Fruit Gobbler

When I saw this, I knew it was a must have at this week's festivities. This comes to us from www.familyfun.com

What You Need
Melon (body)
Pear (head)
Raisins (eyes)
Red Bell Pepper (side feathers, feet, snood)
Cheese (beak and tail feathers)
Grapes (tail feathers)
Toothpicks
Bamboo Skewers

Make It
1. Stabilize the melon body by cutting a shallow slice off the rind to form a flat base. Using a section of bamboo skewer, attach a pear head to the melon, as shown.
2. Cut a cheese triangle beak and red pepper snood. Attach both, along with raisin eyes, to the head with sections of toothpick.
3. Cut red pepper feet and set them in place. For tail feathers, skewer cheese cubes and red grapes, then insert the skewers as shown. Pin pepper side feathers in place with toothpicks.

Turkey Cookies - No Baking Needed!!

Impress your family and friends this Thanksgiving with awesome Turkey cookies!! I made these for Enrichment Night yesterday, and all the ladies were ooooing and awwwing. These take approximately 15 minutes. I wish I could take credit for these cute lil guys, but I came across the recipe on www.familyfun.go.com

What You Need
Oreo Cookies
Whoopers Candy
Candy Corn
Royal Icing

Make It
Use half an Oreo cookie for the base of the turkey (use the half with the most icing)
Take a whole cookie and half it. Now place 4 candy corns into the icing on the cookie for the feathers. Put the other half back on to make the body. Press the body down into the base. You can use icing to affix the body into the base so that it is more sturdy. Take white tips off the candy corns to use for noses. Press a white tip into a whooper the nose. Press your whooper onto the base in front of your turkey body. Now you have the cutest turkey cookie ever!

Easy Chicken and Dumplings

Another one brought to you by www.pillsbury.com



What You Need
1 can of chicken and vegetable soup
2 Pillsbury® Grands!® frozen buttermilk biscuits (from 25-oz bag)

Make It
In medium saucepan, heat soup just to boiling over medium-high heat.
Meanwhile, place frozen biscuits on microwaveable plate. Microwave on High 15 to 30 seconds or just until biscuits begin to thaw. Cut each biscuit into 6 pieces.
Place biscuit pieces on top of simmering soup. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 6 to 7 minutes or until dumplings are fluffy and no longer doughy in center.
Simmer soup with biscuit pieces, covered, 8 to 9 minutes.

Tip
*You can use any brand of buttermilk biscuits.

Oriental Beef and Noodle Bowls

Brought to you by www.pillsbury.com


What You Need
1/2 lb of ground beef
1 package of frozen stir fry vegetables
1 1/2 cups of water
1 package of oriental-flavor ramen noodles

Make It
Brown ground beef over medium-heat in a skillet until thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently
Drain
Add frozen vegetables and water; mix well
Break noodles into 4 pieces
Add noodles and 1 teaspoon of the soup mix seasoning (soup mix seasoning comes with the package of ramen noodles)
Reduce heat to medium
Simmer until veggies are nice and tender
Stir occasionally to separate noodles
Now serve into bowls and eat!

Tips
*Throw in some soy sauce or teriyaki sauce for some added deliciousness
*Serve with eggrolls

Roast Chicken and Vegetables

Thank you for sharing this recipe, Holli! It really sounds delicious!

Don't be alarmed by glancing at this recipe! Holli assures us that this is EASY to do. I trust her.







What You Need

1 whole chicken (thawed)

4 Yukon Gold Potatoes - chopped (you don't have to peel Yukon potatoes)

4 whole carrots - peeled & chopped (you can also substitute baby carrots which will save time on peeling and chopping)

1 yellow onion - chopped

1/2 stick of butter - melted

1 chopped lemon

2 cloves of garlic - don't even worry about peeling or chopping them

Thyme - to taste

Salt (preferably kosher salt)

Pepper

Make It

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place chopped vegetables in a pan. Salt and pepper to taste.

Now, for the chicken. First, make sure that the giblets located in the middle of the chicken are removed. (Some chickens don't have them, just check to make sure.) The chicken should be completely hollow. Then stuff the chicken with chopped lemon and garlic. Don't worry about being fancy - this is for flavor, not for eating. Sprinkle in Thyme. Salt and pepper chicken, to taste. Place it on top of the vegetables. Brush melted butter all over the chicken. Pour any remaining butter over the vegetables.

Now, pop it in the oven for 1 1/2 hours. (Time varies according to the size of the bird.) Just leave it alone. WARNING - the whole house will smell delicious! When the time's up, test the chicken. It should be done but you can know for sure when the juices between the leg and breast run clear and the top is a nice golden brown. Take the chicken off, cover it completely with foil. Lower the temperature on the oven and pop the vegetables back in the oven. (This lets the juices in the chicken and the juices in the veggies to re-absorb.) ---- I used this time to make rolls, which I popped in the oven beside the veggies --- Give the chicken and veggies about 15-20 minutes (or however long it takes to make the bread).

Finally, pull it all out. Slice up that chicken. And, enjoy! I promise that those veggies will taste better than candy!

Taco Soup

This one is from my sis-in-law, Ginger.
Thanks for this delicious recipe, Ginger!!












What You Need

1 can of whole kernel corn (undrained)

1 can of red kidney beans (undrained)

1 can of diced tomatoes (undrained)

1 packet of taco seasoning

1 lb of cooked lean ground beef

Make It
Put it all in a crock pot. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Serve topped with frito chips, sour cream, cheese and diced green onions.

*Note* This one feeds quite a few mouths!

Brown Sugar BBQ Cicken

What You Need
2 Boneless Skinless Breasts
3/4 cup of BBQ Sauce
1/4 cup of Brown Sugar
1 tsp of Vinegar

Make It
Place thawed out chicken into crock pot
Add BBQ sauce, brown sugar, and vinegar
Let it cook 3-5 hours on high or 6-8 on low

Enjoy!!

TIP
*You can use any type of BBQ sauce that you like. Honey BBQ sauce tastes REALLY good with the brown sugar.

Cream Cheese Chicken

What you need
2 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can of Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup
1/2 a cup of Cream Cheese (half a block)
2 tablespoons of Italian Seasoning Dressing Mix

Make it
Place thawed out chicken into crock pot
Pour in can of Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup
Cut block of cream cheese in half. Put half of it into crock pot
Put in the Italian Seasoning Dressing Mix
Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-5 hours
Serve over rice and with your fav side dishes!
Bon Appetit!

Tips
*I found that cooking chicken in a crock pot on high for about 4 hours is perfect. It's not dry at all, and soooo very tasty!
*If you want to cook for more people or leftovers for the next day, double all ingredients.