With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I thought I’d share a couple of our favorite Thanksgiving traditions. One involves food and the other is placed in the kitchen for all to see.

Each year we make a Thanksgiving tree. Nothing Martha Stewart-y mind you. I take a large piece of construction paper, draw a tree on it and hang it on the kitchen wall. Then I cut a variety of leaves out of colored paper and the kids (with a few contributions from mom & dad) write things we are thankful for on the leaves, glue them on the tree and voila! A Thanksgiving decoration and a snapshot of what is in our hearts that year. I think made-up traditions are so important for kids and this one has become one of our favorites.

Here's last year's Thankful Tree

The second Thanksgiving tradition? No surprise, it’s all about food! It’s yummy and each year I wonder why I only make it on Thanksgiving.

Corn Bread Sausage Dressing
18 corn muffins (I use Jiffy mix: cheap, easy & reliable)
1 lb sage sausage
1 medium to large onion, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup of frozen corn
3 cups of chicken broth (you might need a little extra)
1.5 tsp thyme
1.5 tsp sage
0.5 tsp rosemary
1/4 cup of parsley
2 eggs

1. Cook the corn bread the night before and leave it out to dry (or leave it out about 4 hours if you forget to make it the night before)
2. Crumble the corn bread into a large bowl.
3. In a large saute pan, brown & crumble the sausage. With a slotted spoon move the cooked sausage to a plate lined with paper towels. Drain all but 1 TB of fat/drippings from the skillet. In that skillet now cook the onion, celery & pepper for about 5 minutes or until soft. Preheat the oven to 350 now too.
4. In the saute pan stir in corn, 2 cups of the broth, herbs and some salt & pepper. Bring to a simmer, stirring often, and pour over the corn bread that’s in the big bowl. Mix gently but well. Add sausage & parsley and mix some more.
5. Whisk together the eggs and remaining 1 cup of broth. Pour over the dressing and mix well – it should be very moist, if not add more broth.
6. Bake in a covered casserole for 30 minutes.

If you’re making it ahead and reheating it for dinner, add some extra broth before reheating so it doesn’t dry out.

Barb has more Thanksgiving recipes on her blog: Quick Like A Bunny!

So Thanksgiving - the ultimate food thursday - is just around the corner. Now I don’t know about you but on turkey day we try to eat light before the feast. There’s certainly no official lunch involved, we just get out some yummy snacks to nibble while we finish up the cooking and turkey day preparations. The following dip is perfect for that sort of thing. It’s light. It’s served warm. And it looks like you put more effort into it than it requires. Next week I’ll probably post something holiday related too - if you’ve got a request for a food category - post it in the comments and I’ll see what I can do.

Without further ado… a new ‘go-to’ dip. Quite yummy with wheat thins or triscuits in my opinion. Or lightly toasted baguette slices if you’re all ambitious. And since this is a site for parents let me tell you that this is indeed kid-friendly. Good for them to help make and my kids all like it - some of them try not to get an artichoke piece but they all like it.

Parmesan Artichoke Dip

1 can artichoke hearts, drained & chopped
1 cup miracle whip (yes mayo works too, you miracle whip haters)
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 garlic clove, minced
3 green onions, chopped
1 roma tomato, diced

1. Mix the artichoke hearts thru garlic in a bowl and pour it into a greased pie pan. Top with a little extra parmesan.
2. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, it should look lightly browned.
3. Top it with the green onions and tomatoes

Easy as 1-2-3

Barb has more Thanksgiving recipes on her daily blog about stuff & nonsense: Quick Like A Bunny!

My kids have always liked baking. And I like having them in the kitchen with me so it’s a win-win situation. Besides just think of all the math they are subconsiously learning when you teach them how to measure. So get your kids in the kitchen, this recipe is easy enough for all ages!

We’re talking pumpkin cookies. Yes, you can make them year round but there is just something about the fall that makes me want to put pumpkin in as many things as possible. I make a mean pumpkin muffin and I’ve got a great pumpkin bread recipe (for the bread maker no less!). But a few weeks ago I went on the hunt for a good pumpkin cookie recipe. I’m happy to say, I found it. I’ve only made one tiny change to this recipe - its original can be found on Pioneer Woman’s Tasty Kitchen website (a great resource for all sorts of recipes).

Here is THE pumpkin cookie recipe. Approved by my kids, my cheerleaders who received them as a post-game reward, and myself. Mmmmm

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 a bag of mini-chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350
2. Sift the first five ingredients together in a medium size bowl, set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl cream the sugar and shortening, then add the pumpkin and blend well. Add the egg and vanilla, mix well.
4. Gently stir in the dry ingredients, a little at a time until you have a nice smooth batter. Stir in your chocolate chips. Let a few ‘fall’ out of the bowl so your kids can sneakily eat them.
5. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and bake for around 12 minutes.

These might be the fluffiest cookies I’ve ever made. Be gentle with the dough and yours will be too. Mmmm…. I love pumpkin treats!

Note: be sure you buy canned pumpkin NOT pumpkin pie mix.

Barb writes about crazy adventures with her kids and all sorts of fun stuff on her Quick Like A Bunny Blog. Check it out!

This time of year we have soup about once a week. I almost always make soup in the crock pot which makes it very convenient for those busy nights. Note: I use a big crock pot, if you don’t then you should cut the broth/water and meatballs in half but leave the rest the same. Here’s one of our favorites:

Meatball Soup
In your crock pot combine the following
6 cups beef broth
2 cups water
1 (15 oz) can of white (cannellini) beans
1 (15 oz) can of diced tomatoes
2 carrots, thinly sliced
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Now make some meatballs. In a large bowl combine:
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 TB parsley
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 lb ground meat (I use turkey)

- Mix it with your hands until everything is incorporated into the meat. Now roll small meatballs (think quarter to half-dollar size) and drop them into your soup.

- Cook on low for 7-8 hours. Or on high for 3-4. For the last 30 minutes of cooking time, put the heat on high if it wasn’t already, and stir in 2 handfuls of fresh chopped spinach and 1/2 box of small pasta (alphabet pasta or star shaped pasta for example.) If you’re not home 30 minutes before dinner don’t stress: just take 15 minutes, stir in the spinach while you bring water to a boil on the stove. Cook the pasta and just stir it in before serving.

For those of you who would like a nice neat ingredient list. Here it is:
6 cups beef broth
2 cups water
1 (15 oz) can of white (cannellini) beans
1 (15 oz) can of diced tomatoes
2 carrots, thinly sliced
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 TB parsley
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 lb ground meat (I use turkey)
2 handfuls of fresh spinach, chopped
1/2 package of small pasta

You can read more by Barb on her daily blog: Quick Like A Bunny!

Finally we’ve had some beautiful fall days - blue skies, crisp weather, colorful leaves and last weekend we went apple picking! Fresh apples are so yummy and it was a great way to spend half an hour or so Sunday afternoon. I don’t mind having that many apples lying around because I like to bake with them. Prime example: I’ve made this apple crisp twice in the past 5 days. It’s a good thing we polished off the frozen vanilla yogurt or I probably would have made it again last night. It’s easy. It makes the house smell soooooo good. And well, it’s awfully yummy served with frozen vanilla yogurt. (yes, ice cream works too)

I took some pictures. I was messing around with the exposure and the flash so they aren’t the best pictures. I debated posting them at all… but then I figured I’d post them in a small size so maybe the slight off-focus nature of them won’t drive you crazy.

This started as a recipe from the tried & true Better Homes & Garden Cookbook - the perfect gift for anyone moving into their first home in my opinion!

Apple Crisp

3-4 apples, peeled & thinly sliced
3 TB sugar
3/4 cup regular rolled oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup butter (aka half the stick)

1. Put your thinly sliced apples in a round baking dish (I use a cake pan). Sprinkle the sugar on top and stir to coat evenly.

Look here's a slightly blurry picture of this step

2. In a medium-size mixing bowl, make your topping. Combine the oats thru nutmeg and stir it together a bit to mix. Then cut in the butter. (I like to cut it into small cubes and then use my pastry cutter to mix it in, you could also use a fork. The idea is to get the topping to look like coarse crumbs - you don’t want any cubes of butter hanging around uncoated.)

I love getting this tool out of the drawer

3. Sprinkle the topping over the apples and bake at 375 for 35 minutes or until the topping is a golden brown and bubbling around the edges.

4. Serve it warm with frozen vanilla yogurt. Or ice cream.

In the summer my family begs for this with fresh peaches… Mmmmm. And it would probably work with cherries, plums or other tree fruits.

Barb also writes on her Quick Like A Bunny! blog every day - check it out!

A few weeks ago a friend of mine wanted to know if I had a good recipe for french toast that I could post on the site. I have to be honest, real french toast? Not on my normal repetoire. However, I’m always up for a challenge! And this week was a good week for it. My husband was not home for dinner one night and one of the kids’ favorite treats when he’s not home is breakfast for dinner. This week? You guessed it, we made some serious french toast. And I even got my youngest involved as my assistant.

Before I share the recipe I have to make a note about the bread. I think thick (like 3/4 inch or so) slices of bread are important when it comes to french toast. I also think the type of bread you use is important. I like challah (an egg bread) but I couldn’t find it at our little grocery store this week. So I just got out the bread machine and made my own - here’s the recipe I found. I made it earlier in the day, sliced it and let it sit out to get a bit stale before dinner. Slightly stale bread, another key to good french toast. You can use whatever bread you like - sourdough, white bread, wheat bread - just cut it thick and let it get a little stale for best results. I for one, think this would be awesome with my pumpkin bread - I’m trying that some weekend soon. On to the recipe!

Granola French Toast

6-8 slices of bread, 3/4 inch thick
4 eggs
2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 TB brown sugar
3 cups granola, ground
2 TB butter

1. Whisk together the eggs thru brown sugar - go ahead, get the kids involved:

2. Place your crushed/ground granola on a plate. Note: How do you get ground granola? you can be all fancy and use a food processor or just put the granola in a baggie and let the kids whack away with a meat tenderizer (on the smooth side!). I think the latter is more fun:

3. Melt the 2 TB butter in a frying pan or griddle over medium heat. Soak a slice or two of bread in your egg mixture (depending on how much room you have in your pan) then coat each slice with granola on both sides. Cook for 5-6 minutes - you want it fluffy and golden, but you don’t want to burn the granola topping so pay attention.

4. Now eat it

It met with rave reviews at our house this week. I think it’s a pretty flexible recipe and if you come up with a fun twist please let me know! Also, I’m taking requests dear readers - just post ‘em in the comment section.

Barb also writes every day about random happenings and observations. Go visit her Quick Like A Bunny blog.

I had a request from a friend a couple of weeks ago to add some crockpot recipes to our growing list here on NWI Parents. Considering that my crockpot gets used at least once a week, that’s not difficult for me to accomplish. In fact, I’m happy to take requests! I’m getting them in person or via email from those of you who know me but you can leave a note in the comments section and I’ll be happy to try my best to find a recipe to fit the bill!

I made this recipe for the first time this week and while I usually wait to post a recipe until I’ve had some time to tweak it and make it my own - this one is so good I’m posting it immediately. It was literally devoured here on Tuesday night. I did make a few minor changes already and have a few others in mind, mainly in the part of adding more veggies, but it comes from the pages of the Better Homes & Gardens Simple Slow Cooker Recipes (a cookbook I use frequently).

Potato-Topped Chicken & Vegetables (but I’m thinking of renaming it chicken shepherd’s pie)

1 16 oz package of baby carrots
1 medium onion, cut into small wedges
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 (10oz) cans of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup
2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 20oz package of refrigerated garlic mashed potatoes
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. In your crockpot combine carrots and onion. Lay the chicken thighs on top.
2. In a bowl mix together the soup, basil & pepper - spoon it over the chicken & veggies.
3. Cover & cook for 7-8 hours on low or 3.5-4 hours on high.
5. After that time has elapsed, turn the heat to low if it’s on high. In a large bowl mix together the garlic mashed potatoes & cheese (if you didn’t find garlic mashed potatoes, mix in a couple crushed garlic cloves too). Spoon the potatoes over the chicken mixture. Cover & cook an additional 30 minutes until potatoes are heated through. (don’t go much longer than 30 minutes or your potatoes will turn soupy)

Barb also blogs daily at her Quick Like a Bunny blog. Go ahead, see what she’s up to.

There’s a distinct chill in the air that makes me want to make comfort foods - soups, stews, roasts, casseroles. Unless I’m using the crockpot I don’t usually have enough time during the week for some of those options but a casserole… that I can make time for. Here’s a family favorite. We had it earlier this week (and again I forgot to take a picture) and just for fun my husband picked up egg rolls and egg drop soup on the way home - it was like Chinese comfort food

Cashew Chicken Casserole

1 small onion, diced
2-3 celery stalks, diced
2 TB butter
2 cups rice, cooked
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup of chicken broth
1 TB soy sauce
6-12 drops of tabasco sauce (it doesn’t make it spicy - just balances out the flavor, but you could use fewer if you’re afraid)
2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
1 cup chow mein noodles
1/2 cup cashew pieces

1a. Cook rice according to package directions. (and if your chicken isn’t cooked, do that too)

1. Saute the onion & celery in the butter until done - approx 5 min. (do this while your rice is cooking)

2. Combine everything in a 2 quart casserole dish and mix well. Sprinkle a few extra chow mein noodles on top.

3. Bake, covered, at 350 for 30 minutes.

My kids like to put extra chashews on top of theirs when they eat it. I’m just excited to have something on the table that everyone enjoys so I let them - nuts are a healthy fat after all!

Barb also blogs daily about all sorts of topics on her Quick Like a Bunny blog.

I like to bake. So when my church (St Matthias in Crown Point) has it’s biannual Garage & Bake Sale I always sign up to bake. side note: if you like garage sales, you should come out to this thing. It’s huge and the 2-day sale starts today (9/24). So yesterday I needed to put on my baking hat. I decided to take my very popular chocolate chip banana bread and, with the help of the basic muffin recipe in my trusty Better Homes & Gardens cookbook, tweak it a bit to make muffins. You’re welcome.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
1 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
1-2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. In a mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, lemon zest & salt. Make a well in the center.

2. In a separate bowl combine the egg, milk, cooking oil and mashed banana. Mix well and add all at once to the dry mixture. Stir until just moistened (batter will be lumpy) and then fold in your chocolate chips.

3. Grease your muffin tin and fill each 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees 18-20 minutes, until firm & golden. Makes 10-12 muffins.

Barb also blogs daily about all sorts of topics on her Quick Like a Bunny blog.

I’ve been getting Cooking Light magazine for years and I still look forward to getting it each month. A whole magazine about food! With pictures! And the recipes rarely let me down. It’s a great resource for healthy cooking and helps me bring some variety into my kitchen. This recipe came from Cooking Light years ago, but it’s still one of my favorites, it’s a great way to use leftover chicken and everyone likes it - and when you’ve got kids, that’s a pretty strong endorsement. (plus it’s got more than one vegetable and they hardly even notice them!)

Chicken Artichoke Calzones
1 14 oz can of artichoke hearts, drained and finely chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
2 cups spinach leaves, finely sliced
2 cups shredded mozzerella cheese (provolone cheese is yummy too)
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
2 tsp cornmeal
1 can refrigerated pizza dough
1 jar of your favorite marinara

1. Preheat oven to 425.

2. In a large bowl combine artichoke hearts thru the chicken, add a little salt & pepper and toss gently.

3. Sprinkle a large baking sheet with cornmeal. Unroll dough and cut into 6 equal portions. Pat each portion into a 6×5 inch rectangle. Spoon about 3/4 cup into the center of each dough portion. Fold one corner over to make a triangle and firmly press the edges together to seal.

4. Bake for 15 minutes until golden. While baking, warm up your marinara sauce for dipping.

You can also freeze these partially baked and just bake them straight from the freezer for 15-20 minutes. And if you end up with leftover filling - it’s pretty good tossed with some cooked pasta some other night or for lunch.

Barb also blogs daily about all sorts of topics on her Quick Like a Bunny blog.