I'll throw this together. Then, of course, my kids love to eat it warm, just because I made it.

About 3lbs. of apples (we had Granny Smiths and Galas)
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 cup lemon juice
About 8 cups apple juice

Core and peel apples. Put them in a pot with lemon and apple juices (this prevents so much discoloration of the apples and prevents having to put in sugar at the end). Boil until very tender. Drain and put apple chunks in large bowl. You can either mash or mix apples to desired consistency. Add cinnamon. Pressure can whatever the kids don't devour.

Cracker Jack cookies

3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soa
1 tsp salt
2 cups butter, melted
2 cup brown sugar
2 cups sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
4 cups oatmeal
4 cups Rice Krispies

Mix together everyting down to the Rice Crispies. After mixture is smooth, hand stir in the cereal. Drop into heaping spoonfuls on baking pan/stone. Bake on 350 degrees until they are evenly browned. Cool.

NOTES: 1-This dough is very thick.
2-These cookies are to be chewy, so when you start to remove them from a hot pan, they bunch together. Let them cool for a few minutes, then try to remove them.

Makes 13 dozen

Salsa chicken

chicken pieces (we used 3 breasts, 4 thighs, and 6 legs)
2 cups salsa
1/2 cup taco seasoning
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream

Place rinsed chicken in crockpot. Mix together rest of ingredients. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, until done.

Chicken Alfredo

chicken pieces (We did 2 boneless breasts, 4 boneless thighs, and 6 legs)
salt
flour
olive oil or cooking spray
1 bag of egg noodles

SAUCE:
3 tsp garlic, minced
3 tbsp onion, minced
4 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 1/2 tsp pepper

Rinse chicken; salt; coat in flour. Fry chicken in olive oil or cooking spray until mostly done. In a saucepan, combine ingredients for alfredo sauce. Simmer over medium heat, whisking the whole time to prevent lumps. Remove chicken from heat, placing it in a 9x13 inch baking pan. Pour alfredo sauce over chicken. Bake on 350 degrees for about an hour, until done. While chicken is baking, boil the pasta; set aside.
Remove chicken from oven. Place chicken pieces on plate; pour sauce over pasta.

Edible playdough

My kids LOVE this stuff. They play and play, but you have the assurance that when they eat some (and all kids inevitably do), they're not eating chemicals and poisons. AND, what's better than all of that? It's easy to make, easy to clean up!

8 cups smooth peanut butter
8 cups powdered milk
1 cup honey

Mix together in a large bowl. If the mixture is still sticky, simply add small amounts of powdered milk until it's not. Store in an airtight container. Whatever's leftover that your kiddies don't eat, the dog can have :)

Honey oatmeal bread

2 cups honey
2 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup powdered milk
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups applesauce
2 cups oats
2 eggs
2 cups raisins (optional)
2 cups walnuts, chopped (optional)

Mix together all ingredients, except the raisins and walnuts. After everything has mixed well, stir in the raisins and nuts. Bake on 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until toothpick/fork stuck in the middle comes out clean.

Makes 2 loaves.

Peach muffins

6 cups flour
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups peaches, chopped (we pureed ours)
2 cups applesauce (if you only coarsely chop your peaches)

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Pour by the large scoopful into greased muffin cups. Bake on 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until fork inserted in middle comes out clean.

Makes 36 muffins

GOING GREEN: Fabric softener alternatives

First, let me say that I like fabric softener. I know it's not environmentally friendly and maybe one day, I'll take the plunge. Right now, I enjoy my lavender scented Gain. Personally, we use vinegar in my son's laundry, due to his severe eczema, since he's sensitive to harsh chemicals and scents.

1-vinegar. That's right. Plain white distilled vinegar. Add 1 cup to the cycle and wash through. How can you get cheaper and simpler? You can't. (NOTE: If you use bleach, DO NOT mix vinegar with it!)

2-Stick to natural fabrics, like cotton. Synthetics are prone to static.

3-Dry your laundry on a clothes line or indoor clothes dryer.

4-Dryer balls. They're loud, but reusable. (Google, or shop at www.gaiam.com to find some) Some also swear by a plain old tennis ball.

A few other little tips: Using less detergent (I use half of what's recommended) also helps with static, not to mention making your detergent stretch to double it's normal life. Drying clothes outside can make whites the whitest they've been since purchase. I have used cloth diapers and I am proud to say that not one of them has a single stain. They were always sunned and are bright white. On that same thought though, the sun is a natural bleacher. This means your dark clothes can fade. The simple solution for this is turning them inside out to dry them outside.

BBQ pork chops

pork chops (this makes 18 for us)
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp chili powder
1 bottle BBq sauce (we use Kraft original)

Rinse meat, place in containers. Mix together ingredients for sauce. Pour over meat and marinate overnight. Grill, bake, or crockpot until done.

Donuts

2 cans refrigerated biscuits (we used Grands!)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Pull biscuits from can. Use a small round cookie cutter to cut holes in the middle of each biscuit. Roll biscuit in cinnamon/sugar mixture. Place on baking pan/stone. Bake on 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until they're flaky. Serve warm.

Monkey Bread

Another repeat, but for the exact same reason as the last one!

Ingredients:
Frozen bread dough-cut into bite sizes(we use Rhodes frozen roll dough, cut in half)
Sauce:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp cinnamon

Sprinkles:
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Mix together sugar and cinnamon for dipping dough balls into. Dip each dough ball, covering generously. Place in bundt pan no more than 2 layers deep. Mix together all ingredients for sauce in pan. Heat on medium until smooth. Pour over dough.Place in warm spot in your kitchen, letting dough double in size over the next 30 minutes. Bake on 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until browned.Loosen immediately and invert over plate.

Pot roast

This is a repeat, but it's one of those recipes I know I will make for the rest of my life and one day pass down to my kids. It's THAT good.

2 rump roasts
2 cups onion, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup Worchestershire sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 cups beef broth

Place thawed roasts in large crock pot. Mix together all other ingredients. Pour over roasts and cook on high for 6ish hours, or until meat is falling apart.