Sweet Potato Casserole

We recently had my parents over for a steak cookout lunch, and I decided sweet potato casserole sounded like the perfect side! My mom has always made Boston Market's version, but I am really not a fan. It's SO bad for you, and I always think it's a little watery. (Maybe because she boils the potatoes?) I tried this version from The Pioneer Woman, and we absolutely thought it was great!

4 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 3/4 pounds)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Bake sweet potatoes for 45 minutes at 375 until potatoes are fork tender. Once the potatoes have cooled enough to handle, scrape the flesh in to a mixing bowl. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F.

Add the granulated sugar, milk, eggs, vanilla and salt to the bowl with the sweet potatoes. Mash ingredients together until they are incorporated but the potatoes are still lumpy.

Now, in a separate bowl, mash the brown sugar, pecans, flour and butter with a pastry cutter or fork until thoroughly combined. The mixture should resemble a crumble.(I actually melted the butter and mixed. I do my crisps the same way, and I actually prefer it that way. I think it gives the butter more even distribution.)

Spread the sweet potato mixture in a 14-cup oval-shaped baking dish and sprinkle the crumb mixture all over the top. Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Harvest Sangria

We are not big drinkers at all around here, but I wanted to make something special for our Thanksgiving dinner. (Not to mention I was afraid I needed something "special" to survive cooking my first Thanksgiving dinner!) My husband and I both like sangria (probably because it doesn't taste like alcohol,) so I concocted a new little recipe!

Here's how I made it,

1 bottle of Chardonnay (I used 2 buck Chuck, of course.)
1/2 cup of Triple Sec
1/4 cup Vodka
16 oz of apple cider (or more or less to taste)
1 apple, sliced
1 pear, sliced
1 orange, sliced
3 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
A splash of club soda

Yesterday, I mixed everything but the apple cider together. I stirred it several times over the course of the day, and I let it sit in the fridge overnight. This morning, while I was making everything else, I added the apple cider. I also fished out the pears, cinnamon sticks and cloves, and I rimmed our glasses with cinnamon and sugar. When it was time to eat, I topped our glasses off with a little bit of club soda! So delicious, and the apple slices are absolutely a treat! YUM!

From our family to yours...

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

(Are we the only ones that ate in our pjs?)

Thanksgiving Menu

I know everyone is looking for some new inspiriation for their Thanksgiving table in these last few days before Thanksgiving! Here is what we are having, along with links to some of our tried and true frugal favorites,

Turkey (We will stuff with aromatics - rosemary, an orange, a yellow onion, a carrot and a sweet apple.)
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy (Method coming soon.)
Pepperidge Farm stuffing (Cori's favorite for some reason.)
Country Store Fried Apples
Corn
Cranberry Sauce from a can
Trader Joes Maple Sweet Potatoes
Fresh Green Beans
Whole Wheat Rolls
Harvest Sangria

For dessert I am making a double spiced pumpkin pie and caramel apple cider floats (recipe coming soon.)

A Frugal Thanksgiving

In a somewhat unusual twist of events, it ended up that I am hosting only the five of us for Thanksgiving this year. With both of our families in town, that is definitely not the norm! Regardless, we are excited to have some old-fashioned family fun and figure out how to cook a turkey for ourselves. Someday I know our Thanksgivings will be "just the 5 of us" plus spouses and grandchildren, so I guess we better figure the turkey thing out now!

The groceries above cost me right around $75 AFTER tax. It doesn't look like a lot, but it does include a ham AND a turkey. They turkey was free with a purchase of a ham this week at Hy-Vee, so that was a nice bonus for us. I've never bought EITHER. The gallon of apple cider was a total budget breaker too. Regardless, we'll take the $25 overage from our regular spending money. I don't have anything planned for our spending money this pay period, so it's nice when it is available! A lot of times I have it spent on things that need to be paid for over the next two weeks before I even get it!

In the meantime, our menu plan looks a little like this,

Sunday - biscuits / ham and baked potatoes / fish sticks and pears

Monday - cereal / brown bag lunches / spinach and artichoke macaroni and cheese (stay tuned for recipe)

Tuesday - cereal / brown bag lunches / egg in the hole

Wednesday - cheesy eggs / Campbell's chicken noodle soup and apples / black bean and cheese quesadillas

Thursday - TURKEY DAY (See my separate Thanksgiving menu post. I will be sharing various favorite recipes and a few new ones.)

Friday - I will be Black Friday shopping. We'll try to eat as frugally as possible, but it will probably be a lot of leftovers and possibly some eating on the go.

I definitely spent the bulk of our budget on Thanksgiving food! Sun-Wed might be a little interesting in the eating department, but we'll be fine. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!