Thanksgiving Menu

Here is my menu for Thanksgiving, along with all the links to the recipes. I'm still on a quest for the perfect Thanksgiving menu. I grew up in a house where the food was rather bland and unimaginative, and I am really working on changing that. I will try to post pictures while I am cooking.

Spice-Rubbed Roast Turkey (I hope following Martha Stewart's recipe can help me along the path to a turkey that isn't raw at the bone.)
Cornbread Stuffing (From a box. That's the way it's always been made at my house. The kids love the crap. And the wee tyrant will eat tons of it. And I will do anything to get extra calories into him.)
Tamales (Made by a neighbor. She has quite the thriving business going.)
Baked Sweet Potatoes with Orange Caramel Glaze
Green Beans with Lemon and Oil (Will somebody please explain green bean casserole to me. I just do get the onion bits. Or even worse, I saw a recipe on television where they used corn flakes. Yuck!)

Collard Green Pie (This goes along with the tamales. I like to remind the family that we are ethnic.)
Sweet Potato Pie (Another great southern dish. My grandmother has spent the last two days baking them.)
Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting (Either mini cakes or cupcakes. Update: I added a pinch of saffron to the oil.)
Oven Baked Toffee Apples
Pear Crostata (I don't have a recipe. I will try to post directions with pictures. I think I will be using Asian pears.)

What's For Dinner

I tried a new recipe last night. This recipe for Cilantro Lime Chicken (I used pork chops instead.) was extemely simple and yummy. Actual prep time was less than 15minutes, even though you need to marinate the meat for eight hours. It is something you could prep the night before and pop in the oven at the end of a busy day.

I forgot to take a picture, but trust me this is a good recipe for busy parents.
Found at Gabriela's Kitchen.

Annabel Karmel

If you are looking for recipes for weaning your baby, or for a picky toddler go have a look at the Annabel Karmel website. Karmel has free recipes for every stage of your child's life and even healthy recipes for your family. Some of the recipes on the site are Butternut Squash & Pear Puree, Pork & Apricot Puree, and Pasta Stars with Carrots.

Sprout Foods

Tyler Florence has branched out into baby food. Sprout Foods is packaged in BPA free pouches. So if you want to order it online you don't have to pay a small fortune for shipping. And I would love to have Oatmeal with Roasted Cinnamon Applesauce or Peach Rice Pudding for breakfast. $16.65 for 12, 3.5 ounce pouches. Which isn't a bad price when you factor in that everything is organic.

And soon there will be an online social network.

Happy Birthday Cake Mold

The birthday cake pan for those of us who haven't figured out cake decorating. $32

Return Of A Classic

Look what I found in the grocery the other day? Nabisco has brought back Mother's classic Circus Cookies. The little pink and white cookies that people mourned the loss of just a few months ago are part of Nabisco's Classics line, and are called Iced Animal Cookies of all things. Kellogg bought the trademarks and recipe of the cookies so I don't know why they don't just call them Circus Cookies.

The cookies also don't taste the same. At first I couldn't figure out what they tasted like but slowly it came to me. The cookies now have a mild, but distinct, lemon flavor. But after a few cookies I started to like the flavor. Or maybe I was just so happy to have back a piece of my childhood that I didn't care about the taste.

Mother's Circus Cookies Are Coming Back

The little pink and white animal cookies are set to make a comeback. Kellogg has bought the recipes and trademarks for the cookies from Mother's Cake & Cookie Co. which recently filed for bankruptcy.

source

Recipes I Would Love To Try For Thanksgiving

I have become obsessed with what to cook for Thanksgiving dinner. I came across this recipe on Tastespotting. It is for Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake. I love bourbon, and I'm okay with pumpkin. And the little cheesecakes would be cute on a platter.

Other recipe posts

Gerber Sucks

To the kind people over at Gerber. I don't have a 4 1/2 month old. I miscarried that baby a year ago this week. I don't enjoy getting your coupons. And getting them this week is just cruel. Maybe you should make sure a woman has had the baby before you start sending out coupons. The same thing goes for Huggies and Pampers. I shouldn't have to spend my free time calling baby companies that I wouldn't be interested in to get off their mailing lists.

Also of interest:
Is Doctor Insensitivity After Miscarriage A Universal Problem
Where To Find Sperm Donors With Adult Photos In Profiles
Broken Hearted

Corn Syrup

Maybe somebody should tell the High Fructose Corn Syrup people that corn chips are also made of corn. And it doesn't make them healthy either.
Also of Interest:
High Fructose Corn Syrup

No More Mother's Circus Cookies

Mother's Cookies has gone bankrupt, shuttered in its plant, and fired all of it's employees. Mother's Circus Cookies are going the way of so many of the things from my childhood...into oblivion. Stock up and enjoy before the cookies on the shelf are gone.

Kids Organics Review

The wee tyrant is only attending school half a day, because he is sick and the whole day is too tiring. So I have to make his lunch. I bought the Kids Organics Baked Chicken Stars. I wanted him to have something hot, but I don't have time to cook lunch in the middle of the week. It was $4.50, which is about the cost of a Happy Meal.

The picture on the box looked really good. I didn't expect the product to look like the picture on the box, but it was disgusting looking. My son took one look at it and absolutely refused to eat it. So I tried to feed it to my grandmother. My grandmother was a poor orphan during the Depression and will eat almost anything. And she said it was disgusting. Grandma described it as bland, especially the vegetables. Which is saying a lot from a woman who rarely cooked with anything other than salt, pepper, and garlic powder. And the stars were so soggy that they looked like boiled chicken.

I really wanted to like Kids Organics. And I bought it because rarely do they sell good food in my little hick town. I was showing my grocery that there is a market for such products with my purchasing dollars. But I was so disappointed, and it's a product that I won't be buying again.

321 Baby Bulge Be Done Plan

Trainer Ramona Braganza has helped Hollywood celebrities Halle Berry and Jessica Alba regain their post baby bodies. And she has a simple plan on how to lose weight, no buying expensive delivered meals and no starvation.

• The 3-2-1 of Daily Nutrition: three meals, two snacks, 1 liter of water (minimum)
• Eat only half the portion of food on your plate if eating out
• Combine protein and fiber in a snack and you will feel full longer
• Drink minimum of 1 liter of water a day, but preferably 2
• Don't skip breakfast!
• Eat clean; learn to love foods without sauces and butter; enjoy steamed veggies, crunchy salads with little or no dressing- just lemon juice or balsamic vinegar
• Eat meats grilled, baked, steamed, or poached
• Eat brown instead of white rice or pasta
• Enjoy legumes, beans, and nuts
• Fruits for dessert!

It's basically the plan I have been following to lose weight (Except I'm not giving up sauces. I try to stick to a tablespoon of them though). It's called healthy eating. It's basically the way our grandparents ate.
Also of Interest:
How Much Weight To Gain While Pregnant

My Weight Loss Secret

I thought I was overweight because of my PCOS. I don't eat very much, but I was steadily gaining weight. I've put on 15 pounds since my last miscarriage. I just couldn't figure out what my problem was. The Glucophage had taken care of most of my symptoms, but the weight wasn't going anywhere. Well I found out the solution to my weight loss problem, and I've been able to give up exercise as an added bonus. And no pills were involved.
I was eating at least 200 too many calories a day. I was looking for information on how many carbs a day that someone my size needed. And I found this chart. I had been eating between 1500-1800 calories a day. I only need 1150-1500, so I aim for between 1250 and 1500. Gave up the extra calories, not as hard as you think, stopped exercising, and I have lost 5 pounds in a couple of weeks. How did I give up the extra calories? I've learned to stick to the suggested serving size.
Also of Interest:
Pregorexia
High Fructose Corn Syrup
How Much Weight To Gain While Pregnant

Cake

This is such a sweet birthday cake for a one-year old. And it doesn't look like it would be impossible to make.
source

High Fructose Corn Syrup

The Corn Refiners Association is trying to convince us that high fructose corn syrup isn't bad for us. They have commercials and everything. I guess their sales must be going down if the feel the need to have an ad campaign for a product that is in already in most foods.

Bad Mommy Update

I have a tummy ache from too much junk food. And I wish somebody would have told me that frappuccino was just fancy talk for milkshake. Because I would have skipped the Starbucks at Target and went to McDonalds on the way home and bought the biggest milkshake they had.
Also of Interest:
Gigan
The Last Weekend Of Summer Break
How To Breastfeed At Work

Adults Only Root Beer Float

2 scoops vanilla ice cream
1/2 ounce Knob Creek Bourbon
Enough root beer to fill rest of glass

Any bourbon will do, but I use the Knob Creek. Just because it's a root beer float doesn't mean you should go the low quality route.

Products I'm Loving

Cut-N-Seal sandwich maker, because my 9 year has become obsessed with those Uncrustable sandwiches. And I hate paying $2.99 for six peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And what preservatives are they using to make them last so long. $9
Also of Interest:
Products I'm Loving-Peanut Butter and Jelly Edition
Homemade Hot Pockets
Juice Boxes For Kids

Products I'm Loving

The peanut butter and jelly edition, or how to make a sinfully expensive pb&j.

P.B. Loco Peanut Butter with Raspberry Dark Chocolate, $6.95

Spread Dark Chocolate Lavendar Peanut Spread, $13

We Love Jam Blenheim Apricot Jam, $20.