Menu Monday- Thanksgiving Edition

Let me just say that it was SO nice getting in the kitchen last week and cooking more than I have been! I really love cooking, especially when I get to try new recipes and they turn out really good! All of the recipes I tried last week were wonderful!

This week I'm just doing some boring basics but I have several things cooking for our weekend Thanksgiving trip! We are staying in a lodge with some of Derek's extended family. I think there will be about 24 of us! It's going to be a lot of fun! Since I am doing a lot in preparation for that, I thought it would be fun to share my recipes!

via

Crock Pot Green Beans
(I am making these for our Thanksgiving Feast at Thomas' school! I know they'll taste good and you can't go wrong with a crock pot recipe!)

via Pioneer Woman

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
(I love making these and freezing them. You can freeze them at any point but I just do it before I bake them. This recipe makes a lot, so you can just pull out what you need. The extras make great gifts too!)

via Bakerella

Turkey Cake Pops
(These were the very first cake pops I made! (2 years ago) I'm looking forward to making them again now that I'm a little more experienced. They'll make the perfect quick snack this weekend!)

via Pioneer Woman

Homemade Cranberry Sauce
(If you have never tried to make your own cranberry sauce, you are going to be amazed at how easy this is make and how delicious it tastes!! And if you've never tasted cranberry sauce, now is the perfect chance! I am using the one on the back of the Ocean Spray bag but I've tried this one from Pioneer Woman too.)

via

Corn Pudding
(This is a must at Thanksgiving and Christmas in my family! It's so easy and simple and is sure to please everyone! I actually mix mine in the dish I bake it in for easy clean up. It's always a hit!)

Turkey and Stuffing
(I don't want to share my family's recipe, but I did some research and found these recipes here and here that are very similar! The key is to over season the stuffing so that the flavors spread to the turkey and to butter the bad boy up. We use a LOT more than what this recipe calls for. If you are not a fan of actually stuffing the turkey, this might not be your thing. I can say that my family has been doing turkey this way for YEARS and it's the best turkey I've ever had! Hopefully ours will come close this year.)

I'm not going to be making these next few recipes, but I wanted to share a few more of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes!

via Paula Deen

Breakfast Casserole
(The onion sautéed in with the hash browns make this dish! I love to make this up and then freeze it for when I need it!)

via

Sweet Potato Casserole
(I add a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg to this and love the way it tastes! The orange juice makes this dish stand out from other sweet potato recipes too!)

Okay, I feel like I'm posting a ton of recipes! I think this is enough to keep you busy! ;) Feel free to ask any questions if I didn't make something clear enough.

As always, feel free to play along! Comment below and let me know if you do, I'd love to hear what's on your menu!

Menu Monday- Week 36

I've been searching pinterest for more recipes and I'm excited to share this week's menu! 

via

Chicken Spaghetti 

(definitely a favorite in our house!) 

via

Taco Roll Ups

via

Crispy Chicken with Creamy Italian Sauce and Bowtie Pasta

via

Risotto Primavera

(My grandmother made something very similar at Easter and it was SO good!)

via

Skinny Meatloaf cupcakes with Mashed Potato Frosting 

(Can't wait to try these, although I'm certain mine won't be so pretty!) 

We have been doing Friday Night Pizza nights and it has gone really well. We let Anna-Kate make her own pizza and we've just been using what ingredients we have on hand, so I'm not having to buy anything at the store for that meal! 

Other things we are cooking up this week that I thought you might like: 

via

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

via

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Muffins

via

French Breakfast Puffs

(When I make these for home, I use the mini muffin pans. It's more work but way easier to eat, especially for the little ones! I don't coat all of them, so if that's all they eat for breakfast, I don't feel as guilty!)

All of these are for church, but I'm hoping to have enough to freeze some for us too. These recipes look so good and I don't have a lot of experience with homemade muffins! (Except those breakfast puffs... mmm...) 

via

I'm also going to whip up a batch of the scarecrow crunch I mentioned on Wednesday. Yum!!

Don't forget there are 3 ways to find the recipe/ picture source. You can click on the picture, the caption (via) or the meal itself and it will take you to the recipe. If there's a problem, feel free to let me know. I'm sometimes bad about switching around the links!

It looks like it's going to be a great week for us! ha!

What's on your menu this week? If you post a weekly menu, feel free to leave me a link in my comments section! I'm always looking for new ideas! 

Show Us Your Life- Favorite Dinner Recipe

This week we are sharing our favorite dinner recipes on the Kelly's Korner blog! Click here to share yours!

I have so many favorite meals! I thought I'd share a couple that our whole family loves to eat! 

1) Chicken Spaghetti- I use Pioneer Woman's recipe

Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti

You can click on the picture to see her recipe. She has such beautiful pictures with simple, step-by-step instructions! 

Here's what I do differently: 

* I use one can of cream of chicken soup and only one can of cream of mushroom soup

* I use just a little bit more broth

* I saute my onion and bell peppers together that way my kids don't notice them and it makes it taste better if my onion gets chopped a little too big 

We gobble this up- it's SO good! 

2) Bowtie Pasta Alfredo- SUPER EASY! 

This is a go-to recipe when I'm in a hurry! 

You can use any kind of pasta you'd like, but I use bowties, because they are pretty easy to cut up. Cook the pasta while you make your sauce! 

You can add just about anything you'd like into the pasta, but here's what I do:  

First, I chop some ham. I just use sandwich meat, so that I can use what's left for sandwiches the next day. I don't measure the ham, but I usually chop several pieces but not the whole pack. 

I also chop up a red or green bell peper. I like this to be diced fairly small. 

I put a little olive oil in a pan along with some minced garlic. Once the pan has warmed up, I add my ham and bell pepper. Saute until the bell pepper is tender. 

Then I melt a stick of butter and pour in one cup of heavy cream. Stir together and add about a 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese and 1/2 tsp of sage. Stir until it thickens up. If it's still too thin for you, add a little bit more parmesan cheese. 

Then I toss this with my cooked pasta and serve! 

I usually have these ingredients in my pantry, so it's an easy recipe to throw together when I'm in a hurry and don't really feel like cooking.