Wondering what Mommy Homework is??? Each week you will have an “assignment” here to share in our comments here on this site. You will love this-both sharing AND enjoying answers by others. Some of them, I compile into an ebook (contributors can resell as a product of their own–be sure to submit your email and full name when you register so I can credit you appropriately!).
The result is AWESOME!
We get to know each other…we are encouraged in our journey…and we glean super ideas from other great moms!
Ready for this week’s MH? This is going to be a good one!
This week is full of preparations for Thanksgiving. So, let’s have our own “Virtual Thanksgiving Feast!” Each of you bring one of your very best “dishes” and share the recipe and story behind your best dish. Deal? This will be a blast! Jump in and share!
This will be super! Have fun! 
DIG IN!
Love ya!
Cindy
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Deadline–Friday at midnight CST.
I am not sure if this is my “best” dish but it is the one everyone always asks if I am going to make.
It is actually very simple and not quite homemade either but it is good! LOL
JELLO CAKE:
Get a box of a marble cake mix and a pack of strawberry Jello
Ok, you make the cake just like normal and while it is baking you will mix up the Jello but do not put it in the fridge.
After the cake is done you will take it out and poke a bunch of holes in it with a straw and then you will pour the jello liquid over the cake and it will soak in. YUM!
Now for the icing. It is simple. You take a box of powdered sugar and 2 small
packs of cream cheese and mix them together in a mixer and then squeeze a litle lemon into it, flavor by your own taste as to how much lemon you want in it, and then spread it on top and you are done!
It is very yummy.
This is one you could hand over to the kids to make also!
Hope you enjoy!
Rodna James
My recipe card for Mashed Sweet Potatoes is very stained from lots of use. My mom use to make this when we were younger and I brought it with me into our marriage. My husband LOVES it!
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
3 C mashed sweet potatoes
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t salt
1/2 stick butter
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C milk
Mix and pour into 1 1/2 qt baking dish.
Crumble 1/2 C brown sugar, 1/3 C flour, 1/3 stick of butter, 1 C chopped walnuts. Spread on top of sweet potatoes. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.
I don’t know if I would quite classify this as a Thanksgiving dish, but we have had it for Thanksgiving a couple of times. It is called Trophy Winning Spinach Dip and I wholeheartedly agree with the title. I am not even a fan of spinach, but I LOVE this dip. I first had it as an appetizer at our wedding reception and it has been a favorite ever since then. It is actually on the back of the package of Knorr Vegetable recipe mix.
1 pkg. (10 oz.) baby spinach chopped or 1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 16 oz. container sour cream
1 cup Hellmann’s mayo
1 pkg. Knorr Vegetable Recipe Mix
1 8 oz. can water chestnuts drained and chopped
3 green onions chopped
Combine all ingredients and chill at least 2 hrs.
Serve with your favorite dippers.
It is absolutely wonderful with Kings Hawaiian Bread.
from our family cookbook this is labeled Mama’s favorite Pumpkin Pie:
½ pkg (or 4 oz) Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup cold milk, divided
1 pkg (4-serving size) Jell-O French vanilla instant pudding
½ can (8 oz) pumpkin
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
½ tub (4 oz) cool whip topping
Beat cream cheese in large bowl until creamy. Gradually add ½ cup of milk, beating until well blended. Add remaining milk, pudding mix, pumpkin and spice. Beat until well blended.
Pour ½ of mix into pie shell.
Beat the cool whip into the remaining mix and then pour into pie shell.
Top with cinnamon sugar if you’d like.
Refrigerate 2 hours minimum to set.
For best results make the day before and let set overnight.
My best after-Thanksgiving recipe is my cheesy turkey and wild rice soup. I can’t claim credit for it, as a friend shared this recipe with me years ago. It has become an after Thanksgiving must- have for our family. It’s fantastic! I’m making a gigantic batch of it this weekend so we’ll have plenty left over to freeze for later.
Here’s the recipe:
Turkey and Wild Rice Soup
8 cups chicken or turkey broth
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup wild rice, rinsed
1 stick butter, melted
3/4 c. flour
1 Tbsp sherry
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 1/2 cups turkey or chicken
1/2 of a large box of Velveeta cheese
1 cup half and half
Bacon bits, crumbled
Simmer together the chicken broth, onion and wild rice for 40 minutes. In a separate pan, whisk flour into melted butter. Add sherry and poultry seasoning. Whisk this mixture into the broth. Simmer (do not boil). Melt the Velveeta into 1 cup of half and half. Add cheese to the soup, along with the turkey. Serve with crumbled bacon bits on top.
Blessings,
Molly Evert
This is my favorite sweet potato casserole recipe:
Mattie’s Sweet Potatoes
8 med. sweet potatoes, cooked
pinch of salt
butter the size of an egg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
handful of coconut
1/2 cup chopped nuts
dash of nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla
Mash sweet potatoes. Add other ingredients in order. Bake 15-20 minutes in moderate oven. Serve blazing hot!
I forgo pie to have these bars.
Delicious Brownies
2 c. sugar
1/4 c. cocoa
1 c. melted butter
4 eggs
2 t. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
1 t. salt
1/2 c. nuts (optional)
18 marshmellows, cut in pieces
Mix sugar and cocoa. Stir in butter. Add eggs and vanilla. Add in flour, salt and nuts. Fold marshmellows into batter. Pour in a 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.
Enjoy!!! They are yummy!
Julie Bertsch
Here’s a recipe that was always at my mom’s holiday table . . . so it just doesn’t seem like Thanksgiving without it!
Butternut Squash Casserole
4 c. cooked squash, mashed
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 c. cracker crumbs
1/4 c. yellow mustard
4 eggs, slightly beaten
salt and pepper to taste
additional cracker crumbs for topping
In a 2-quart casserole dish, mix hot squash with butter until the butter has melted. Stir in remaining ingredients (except cracker crumbs for topping). Top with additional cracker crumbs. Bake for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Serves 8.
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
My favorite Thanksgiving dish is called 7 layer salad! My aunt makes this every year and I have been anticipating for weeks and since she left me half of it to keep, I have been enjoying this since Thursday! Very easy to prepare….
Layers of…. Chopped Lettuce/ Green Peppers/ Onion(I prefer Red) /frozen peas & canned peas amount to taste/ mixture of Miracle Whip topping & sugar again amounts to taste/ Cheddar cheese/ BACON!
Yes I indulged and I had just lost a good amount of weight a couple months ago… but I know this could be made with fat free items and the dressing on the side, but I think I love this because the salad is already made!
thank you
Tina K
I have 3 recipes that are a must at Thanksgiving. I tried to change it this year and I heard it from everyone. The first is My potato salad
Potatoe Salad
5# potatoes 8 Eggs sweet pickles dill pickles radishes
bell pepper Celery Red onion 2# bacon mustard
Miricle Whip Any other fresh veggie that your family likes in potato Salad.
Cook Potatoes and eggs, cut bacon into bite size pieces and fry crispy. Cut all items into bite size pieces and mix well. Add Miricle Whip and mustard to taste.
Second Recipe is Sour Beans
3 cans green beans 3 cans wax beans 1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 # Bacon cut into pieces and fried flour
Mix the beans into a pot and add the vinegar. Allow to heat. Take the fried bacon and place in with the beans. Take and pour off 1/2 of the bacon fat and using the remaining bacon grease and make a rou with the flour. Add to beans and allow to thicken like a gravy. If the beans do not have a sour tang to them you can add up to 1/2 cup more vinegar if desired.
Third Recipe is my turkey dressing
2 cups cornbread (make without sugar) 2 cups biscuts (homemade are best)
2 cups white or wheat bread. celery celery seed poultry seasoning 2 cans Cambels Cream of Chicken Soup
Turkey Gizzards and neck meat Broth from cooking gizzards and neck.
Chope 3 celery sticks into small pieces and place with bread and spices into roaster pan. Add Cream of Chicken soup and mix lightly. Add enough broth to moisten the ingreadients well (the bread will be soggy). When finished bake at 300 for about 30 to 45 minutes until heated through. Serve with Gravy.
These are all the recipes I use. If I had nothing else my family would be happy
Jackie
Well, my dad makes the best stuffing, but he wont even give the recipe to his own kids! My husband has an incredibly good pumpkin cheesecake recipe, but its from his business and I don’t think he wants it shared. So, I will share an incredibly easy sweet dip my sister makes.
Pumpkin Fluff
1 can pumpkin pie filling (the pumpkin that has all the spices in it already)
1 8oz container whipped topping
1 package vanilla pudding
Combine all ingredients. Serve with vanilla wafers (or do what we all do and eat it plain, on top of your pumpkin pie, on top of any dessert, etc.).
Kate
Fluffy Fruit Salad
1 (20 ounce) can unsweetened pineapple tidbits, drained
1 (16 ounce) can whole berry cranberry sauce
1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
1 (8 ounce) carton frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
Lettuce Leaves (optional)
1/2 cup pecan halves, toasted
In a bowl, combine pineapple, cranberry sauce and oranges. Fold in whipped topping and orange peel. Serve on lettuce if desired. Garnish with pecans just before serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.
Sweet Potato Casserole
6 medium sweet potatoes or 1 (29 oz.) can sweet potatoes
½ cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cups milk
½ cup margarine or butter, melted
Topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons margarine or butter melted
1/3 cup chopped pecans, optional
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Boil potatoes 45 minutes until tender. Let cool; peel and mash.
3. Mix potatoes with all ingredients except topping and beat at medium speed until smooth.
4. Combine topping ingredients.
5. Spread the potato mixture in a lightly greased 9” x 13” pan; sprinkle topping over it. Bake 30 minutes. Serves 8
Alternate Topping:
¾ cup crushed cornflakes
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup brown sugar
¾ cup butter
Mushroom and Sausage Stuffing
6 cups toasted bread cubes
3/4 lb sausage
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
5 stalks celery, diced
1 medium onion
1/2 cup butter
1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth
salt & black pepper
2-3 tablespoons sage
Brown sausage, add ½ butter, celery, onions, and mushrooms. Sauté over low – med heat. Add remainder of butter, and ½ can of chicken broth. Add in a separate bowl, or pan, the breadcrumbs. Season with salt, pepper, and sage. When vegetables are tender, add to breadcrumbs, and mix well, add remaining broth as needed to sufficiently moisten stuffing.
I make my sweet potatoes very simply. My favorite way to cook them is in the slow cooker for several hours, peel them and mash them, adding only butter and brown sugar. Sometimes I add cinnamon. I then rewarm it in a casserole dish and top with marshmallows before browning those in the oven.
I love the simplicity of this.
Our turkey is also very simple. Making sure we have a pop up thermometer, we empty the thawed turkey and oil and flour it before placing it in a baking bag. This helps keep it moist and it is so simple. We bake according to instructions and when the thermometer has popped, we know we have the perfect turkey.
My last simple recipe for Thanksgiving is our Southern Sweet Tea. I add 8-10 cups of water into my coffee pot (we never use it for coffee so it doesn’t taste like coffee when we do this… you can always do this on the stove top, I just find this much easier and less likely to bust a tea bag open.). We then put 8 small tea bags in the filter part of the pot. We then run the water through and we have what is needed to make a gallon of tea. We add 2 cups of sugar and the hot tea to a large pitcher, stir and then cool with a couple trays of ice. Dilute to 1 gallon and enjoy. Our college students love it.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
In His Grace,
Jeniver Boyer
Green Bean Cassarole
(this is one I enjoyed in the College Dining hall)
2 can Green Beans, drained
2 Cans of Cream of Mushrooms
1 small can of Water Chestnuts (opt.)
Grated Cheese
French Fried Onions
Mix together top 3. Sprinkle cheese and onions on top. Bake for 20 minutes at 350.
My newer, lighter version:
Fresh Green Beans, lightly steamed (or 2 cans)
Tomatoes, chopped
a few slices of Bacon, cooked and broke up
Grated Cheddar Cheese
Green Beans on bottom of cassarole dish. Tomatoes and bacon next. cover with cheese. Bake till cheese is melted and heated thru.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
I put this on when I first get into the kitchen so that the wonderful aroma blesses the entire house. It keeps me looking forward to eating a wonderful meal with my family when I’m spending a while in the kitchen cooking and cleaning up.
Crockpot Applesauce
10 large apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Put all ingredients in crockpot and cook for 8-10 hours on Low or 4-6 hours on High. Stir once or twice. At end of cooking time serve as is for chunky applesauce or use a potato masher to make smooth applesauce.
It smells wonderful! It’s even better the next day after chilling in the fridge.
I LOVE this time of year. You can find me baking something YUMMY most any day.
The recipe I’m gonna share is my most fave one.
`Pecan Balls`
1c Pecans
1 1/2 c Powdered sugar
1c butter
1t vanilla
2c flour
*Preheat oven to 325*
In food processor pulse pecans with 1/4c powdered sugar til very finely ground.
Put them in a mixing bowl and add butter and vanilla. Mix til smooth. Add flour.
With floured hands, form into balls.
Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 16-18.
Cool 3 minutes, roll in powdered sugar.
Cool completely and roll in sugar again.
Store in a container at room temperature.