Our Family's Stuffing Recipe

So... as adventurous as I like to be in the kitchen - there are a few things that need to stay traditional.  For me, one of those recipes is my mom's stuffing for Thanksgiving.  It is so delicious and so easy and everyone loves it.  Every time I host Thanksgiving - making the stuffing is my favorite part.  My mom and I do it together and it a tradition that I never want to change.

There is a lot of controversy out there about stuffing your turkey - you shouldn't because it isn't able to cook fully - or bacteria can form - but I am here to tell you that we stuff that bird as much as we can - and then cook the rest on the side in a casserole dish.  You know what goes first?  The bird's stuffing.  It just tastes SO much better... so do as you wish - but this recipe works both in the turkey and out.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

My Momma's Stuffing

Ingredients:

2 12oz. Bags of cubed herb stuffing (I like Pepperidge Farm)

4 T. Salted Butter

2 12oz. Jimmy Dean Premium Pork Regular Sausage, defrosted

2 medium onions, finely chopped

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

5 apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped

4 cups of turkey broth (if you cannot find turkey, chicken is fine)

1 T. poultry seasoning

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

Brown sausage in a large dutch oven.  Remove sausage with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Add butter to the dutch oven and sauté the onions and celery until translucent.  Add apples and cook for 5 minutes.  Add back in the sausage and mix well.  Turn off heat and add one bag of stuffing with 2 cups of broth. Mix until everything is well incorporated.  Add the second bag and the rest of the broth and mix again.  

I like to make up the stuffing the night before and store it in the fridge until I am ready to stuff my bird.  

Here is a picture of Thomas the Turkey from last year ready to be served.  I hope you all have a very happy holiday with your families :)

My First Blog...

So I love to cook... I mean I realllly love it. It makes me happy to feed the people I love and it always puts me in a good mood. My friends always tell me I have a knack for finding the best recipes on the internet and I am always up for trying something new - so here we go! 

So it is Thanksgiving - and this is my holiday to host! I like to keep things very traditional but I ALWAYS try at least one new recipe. This year - I am trying two new desserts: a Snicker-doodle Apple Cobbler I found on Pinterest (LOVE Pinterest) and an Apple Snickers Bar Salad. I will be altering them both to fit my tastes and posting pics later :) 

With Thanksgiving knocking on my door, I wanted an easy dinner tonight and my husband has been begging me to make Beef Stew (which I typically am not a fan of). So I took a basic recipe and made it more... me. Here is what I came up with! Thanks for reading along with me - I am excited to share my food journey with you! 

Not Your Momma's Beef Stew 

Ingredients: 
2 Lbs. Stew Beef (cubed) 
2 T. Canola Oil 
1 Medium Onion 
2 Garlic Cloves (peeled) 
2 Cups Beef Broth 
1 Cup Red Wine 
1 T. Worcestershire Sauce 
 1 T. Sugar 
1 t. Paprika 
1/2 t. Thyme 
1/2 t. Rosemary 
1/4 t. Sea Salt 
1/4 t. Pepper 
1/4 t. Allspice 
 2 Bay Leaves 
3 Large Russet Potatoes (peeled and cut into cubes) 
4 Large Carrots (peeled and chopped) 
2 Celery Ribs (chopped) 
2 T. Wondra Flour 

Directions: 
Heat up a large Dutch Oven over Medium High Heat and add oil. Once the oil starts to smoke a little add the meat and brown on all sides. Take out the browned beef with a slotted spoon. Add broth, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, onion, sea salt, sugar, pepper, paprika, allspice, thyme, and rosemary. Cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours.Add your potatoes, carrots, and celery and bring back up to a boil. Once boiling bring back down to a simmer for another hour or so. Remove 2 cups of the liquid and add the 2 Wondra Flour - whisk and add back into the stew for another 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and Voila! Beef Stew even I love :) Let's be honest here - if you put red wine in something... I will like it. Here is a picture of my finished product - the hubby loved it too!

Not Your Momma's Beef Stew