Cooking Countdown to Thanksgiving- homemade Cranberry Sauce

pic of my cranberries in the pot boiling away, and now they are all ready for the big day!

I have decided for the countdown to Thanksgiving, I would post a recipe everyday that you should find simple, yet yummy, and sure to impress the crowd.  Today will be homemade cranberry sauce, which by the way, is way better than the canned stuff that comes out into the shape of the can from which it came! Making it from scratch is easy, doesn't contain a bunch of extra additives we don't need, and will make you look like Rachael Ray :)

Now don't get me wrong, there are some things that just aren't worth the headache and hassle to me, like gravy which either taste like flour or has clumps in it.  (I just give in and buy the jars of Heinz Turkey gravy, and had my Dad fooled for years thinking it was homemade like my grandma used to make, LOL.)  But the cranberry sauce is worth the effort, because it isn't much of an effort at all.

My goal this year is to have everything made up and ready to go except the turkey to roast and the mashed potatoes to mash, the few days before; so I can actually enjoy watching the parade.  I know it's corny, but I just love watching it, and always have since I was a little girl.  It is on my bucket list to go someday to the Macy's Day parade before I die!  Until then, I will just curl up in my snuggly pj's, and watch from the couch... and my daughter likes to watch it now, so I have a partner in crime.  There will be lots of smiling as the band just moves on down the street, and I sip hot cocoa :)

Cranberry Sauce

1 12 oz bag of fresh cranberries (wash and drain)
1 cup water
1/2 to 1 cup white sugar (depends how sweet you want it) I like mine a little tart so I use 1/2 c
(and if you didn't want to use white sugar, you could substitute agave instead)
1 small can of crushed pineapple (well drained)
1/3 cup of currants (these are tiny little raisins basically)

Place water, sugar, and washed cranberries in pan and bring to boil.  When the cranberries start to split and pop they are done.  If you want more whole berries, only let a few pop, if you like a more smashed look to the berries, cook longer to pop them all and stir.  I like mine mostly whole because it looks prettier :)  Remove from the heat and stir in the drained pineapple and currants.  Let sit, and it will look a little juicy, but the extra juice will find its way into plumping the currants.  And that's it!  Looks beautiful, more healthy than canned, and sure to wow your friends and family :)

Recipe Wednesday on Friday :) Chicken and Dumplings from scratch

Ok, so it has been quite the week.  It usually doesn't matter to me whether it is Monday or Friday...but today I want to shout from the highest mountain, TGIF!!! Since my little guy has been sick all week and not sleeping, it has really taken the wind out of my sails.  I have also been really busy writing a Giving Thanks book for Luke's preschool class Thanksgiving Day party Monday.  Add in full-time nanny work for two kido's, a husband who has been out of town for nine days now and counting, and I am ready to RELAX!!! I of course remembered this morning that I accidentally skipped recipe Wednesday, and had several people waiting for the chicken and dumpling recipe I made earlier in the week. I will confess I pulled it from dash recipes website, but I tried it personally, and we loved it.  My dumplings were scratch, and they were cooked to perfection.  The picture to the right is a close up of my dumpling cut in half!  Yummy!  Make sure you have a crew to eat it as it makes quite a bit :) So, here it is... oh and I used unbleached all-purpose flour and let it simmer longer than 10 minutes once I added in the dumplings to make sure they were not doughy inside.

4 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried basil
½ tsp black pepper
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
2 cups frozen peas and carrots

Dumplings:
2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp butter (softened)
1 cup milk

DIRECTIONS:

1. In heavy bottomed Dutch oven or large wide pot, over medium heat, add chicken broth, water, butter and all seasonings. Cover and bring to a boil.

2. Meanwhile, cut chicken breast into bite sized pieces. Add to soup mixture. Stir to combine and cover.

3. In a sealable container combine flour and milk. Seal tightly and shake vigorously to combine well. You will create a smooth flour mixture for thickening your sauce called a slurry. Slowly pour the slurry into broth, stirring constantly. Add frozen vegetables. Cover.

4. Combine dumpling ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix well with a fork. Remove cover from stew and stir well. Drop dumplings into stew one tablespoon at a time, use a 1 tablespoon scoop to make it even easier. Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

KITCHEN COUNTER:

Makes 8 cups.

To Germaphobe or Not to Germaphobe?

Nothing like a sick toddler to make you want to conjure up every ounce of patience as a Momma, then bang your head against the wall,  followed by crawling into bed and curling into the fetal position!!! Can I get an AMEN on that one?  My little guy has been sick off and on for almost a month, and I have given up and decided to make another trip to the Ped office today.  As much as I have tried to wait it out and let his little body fight it off himself...I have come to the conclusion it isn't going to happen.  If he is ever going to be able to breathe out of his nose again, it is a trip we must make and brave yet another exposure to GERMS!!! I am not the germaphobe, but I would contemplate it if it didn't require so much work and planning ahead.  Makes me crazy to have sick kids, because I feel helpless.  And as a doer, a fixer kind of person, when I can't do something to fix a problem it makes me out of my mind.

So after the trip to the old doctor and $100.00 later out of my pocket for the visit, it is STILL a sinus infection and the poor little guy has inflamed nasal passages due to the long duration of his sickness.  Seeing how this was the second visit because of this illness in the last 5 weeks, do you think maybe the wrong thing was prescribed in the first place?  Makes you wonder, EH?  Well, I know one thing for sure...the doctors office would never admit that one!  So, we swung by the drive-thru at the pharmacy, picked up the medicine, and now the little guy is hopefully on his way to recovery.  Maybe we should start bathing in Germ-X, or wearing surgical gloves when we pump gas, or sanitize again after using the salt, pepper, and ketchup at a restaurant, sign in at the doctors office with our own pen, never grab a door handle with anything other than our shirt sleeve...NAH!!! Way too much work for me.  Besides I can't even get all the other stuff I should do accomplished in a day without adding in germaphobic ways.  I guess I will have to brave the germs as they come along, what else can you do but smile and just move on :)