Thanksgiving Break

This Thanksgiving break was awesome. James had off four days and it was so nice to have him home with me to take care of Zara. Everything is so much easier with his help. She just loves her daddy and he is great with her. And can I tell you how nice it is to get up in the morning and be able to use the restroom right away or go downstairs and clean my pump or make a bottle without having a baby in my arms? We miss him a lot!

This year we decided not to go out to any large thanksgiving get togethers because our doctor warned us not to bring her around a bunch of people. She was only 3 weeks on Thanksgiving Day and her immune system wasn't strong yet. So I made dinner, I thought after having major surgery 3 weeks before that I wouldn't be able to make it this year but I'm feeling way better than I thought I would!

We invited my Father in law over for dinner so he could hang out with his grand-daughter and he always loves my food so he is always invited :)

The day before I started the Sweet Potato Casserole. First I roasted 4 sweet potatoes. Peeled them from their skin and added them into a bowl.

Then I added 1/4 cup of butter

1/4 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 egg

Then mixed with a hand mixer till completely combined, covered and stored in the fridge for the next day.

To make it I poured it into the serving dish 

Mixed a topping of 1 1/4 cup cornflakes cereal that was crushed, 1/3 cup pecans, chopped,1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed then stirred in 1 tablespoon unsalted butter that was melted.

Sprinkled that mixture around the edge of the dish.

Baked for 25 mins at 400° then added 1 cup miniature marshmallows in the center and cooked for 5 more mins till toasty.

Best recipe I've ever found and will be my go to from now on!!

For the cranberry orange sauce I took a bag of cranberries and put them in a small sauce pan

Added a cup of maple syrup

A cup of cran-apple juice

The zest of 1 orange and the juice from it

Heated till it boiled and popped then turned down to low for 20 mins till it jellified.

For the Green Bean Casserole I started with the Fried Shallots. I sliced like 10 shallots into rings and put them in a bowl with buttermilk to soak over night. The next day I made a flour mixture of 2 cups of flour, some paprika, salt, and pepper.

Mixed and put in the shallots a few at a time and fried them in some veggie oil at 350° for a couple mins at a time

Then salted them as they came out into a paper towel to drain.

For the mushroom mixture I cut up like 13 oz of mushrooms in chunks

Added 3 tablespoons of butter in a castiron skillet

Then added the mushrooms

Sautéed till softened and added salt and pepper and 2 garlic cloves chopped

Then like 3 or 4 tablespoons of flour sprinkled on top

Stirred that till mixed all over the mushrooms and toasted in the skillet

I added a can of chicken stock in small amounts at a time

Stirred till thickened

Once thickened I added hakf a chicken stock can of heavy cream

Mixed till combined then shaved some nutmeg over the cream sauce

Added salt and pepper then 2 and a half cans of green beans 

Put in the serving dish

Put in the fridge till ready. Let it come to room temperature and sprinkled fried onions around the edge then baked for 15 mins at 400° till bubbly

My mom made her turkey with stuffing

and deviled eggs, and I made mashed potatoes and the best damn gravy ever!

This was part of my table

And here was my plate, yumm!!

Needless to say, this was Zara and I after dinner

Hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving just like we did :)