Cornbread Dressing

This is one of my all time favorites. Growing up we only had it for Thanksgiving and I would look forward to it all year. Now that I'm almost 30 I make my own rules. In my house, I make this recipe year round!!! It is very time consuming (~2 hours) but well worth it!

I contemplated posting it because the pictures do not do this recipe justice, but after sharing with Nicole at work, she requested I share. So you can thank Nicole for this one:)

Ingredients:

4 boxes Jiffy Cornbread Mix (see end of post for Rice Dressing)

2 lb. ground beef

1 lb. ground pork

1 large pack pork sausage (preferably Jimmy Dean Hot Sage)

1-2 packs chicken gizzards

1 1/2 onion

1/2 bell pepper

2 bunches green onions

3 ribs of celery

3 pods of garlic

1 Tbs. Parsley (optional)

4-6 boiled eggs

Tony's

1. Make cornbread according to directions on box.

2. Boil gizzards in Tony's about 30min. SAVE the water. Cut the grizzle out of each gizzard. Put in a food processor and chop fine.

3. Brown all the meat together, including the gizzards.

4. Add all chopped veggies except the parsley, and cook about 30min.

5. Add some of the gizzard water for flavor and to keep it moist.

6. Crumble cornbread into meat and chop boiled eggs. Mix thoroughly, add salt, pepper and Tony's to taste. Add parsley just before serving.

NOTE: For thanksgiving my family has cornbread and rice dressing. You can make just 2 boxes of cornbread, half the base mixture and add rice instead of cornbread.

Crock-Pot Turkey and Gravy

For Easter I had Belinda and Bryan over for a full on Thanksgiving feast! We had turkey, ham, cornbread dressing, rolls, and gravy. It's nice to be so far from home and still have family to share the holiday with.

Crock-Pot Turkey is so simple and delicious, I 100% recommend trying this out. The meat is much more tender than if it was cooked in the oven!

Ingredients:

4-6 lb turkey

Tony Chachere's

pepper

1/2 stick butter

1. Cut the skin off the turkey. Rub turkey with a little of the butter, and liberally sprinkle with Tony's and pepper. Place the 1/2 stick of butter in the rib cavity.

2. Cook 4-6 hours in a crock-pot. Use a meat thermometer to test for doneness. It should read 170 degrees. (I cooked on high for 1 hour then turn down to low)
** If you have time you can cook on low for about 8 hours.

Gravy:

Ingredients:

Broth from the turkey (can use water from the gizzards if making with dressing, can also add chicken broth)

1 boiled egg

2 Tbs. corn starch

pepper to taste

1. Heat broth in a small saucepan.

2. Ladle out 1/4 cup of the broth and mix vigorously with cornstarch (you can shake in an old jar for best results.

3. Whisk the gravy till your reach your desired consistency. Add chopped boiled egg.

Chicken Breast Stuffed with Spinach and Blue Cheese

Disclaimer: I seriously have a favorite stuffed chicken recipe, but since starting this blog I have not cooked it yet. But, it must be known that Kayla's Stuffed Chicken with Onion and Chive Cream Cheese is the #1 stuffed chicken recipe. Sadly, I have no pictures yet so it must wait.

The reason I felt I should start with a disclaimer is because this recipe, along with the previous posted stuffed chicken, are just good. Whereas, the yet to be posted is AMAZING! So, if your tired of a plain ol' chicken breast these are meant to be options.

Ingredients:

4 chicken breast

3 slices bacon (I made 2 with bacon and 2 without) or Prosciutto.

1 package fresh spinach

1 clove garlic

5 oz. blue cheese (I used reduced fat, and maybe this was the difference of liking and loving this recipe)

1 Tbl flour

Tony's

1 Tbl oil

1. Cook bacon till crispy (I used the microwave).
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Saute spinach with oil and garlic. Remove from heat; Stir in blue cheese and flour. Stir bacon in if desired.
4. Cut slit in the chicken breast to form pockets. Stuff spinach mixture into chicken, secure with toothpicks. Sprinkle outside of chicken with Tony's
5. Bake chicken for 30min and serve.

Hummus

I LOVE HUMMUS!! I do not discriminate, I love all kinds of hummus! Black bean, white bean, homemade, store bought, it doesn't matter, if it's Hummus I like it! That said, if I must buy Hummus I would highly recommend going for Sabra. I'll probably litter my blog with different hummus recipes along the way. I'm going to start with one of the more common types, which you can make with your bean of choice. I'm going with the cannellini bean (aka white kidney beans).

After the parades this year at Mardi Gras, Tall was kind enough to make us batch after batch. It was such a great healthy snack to eat while waiting for our 12 inch fried shrimp and fried oyster PoBoys!

Thanks Tall for the recipe!!

Ingredients:

2 cans cannellini beans (Tall recommends to use a name brand such as Bush's or Progressor. She says it really does make a difference, and if you know Tall, you know to listen to her culinary advice:)

2 garlic cloves

1.5-2 Tbl. Tahini Paste

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. coriander

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

juice of 1 lemon

splash of chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

1-2 tea. olive oil

handful of cilantro and/or parsley leaves (I used both)

1. Drain the beans and rinse. Combine everything in a food processor. I add the olive oil last so you can determine how much is needed depending on the consistancy.
2. Blend until smooth and creamy.
3. Serve with pita chips, veggies, or my favorite, warm tortillas.

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

I miss when I was little and used to have mashed potatoes weekly without having a second thought. Nowadays, I'm a little more Carb conscious and it's one of the last things that comes to mind when I want to make a side dish for myself.

I remember having these at Leigh's house back in high school and had always wanted to try making them myself. Well today was the day!

Ingredients:

2 Cups Cauliflower florets

1 cubed peeled Yukon gold potato

1 cup water

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 Tbl. oil

salt

pepper

1 Tbl butter

1/8 tea. red pepper flakes

1. Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil in a saucepan; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 6 min, or until potato is tender. Remove from heat. Let stand, uncovered, 10 min.
2. Pour cauliflower mixture in a food processor. Add 1/2 tea. salt, butter and red pepper flakes.
3. Blend until smooth
4. Serve!! I served with a White Salmon, but is a great side for any meal.