Thanksgiving Dinner

This year Russ and I were alone for Thanksgiving this year. So we went to Flagstaff and had some fun! But I was bummed I didn't get the Bird Thanksgiving dinner. It is seriously the BEST. So I thought it would be fun to do a big meal for Christmas this year. My family normally just does fondue on Christmas day, but we did Christmas with Russ' family and it was a very different day than I'm used to! But the delicious day was SO worth it! Here are some of the classic recipes we use that day! Try the rice dressing... ABSOLUTELY delicious!
Thanksgiving Turkey
Source: Lisa Hawks
Ingredients:

• 2 celery sticks
• 5-10 pound turkey
• 1/2 large onion, cut into chunks
• 1/2 lemon
• olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• thyme
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Defrost turkey according to directions on turkey. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place celery sticks in roasting pan.
2. Wash turkey and pat dry with paper towels.
3. Sprinkle salt, pepper and thyme inside the turkey. Place the onion inside the turkey. Squeeze lemon into the turkey and throw the lemon half inside.
4. Near the neck opening of the turkey and on the breast, wriggle the skin loose. Rub olive oil under the skin and add garlic.
5. Rub the whole outside of the turkey with olive oil and salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with string. Put turkey breast side down on the celery sticks. Cover with lid or tin foil.
6. Cook the turkey for about 2 hours. The packaging will state the exact amount of time.

Thanksgiving Rice Dressing

Source: David Bird
Ingredients:

• 2 c rice
• 4 c water
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery
• 1 c pine nuts
• 4 T butter
• 1 tsp poultry seasoning
• 1 tsp sage
• salt and pepper to taste
• chicken broth

Directions:

1. Put rice and water in a pot, bring to a boil.
2. In a separate pot, saute the onion and celery in the butter. Cook until the onion is translucent.
3. Stir in the spiced and remove from heat.
4. Mix the veggies and rice together and add pine nuts.
5. When the turkey has 1 hour left to cook, spoon the rice dressing around the outside of it. Re-cover the turkey and put back in the oven. Stir the rice every twenty minutes for the rest of the cooking time. Add chicken broth to the rice if it seems dry. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

Classic Green Bean Casserole

Source: Campbell's Recipe Site

Ingredients:

• 1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup 
• 1/2 c shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• Dash ground black pepper
• 4 cups cooked cut green beans
• 1 1/3 cups French's® French Fried Onions

Directions:

1. Stir the soup, cheese, milk, soy sauce, black pepper, beans and 2/3 cup onions in a 1 1/2-quart casserole.
2. Bake at 350°F. for 25 minutes or until the bean mixture is hot and bubbling.  Stir the bean mixture.  Sprinkle with the remaining onions and more cheddar cheese.
3. Bake for 5 minutes or until the onions are golden brown.

Pretzel Salad
Source: Barbara Bird
Ingredients:

• 2 c crushed pretzels
• 1/4 c melted butter
• 1 T sugar
• 1 8oz package cream cheese
• 1 c sugar
• 8oz cool whip
• 1 6oz package raspberry jello
• 2 c boiling water
• 20oz frozen raspberries

Directions:

1. Mix together pretzels, butter, and sugar. Bake in a 9x13 pan at 400 degrees for 6 minutes. Cool completely.
2. Cream together cream cheese, sugar, and cool whip. Spread over cooled crust.
3. Mix together boiling water, jello pckg, and raspberries, set aside and allow to cool a few minutes. Pour over the cream cheese mixture. Put in the fridge for several hours to set.

The Best Tacos I've Ever Had...

Yay! I get to be all cool and write on Chaela's blog! (Woot, woot!)

For those of you who don't know me: I'm Michaela's old roommate. The one who who flat out asked Russ what, exactly, his intentions were with the girl and told him just to kiss her already.

Yep. That's me. :)

I also happen to be a lover of music, art, dancing, literature and all things French. (Ok, I'm a little obsessed... get over it)

AND..... FOOD!

I love to cook and Mich will attest that I love to cook delicious things that don't take much time. (She's actually shared a few of my college standbys on here already.) So when I told her I had a fabulous taco recipe, she said that I should just come on and share and she'd try it out.

So here I am :)

So let me tell you about this here recipe:

I'm a teacher and rarely get home before 5:30. I live back at my parents' (since I'm single and really don't want to pay rent) and to help out I make dinner once a week. Grocery shopping and all. My mom has always been a stay-at-home mom and dinner is promptly at 6. Nowadays that's even more necessary since my dad is bishop and usually doesn't have much time between work and meetings. In other words, when I make dinner I have to make things quick.

Tacos are quick. I love a good taco. But it has to be a GOOD taco with lots of flavor. But the MSG in seasoning packets doesn't go over well at my house and I'm not a big fan of ground beef. So I made these impromptu turkey tacos. And keep making them. Quick. Easy. Delicious.

Here's what you need:

*measurements are approximate... Michaela will attest to the fact that I only measure in baking*

1-2 lbs Ground Turkey (that package has ~ 1 2/3 lbs)
1 T Oregano
2 t Cumin
1-2 T Chili Powder
Salt and pepper (to taste)
1 14.5oz can tomatos
1 4oz can green chilis
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 avocado (this is the fattiest part of the dish!)
Tortillas (I'm a flour tortilla person, myself)
Ranch dressing (or creamy tomatillo dressing... from my blog here)

Directions:
In a medium fry pan, drizzle a bit of olive oil and heat on medium/medium-high. Turkey is extremely lean and you don't want it to stick!


Begin cooking turkey over medium heat.


In another fry pan, again drizzle a bit of olive oil and let it start to heat up (again on medium/medium-high)


While the oil is warming up, add the cumin, oregano, chili powder, salt and pepper to your turkey. Mix it in well and let it continue cooking on low.


Back in the other fry pan, add your onions and garlic and saute until the onions begin to appear translucent.

Add the green chilies and continue cooking until some of the liquids have cooked off.


Add the tomatoes. You may need to break apart some of the bigger tomato chunks.


Pour the tomato mixture over the fully cooked meat and mix in well.


Put the meat on a tortilla, top with sliced avocado and a drizzle of dressing.


Roll it up, serve with a salad and enjoy!


***I'll come back on and add a mint lemonade recipe to go with the dish :)