And I Thought *MY* Sauce Rocked...

Normally I'm not a huge fan of store-bought pre-made sauces.

I've been making my BBQ sauce for quite awhile now, after discovering how much better it is when I make it myself.  I give complete credit to good recipes that are not my own and tomatoes from the garden, so no tooting my own horn here :-)

Well, then I won this little giveaway on a fellow Allrecipes Allstar's page- Hudson Valley Handymom.  She's a pretty awesome gal, and I love her blog.  

Anyway, she partnered with a small company called Uncle Gary's Gourmet Peppers and Pepper Jelly and I won a jar of their Zesty Peach BBQ sauce and a jar of their Candied Jalapeño BBQ sauce.  Candied Jalapeño just sounds divine, doesn't it?  Well, the taste lives up to the expectation, for sure.  Before we even cooked with it my husband took a taste and declared that he could eat it with a spoon.

What to Do With All of That Turkey- Part Two

A couple of days ago I wrote about my recipe for Thanksgiving Leftovers Monkey Bread.

Awesome, right?

Well, the second recipe I came up with was for these Thanksgiving Pockets- equally awesome :-)

These are great fresh, but really...freeze them.  By the time you start looking at things to do with your Thanksgiving leftovers, you're most likely turkey-ed out, right?

You've had all of the turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing you can handle and now you just want it gone.

What to Do With All of That Turkey

In a few weeks and change you're most likely going to be faced with a wall of Thanksgiving leftover-filled tupperware containers when you open your fridge.  A blessing and a curse, right?  I mean...how much turkey and stuffing can one person really eat?  We've already addressed one delicious means of getting rid of some of it with Kraft's Thanksgiving Leftovers Casserole that I wrote about.

But what else?  What can we do with the rest of it?

I'm here to save the day with a couple more recipes.  lol if three recipes isn't enough to dispose of your leftovers, you're on your own.

That, and you cooked way too much.

:-)

Click on the picture to find the recipe on Allrecipes.com

The first recipe I came up with was a savory monkey bread.  Or bubble loaf.  Or whatever you want to call it.  I'll go with monkey bread because it sounds more fun :-)

Does This Count As Being Famous?

Allrecipes.com has launched a magazine of it's own.  It's still a fledgling publication and only out bi-monthly at this point, but the two issues they've published have been great.

I may be biased, but I think the second issue was even better than the first.  

Why?

Well, pick one up on the newsstand November 12th (then like it so much you get your own subscription!) and turn to page 70.

See that wreath?

Never Too Early for Leftovers?

This month as part of the #AllstarsLeftoverChallenge I was asked to try Kraft's recipe for Thanksgiving Leftovers Casserole.  Though I don't technically have any "leftovers" since we're still a few weeks away from Thanksgiving, I was more than happy to have a little pre-Thanksgiving feast (as I was last year, as well!).  

Click to see the recipe on Allrecipes.com!

Besides the taste, I think the best part of this recipe is how versatile it is.  You really could toss in whatever you have left.  No mashed potatoes?  Sub sweet potatoes.  Use carrots.  Use green beans.  Add cranberry sauce.  Whatever.  Literally- whatever is left from your Thanksgiving table can go in this one!

I pretty much followed this to the letter, though, since I was making this before any random leftovers existed!

It starts with a base of stuffing with creamy layers of turkey and veggies.  It's topped off with mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese before being baked.

Tis the Season for Simmering Soups

When I was a kid my mom sometimes made beef barley soup.  It was so warm, so comforting...I have the recipe, but I've never made it myself.  One of these days I might, but I think part of me really doesn't want to screw up that memory and association with my mom.

Click to see the recipe on Allrecipes.com!

I bought a box of barley on clearance at the grocery store a while back without any real purpose for it in mind and it's just been hanging out in my pantry, getting shoved farther and farther to the back behind all of the other random ingredients I haven't found the time to play with yet.  I can't think of any time I've ever actually eaten barley aside from my mom's soup!  No wonder it was on clearance!

With my pantry getting messy and far too full, I decided to find a use for that barley.  I came across a recipe for chicken barley soup and decided to give it a try- definitely a good decision!

A Twist on Your Typical Thanksgiving Dessert

Well, it's official- we're entering the Holiday season and fast-approaching Thanksgiving.  Normally I wind up making a HUGE shopping trip right before T-Day and spending a painful amount of money on that one, big meal.  

Not this year.

Remember a few weeks ago when I sounded like a nutcase already planning for the big day?

Well a new tablecloth and napkins are here and ready to go.  I have craft supplies for my daughter to make placemats.  But most importantly?

I have everything but 5 things from my giant list ready to go- and those are perishables that will have to wait until the last minute.  Rather than another hugely expensive (the kind that makes your heart seize in your chest as they're ringing up item after item...) shopping trip, I spread things out a bit.  I made up my menu well in advance and made a list of every item I will need.  For almost a month now, every time I've made a trip to the store I've picked up an item or two from the list.