Ultimate Thanksgiving Pie..........let's use up those leftovers!!

     It is quite possible that this is my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner. It happens a couple of days after you stuff yourself with turkey. You find your refrigerator full of Thanksgiving food and everybody is sick of eating the same leftover turkey. This recipe is the solution to those leftovers in your fridge.
     There really isn't a specific recipe to follow for this. You add in what you have. If you don't have it, then no worries!! Or if you just have a small amount of something that is ok too.
     Ok, so open that refrigerator door and gather up your Turkey Day leftovers!!! Here is what to search for:

Ultimate Thanksgiving Pie

Leftover Turkey cut into chunks
Leftover Green Bean Casserole or plain green beans
Corn
Peas
Carrots
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Stuffing/Dressing

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 325 deg. Lightly spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. In your pan mix together the turkey, vegetables, and gravy. Top the mixture with a layer of mashed potatoes. Crumble the dressing on top of the mashed potatoes. Bake for 30-45 min. or until heated through.

Dice your leftover turkey into chunks.

Mix the turkey and veggies together in a 9x13 pan

I unfortunately didn't have gravy, but I did have a partial box of stock in the fridge that needed used. Soooo I made some gravy using the stock, bouillon, milk, pepper and cornstarch.

Pour the gravy in with the meat and veggies. Mix until everything is coated.

Drop the mashed potatoes by spoonfulls onto the mixture. Spread with the back of your spoon.

Crumble the stuffing on top of the mashed potato layer.

Bake at 325 until heated through and stuffing is crispy.

It is ready to come out of the oven when it's bubbly and crispy brown on the top.

I hope you enjoy my solution to using up those Turkey Day leftovers!!

-Jessica

Turkey Day Recipe Recap

     Well I feel like we should have you pretty well prepped for turkey day. In case you are keeping track, it is just two short days away. I hope that you all have an amazing holiday with your families. Remember to focus on the time with your loved ones and don't stress out too much about the food.
     Thanksgiving is for being thankful.  I'm thankful for each of you who come here and read my blog. I'm thankful that I am able to help you on your gluten free journey. I'm thankful for my family and friends, without them I would go crazy. I'm thankful for my little orange fur baby Max, he keeps me on my toes and gives unconditional love. I hope that you are all able to pick out at least one thing to be thankful for in your lives.
       Ok that was my sappy paragraph, now let's do a little re-cap of the recipes and tips that you can use for your Thanksgiving feast!!!

So we have talked about gluten in your turkey and what to look out for. If you missed that blog you can find it here:

Let's Talk Turkey

We talked side dishes to compliment your bird:

Crock-pot Sweet Potatoes with Applesauce

Cornbread

Gluten Free Stuffing/Dressing

Cranberry Orange Sauce

We even set you up with a yummy holiday drink

Hot Spiced Apple Cider

And we didn't forget the most important part............DESSERT!!

Pumpkin Dump Cake

Butterscotch Pie

Carrot Cake

     I think that we've got you pretty well set up to have a successful Thanksgiving with your loved ones. Enjoy your holiday!! Happy Thanksgiving!

-Jessica







Cranberry Orange Sauce

     I believe that I fall into that category that people call Traditionalist when referring to cranberry sauce. That means that I eat the can shaped jelly stuff. I love that the ridges that the can make in the jelly show you exactly where to cut the servings. I have been perfectly happy with my can shaped cranberry stuff for YEARS. People have brought the homemade stuff to our dinners before, but I have always chosen the canned over the homemade.
     HOWEVER, I felt that since I was writing this blog, I should make an attempt at the homemade cranberry sauce. Plus, cranberries were on sale for 99 cents a bag this week. I figured that if it was an epic fail I wasn't out too much.
      I decided that it would be fun to make a sauce that had a citrus flavor to compliment the cranberries. SO I decided to use orange juice as my liquid in my recipe. I also used brown sugar instead of plain old white sugar. I was shocked that the recipe only has 3 ingredients. I found recipes that had many more ingredients, but let's not get crazy here.....I mean I eat the canned stuff after all. It doesn't have to be TOO gourmet. So I adapted this basic three ingredient recipe by changing the liquid and using brown sugar instead of white. Here is what I came up with.....

Cranberry Orange Sauce
1 Cup Orange Juice
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 12 oz. bag of Cranberries (washed)

In a saucepan over medium heat dissolve the brown sugar in the orange juice. Stir in the cranberries. Cook until the cranberries start to pop (they start about 8 min. into cooking).  At this point you can smash some of the berries to release the juices (I used the whisk I was cooking with to smoosh). Cook for approximately 4-5 min. Remove from the heat and place in a bowl. Sauce will thicken as it cools. This can be made a few days ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator.

Combine orange juice and brown sugar in a saucepan.

Cook until cranberries start to "pop" you will hear them and visibly see their skins have a crack.

Use the whisk and smoosh some of the berries

Sauce will thicken as it cools. Store in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!!

-Jessica



Let's Talk Turkey............

This is a picture of last years beautiful bird. Makes me hungry for turkey. Mmm Mmm Mmm!

   
      Did you realize that your Thanksgiving turkey could contain gluten? Gluten in my TURKEY!?!?! Yes, it's possible. Many brands are unfortunately not gluten free. So before buying the big bird you really need to check and be sure that it is gluten free. Please don't just assume that it is safe.
     Companies often times pump their turkeys full of junk to make them "juicy and moist". Often times this creates issues for us. You really don't want to be sick on Thanksgiving. Be sure to read labels, call the company, be vigilant!
     For the last several years I have been buying Honeysuckle White brand turkey. I love it because it clearly says right on the bird "gluten free". I just love companies that clearly label. I even called their 1-800 number this morning to verify (because I haven't made the trip to the store to buy this years bird yet). The people on the phone were friendly and helpful and said YES, it's gluten free. Love it!
     Honeysuckle makes a juicy and moist bird without pumping it full of junk. Please be sure that your brand of turkey also does the same. I don't want any of my SillyYaks to be sick this holiday season!

-Jessica

Extreme Makeover -Cornbread Edition

I had the pleasure of volunteering for Extreme Makeover Home Edition this summer. It was such a great experience. The house was built for a local military family. The husband Sgt. Alan Hill suffers from PTSD. He was unable to live with his family due to the condition. This new house was built to help bring Sgt. Hill home to his family. It was an amazing experience to be a part of. There were so many vets out helping build the Hill's home. Many of them also had PTSD. It was very inspiring to meet them and talk with them. I also had the opportunity to meet Ty Pennington, Paul DiMeo, and Johnny Littlefield. I was also in a scene with Glen Close (well I was in the background, but I totally think it counts). I had so much fun being a part of the build. It has been a long wait to see "OUR" episode on tv. Well, tonight is THE night. It airs on ABC tonight at 7pm (central time). I am attending a watch party for the show tonight. I am in charge of making the cornbread. We are having white chicken chili. So I thought I would share a few photos that I took during the makeover and also my cornbread recipe (this is the same recipe that I use for Thanksgiving stuffing, hint hint). Enjoy!!

-Jessica

This was when I got to meet Ty Pennington. He is just as cute in person.

Johnny Littlefield and me at the Extreme BBQ Throwdown. He has the most beautiful eyes.

Glen Close and Paul DiMeo. She was so nice and kind.

Cornbread (gluten free of course)

2 Eggs

1 cup liquid (water, milk, juice) I usually use milk

4 T sugar

4 T oil

1 Cup GF Flour (I usually use rice flour, or Annalise Robert's mix)

1 Cup Corn Meal

4 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp salt

Mix well. Bake at 424 deg. in a well greased 8x8 pan for 25 min. or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted.

I usually double this recipe and bake in a 9x13 pan to make stuffing cubes for Thanksgiving.

The design team on day 2 of the build.

This is the beautiful home that was built for the Hill Family.

Welcome Home Sgt. Hill and Family!

Stuffing/Dressing for Thanksgiving, gluten free of course

    I think that stuffing/dressing is probably the most intimidating of the Thanksgiving foods to make gluten free. I remember that first gluten free Thanksgiving for me. I was not sure how in the world I was going to make the stuffing. I looked and looked for a recipe. I finally came up with a good one. I merged a couple of recipes and converted them to gluten free to come up with the recipe that I use today.

     The truth is.....stuffing/dressing is NOT hard to make!!! My recipe does require some prep work because I make my own cornbread and then dry it out into bread cubes to use in my stuffing. You wouldn't have to do that if you don't want to. You can buy gluten free stuffing cubes at places like Whole Foods. Usually I do a mixture of 1/2 cornbread and 1/2 Whole Foods gluten free bread cubes. However, I have done ALL cornbread before when Whole Foods was out due to me not getting my tush in gear and getting them early.

Gluten-Free Bread Stuffing

Ingredients

3/4 cup margarine or butter
1-small bunch chopped celery (with leaves)
1 finely chopped onion
9 cups toasted gluten-free bread cubes (I use 1/2 bread 1/2 cornbread)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon pepper
2 boxes Swanson's chicken broth (more or less depending how moist you want it) (usually on the more side because gf bread soaks up the juices)

Instructions

Heat margarine in pan over medium-high heat. Saute celery and onion in margarine about 7 minutes (until tender). Remove from heat.

Stir in remaining ingredients. Depending on how moist you want the stuffing, use more or less of the chicken broth.

Transfer to a 9x13pan . Bake at 375 degrees for 35-45 minutes.

Melt margarine in a heavy skillet

Saute celery and onion in the margarine until onion looks transparent.

Add spices in with the sauteed veggies.

Remove from heat. Begin adding bread crumbs and chicken broth to the mixture.

Gluten free bread soaks up LOTS of broth. Be sure to have plenty or your stuffing will be dry. I add more broth after I get it transferred to the 9x13 pan.

Ok it's ready for the oven....Bake at 375 deg. for 35-45 min. Cover with foil for the first 30 min. Then remove the foil so the top can get crispy.

I hope you are feeling a little less intimidated now. Making gluten free stuffing/dressing is NOT that hard. Enjoy!!

-Jessica



Crock-Pot Sweet Potatoes with Applesauce

     Well today is November 3rd. That means Turkey Day is only 21 days away. I am going to attempt to share a few of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes (gluten free style, of course). It seems that Thanksgiving is a gluten filled holiday. I personally think it is one of the hardest to navigate. I opt to make my own gluten free foods and then take a plate of my safe food to dinner. I usually also take a side or dessert that can be shared with everyone. I find that it is just easier and less stressful for me to do the "take my own plate" thing. It may be more work for me, but in the long run it is better because I don't end up sick. So the day before Thanksgiving I cook a turkey, stuffing, rolls, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and a veggie. I then make a plate or two, depending on how many dinners I have to attend. Those either go into the freezer or the refrigerator and go along with me to turkey dinner.

     Ok, onto the recipe of the day. Today is a yummy side dish. It is a great one to make because it can either go into the oven or into the crock-pot. It isn't difficult to make and my family thought it was pretty tasty. I made it last year for one of our big Turkey Day feasts.  This recipe came in an email last year from Gluten Freely. The original recipe can be found here: Slow Cooker Sweet Potatoes with Applesauce and now onto my version......

Crock Pot Sweet Potatoes with Applesauce

Ingredients:

6 medium (2 pounds) sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 1/2 cups applesauce (I prefer to use cinnamon applesauce for this recipe)

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

1 teaspoon pie spice

Instructions:

1. Place sweet potatoes in 2- to 3 1/2-quart slow cooker. Mix remaining ingredients; spoon over potatoes.
2. Cover and cook on low heat setting 6 to 8 hours or until potatoes are very tender.

This recipe can also be made in the oven. Generously spray a pan with cooking spray. Follow the same steps above for mixing. Cover with foil and Bake at 400 deg. until potatoes are fully cooked (approximately an hour).




I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.

-Jessica