Thanksgiving!

Tomorrow is the big day where we all like to show off our cooking skills. Unfortunately, I won't be in the kitchen tomorrow. I still live with my parents so they get to some in the spotlight.  Dad prepares and fries the Turkey,  Mom mixes and bakes. I might help chop or measure but mostly I'll be in the way. Plus,  by around noon, the kitchen is so hot that one can hardly stand it. 
On the menu we have fried turkey, Mashed potatoes, sweet potato souflée, green bean casserole, stuffing, spinach dip, a veggie tray, cheese and crackers.  Let us not forget the most important part, cranberry sauce! I love that stuff. It's great; the cold, tart, and juicy stuff goes great with turkey (especially the driest pieces).
I think the best part about Thanksgiving is that we get to spend the time with family. With times like they are, is nice to just sit down and remade with the people you really care for. Then, starting at about 6pm Thursday we all freeze our asses off trying to get the best Black Friday deals. It's a lovely tradition.
This Thanksgiving is pretty cool too; my birthday is on Monday (12/2).  Usually, Thanksgiving is to early and my birthday is almost a week or two later. This year I get to see everyone right before my birthday, which is pretty awesome.
Until next time, have a safe and happy holiday!

Katie can't cook

Brown sugar carrots

What you need:
1 small bag of baby carrots
1/2 stick of butter
2 or more tbs of brown sugar

What you do:
If you are using an oven, preheat to 350. If you are using a grill, start it up
Use tin foil to create a bowl-like container or packet
Put the carrots into the foil and add the brown sugar
Cut the butter into pads and put on top of carrots and brown sugar
Use more foil to make a top and seal by folding the edges
If you are using an oven, place the foil packet on a cookie sheet. You can skip this step for the grill.
Place the carrot packet in the oven or on the grill.
Let cook for 20 minutes then carefully check the carrots using tongs or oven mits.
Pierce them with a fork to make sure they are tender. They should not be crunchy.

Tips and tricks:
The carrots will look wrinkly after cooking.
If you don't have much time or you threw this together at the last minute, you can cut the carrots into medallions to make them cook faster.
Use more Brown Sugar for sweeter carrots.
To make this fancier, you can add a pinch of dill (the dried kind on the spice row at the grocery store) to the mix.

Home made chicken noodle soup

Love this stuff on a cold night. And its super easy!

What you need:
1-1.5 lbs of skinless chicken (you can do boneless to but if you get bone-in chicken you will have to de-bone it after boiling)
1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables
1 bag no yolk egg noodles
Optional: chicken bouillon cubes or granules

What you do:
Get a huge pot and fill it about halfway with water.
Add chicken and boil.
Once the chicken is cooked fully, you can turn off the heat to let it cool.
DO NOT DRAIN THE CHICKEN BROTH YOU JUST MADE!
If you have to, remove the chicken from the broth and de-bone, otherwise remove the chicken and shred it to small/bite sized pieces and return to the broth.
Add the whole bad of frozen vegetables and bring to a boil.
You may notice that you need more water, you can add some now.
My mom likes to make the noodles separately but you can just add them to the soup if you'd like.
Taste the soup and see if you need to add bouillon.

That's it! You are done!

Like I said this is great for winter and even snowy nights. It also makes a ton so you can save some for later. Its awesome and simple. We had some tonight for dinner.

Crock pot Chilli

This is such a great recipe, my mom makes this chilli and everyone loves it. This is her original recipe, there may be others like it but she did not use any recipes to make hers. Its really hearty and thick so its great for parties and cold fall/winter nights. Its more like a meaty tomato-y soup butif you like it spicier go ahead. We are a boring carnivorous people so we like this.

What you need:
1 lb ground beef (cooked, drained)
1 lb sweet italian sausage (removed from casing, cooked and drained)
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
1 40oz can kidney beans
1 12oz can tomato sauce
1 packet chilli seasoning (or 2, or your own blend)

What you do:
To cook the hamburger meat, just put it in a skillet and stir until evenly cooked then drain using a colander and throw away the grease.
To cook the sausage,  you have to remove it from the casing first then do the same as the hamburger.
While the meat is cooking, open all the cans and packet of seasoning in the crock pot (it makes a lot so you might need 2 crock pots if you dont have a huge one)
Add the meat then cook on low for 6-8 hours.

This tastes so much better the next day.

Cheddar Tomatoes

What you need:
Shredded cheddar cheese
3 or so red or yellow tomatoes (sliced)
Italian bread crumbs
Butter

What you do:
Preheat oven to 350
Melt half a stick of butter
Mix butter with bread crumbs and a little bit of the cheese (the amount of cheese to bread crumb ratio is really up to you. When in doubt start small and add more)
Lay the slices of tomatoes flat on a foil lined cookie sheet
Sprinkle mixture on top of the tomatoes
Add more cheese for extra awesomeness
Bake until cheese is melted

Tips and tricks:
This could be changed to a caprese type thing if you used shredded mozzarella and if you add some basil to the bread crumbs.
You can also use other kinds of bread crumbs or just finely crush some sort of cracker that you like (wheat thins, maybe)

If you try this or any other recipe with some variation, leave a comment and tell me what you changed. I'm sorry I dont have a picture for you, I've been waiting forus to make this but tomato season has passed so I decided to post now.

Best breakfast of all time

So my mom got this recipe from work, some lady brought this in and Mom demanded the recipe. Anyways... there are a few names it has been called: cream cheese sausage thingies, dirty diapers (you'll see why), and Christmas morning breakfast. Mom usually makes the sausage mixture the night before to save time in the morning.

What you need:
Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage (1 tube)
Cream cheese (1 8oz block, softened)
Pillsbury crescent rolls (1 tube)

What you do:
Open cream cheese and put into a medium mixing bowl.
Brown the sausage in a medium skillet. Drain grease.
Mix browned sausage with soft cream cheese.
(This is where you can stop if you made the mixture the night before)
Preheat oven to 350
Next, open up the crescent rolls.
Pull one crescent apart and add one spoonful of sausage mixture.
Roll it up (picture will show you.)
Continue until there are no more crescent rolls; eat leftover sausage mixture.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Tips and tricks:
Easily double this recipe for an event in the morning.
You can add salsa if you'd like.
You can also make this into a "loaf" to avoid the diaper look.

Neglect

So I neglected the blog this week :(  Sorry about that. This week I will try to post 2 recipes,  but I guarantee that there will be one. I've been busy with work and school and personal stuff so I forgot.