I’m sharing the best Thanksgiving Recipes by Food Storage Moms today because I think we can always use new recipes. Plus, if my daughters need the recipes, they are on the blog today! LOL! Here’s the deal, my favorite part of Thanksgiving is the appetizers. We all make turkey, mashed potatoes, and our favorite side dishes, right? I must admit I buy my pies, yep it makes life so must easier for me. It’s so funny because we have the best pie shop right here in St. George, Utah called Crowshaw’s pies. If you don’t order your Thanksgiving pies by Halloween (October 31st) you are out of luck for picking up your favorites. I learned this a few years ago. Therefore I go to Costco to get my pies.
Well, Costco has a fabulous pumpkin pie and even a yummy pecan pie. I add the real whipped cream and let the sweetness begin. I’m not going to write how to cook a turkey or how to mash potatoes. I love yams or sweet potatoes but my family is not fond of them. BUT I have one of my best friends yam recipes I’m sharing today and a few more, so let’s get started.
The Best Thanksgiving Recipes
Loosli Family Thanksgiving Turkey Dressing
Ingredients:
1 cup oleo (I use butter) you can tell this is a really old recipe now
1 cup chopped onion
1-1/2 cups chopped celery
2 or 3-14 ounce cans chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons RUBBED ground sage
12 cups dried bread cubes
Giblets, chopped (optional), I never use them
Instructions:
Saute the onion, celery, giblets, salt, pepper, and sage in a small skillet. Combine this mixture with the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Add more liquid if the mixture is too dry. Bake covered in a greased pan at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until heated through. I have cooked this in my slow cooker on low as well.
PRINTABLE recipe: Loosli Family Thanksgiving Turkey Dressing
Lisa’s Apple Yams
Ingredients:
4 large yams, peeled and cooked until tender. Slice the yams’ the thickness you desire
4 cooking apples, peeled and sliced
Yummy Sauce Ingredients:
2 cups water
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions:
Grease a 9-inch by 13-inch pan and layer the yams and apples in the pan.
In a medium saucepan combine the water, brown sugar, salt, and cornstarch, stirring constantly. Add one cube (1/2 cup) of butter. Continue stirring constantly. Cook until it starts to thicken. Add 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice. Sprinkle nutmeg and cinnamon over the apples and yams.
Pour the sauce over all of it.
Bake covered at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. No marshmallows on this one. This recipe is fabulous!
PRINTABLE recipe: Lisa’s Apple Yams by Food Storage Moms
My Sister’s Cranberry Pie
Ingredients:
4 cups chopped fresh cranberries
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 egg, beaten for glaze
pastry for 2 crust 9-inch pie (one for the bottom of the pie and one for the lattice top)
Instructions:
Combine the cranberries, salt, sugar, flour and refrigerate the mixture one or more hours. Add the butter when you add the cranberry mixture into the pie crust. Make a lattice pie crust for the top of the pie. Brush the top of pie crust lattice top with egg.
Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Bake the pie 10 minutes. Then lower the oven to 350 degrees and bake another 45 minutes. Serve pie in wedges with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
PRINTABLE recipe: My Sister’s Cranberry Pie by Food Storage Moms
Linda’s No-Fail Dinner Rolls
Ingredients:
4 Teaspoons SAF Instant Yeast
1/2 cup Water
2 Cups Warm Milk
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1 Cup Sugar
1-1/2 Teaspoons Sea Salt
4 Teaspoons Dough Enhancer
2 Eggs
6-7 Cups White bread flour (Add 1/2 of the flour and then add more until the dough pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl)
Instructions:
Place all of the ingredients in order into your mixing bowl. Be careful with the eggs not to add the warm milk too slowly or you will have scrambled eggs. Add half of the flour and keep adding the rest of the flour until the bread dough pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. Cover with greased plastic and let rise the first time about an hour. Punch the dough down and mold into small balls about 1-1/2 inches to 2 inches in diameter. Cover with greased plastic and let rise one more time about an hour or until double the size. Remove the plastic wrap and bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes on a greased cookie sheet. Do not overbake. They should be a golden brown. I spread a little butter on the tops after baking so the rolls are soft on top. If you like a crispier top you can skip this step.
PRINTABLE recipe: Linda’s No-Fail Dinner Rolls by Food Storage Moms
Linda’s Homemade Gravy
Ingredients:
Turkey Drippings
Flour
Water
Salt & pepper
Sugar
Instructions:
I use the pan the turkey was baked in with the “drippings” and bring the liquid to a boil. If you have very little juice or drippings add some water. Now I can’t give you exact measurements because this depends on the size of turkey you purchased. I take about 1-2 cups of flour and put it in a quart jar with cold water and shake it like crazy. I slowly add this mixture to the hot boiling turkey drippings. Use a whisk and stir constantly. I have a quart pitcher with cold water to add to this pan as the gravy thickens. I add water until it’s the consistency I prefer. Not too runny, but not too thick. I add salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. Yep, it’s the sugar that brings out the flavor. Of course, it’s optional. Now, if you have some lumps no worry, bring out the hand mixer. The flavor is fabulous and so easy to make.
PRINTABLE recipe: Linda’s Homemade Gravy by Food Storage Moms
8 of My Favorite Appetizers:
Printable of all appetizers is below, enjoy.
1. Water Chestnut Appetizers
This appetizer is probably the first one devoured at any party. You pull the pan out of the oven and people start grabbing the toothpicks to eat them. Yummy!
Ingredients:
3 cans of whole, water chestnuts drained
1-1/2 pounds thin raw bacon
1 cup ketchup
1 cup brown sugar
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard (this is optional-I like a little kick to mine)
Instructions:
Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9″ by 13″ inch pan. I cut the package/s of uncooked raw bacon into thirds to make the bacon go farther. You wrap a piece of the raw bacon around one water chestnut and secure it with a toothpick. Place the bacon wrapped chestnuts in the greased pan. Continue until all, or at least most of the chestnuts are wrapped. Bake for 20 minutes. Drain the fat from the pan. This is the hardest part of the whole recipe. Be careful!
Place the ketchup, brown sugar and dry mustard in a medium size bowl and whisk until smooth. Cover the baked chestnuts with this mixture and bake an additional 20-30 minutes. Enjoy!
This is how they look while preparing them:
2. Sweet Little Smoky Appetizers
Grab a slow cooker, combine all the ingredients and set it on low. When heated through, take it to the party with toothpicks. Everyone loves this one! If you keep some little smokies in your freezer and a couple jars of jelly and chili sauce in your pantry, this is easy peasy to make and take!
12 or 18-ounce jar of grape jelly
12-ounce jar of chili sauce
three pounds of Little Smokies
3. Pineapple-Cream Cheese Dip
This is an easy one to make because if you typically keep cream cheese in your refrigerator, pecans in the freezer and crushed pineapple in the pantry you can make this one at the last minute. It’s perfect, even if you have to stop and pick up crackers at the grocery store on the way to the party. This appetizer is one of my family’s favorites! We like the crackers called Chicken In A Biscuit and also Wheat Thins served with this one.
Ingredients:
2- 8-ounce packages softened cream cheese
2- 8-ounce cans drained crushed pineapple
1 cup finely chopped pecans
2 tablespoons green onion chopped or 1 tablespoon freeze/air dried green onion (optional)
1-1/2 teaspoons all season salt, similar to Lawry’s salt
Instructions:
Place all the ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Use a hand mixer to blend completely. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Serve with your favorite crackers or veggies
4. Baked Sausage-Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms
These are really easy to make the day before and cover with plastic wrap until you want to bake them. These are always gone within minutes.
Ingredients:
15 large mushrooms or 24-30 smaller mushrooms washed, pat dry and remove the stems
1-8-ounce cream cheese softened
1-16-ounce package of Jimmy Dean Maple Sausage (or your favorite flavor)
Chop the mushroom stems if desired, to add to the sausage when cooking it
green onions chopped fine (optional) I never use these
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cook and crumble the sausage and drain the grease if any. Stir in the softened cream cheese.
Scoop the mixture into each mushroom. Bake for about 15-30 minutes depending on the size of the mushrooms.
Serve hot.
5. Easy Spicy Meatballs
I love this recipe because I buy the frozen meatballs from Costco and add the rest of the ingredients from my food storage stash! Get the slow cooker out and it’s ready to make another very easy appetizer. They have a little kick, but you can cut down the hot sauce so they aren’t so spicy if that is your preference. Serve out of a small slow cooker with toothpicks or place on a platter. This one is perfect for football season parties!
Ingredients:
For the Spicy Buffalo Sauce:
1/3 cup Franks Hot Sauce
1-1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup water
Meatballs-precooked (about 40-50-depending on size)
Instructions:
Combine the Franks Hot Sauce, brown sugar and water in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the brown sugar dissolves. Place the precooked meatballs in a crock pot and cover with the sauce. Cook for about 2-3 hours or until warmed through. Serve with toothpicks and buttermilk ranch dressing and celery sticks, if desired.
6. Cranberry-Cream Cheese Bites
This one is perfect around the holidays when the cranberries are on sale!
Ingredients:
Cream cheese-softened
1 can of Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce (14 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon dried and crushed jalapeno peppers (more or less depending on personal preference)
1 box of Triscuit crackers
Instructions:
Spread a small spoonful of softened cream cheese on each cracker. Combine the jalapenos and cranberry sauce in a bowl. Place a small spoonful of the cranberry sauce mixture on each cracker. Serve immediately.
7. Hot Chip Beef or Ham-Cream Cheese Dip
Here is another awesome and easy appetizer or dip to take to a party. If it’s homemade people love it, I promise! Our family serves this one with the large Frito dipping chips! This one is always popular!
Ingredients:
8-ounces cream cheese softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup chip beef or ham cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons fresh green onion chopped
2 tablespoons milk of choice
Instructions:
Mix the cream cheese, sour cream and milk with a hand mixer until blended. Add the green onion and your meat of choice. Microwave until it starts to bubble. I like to stir it halfway through the heating process. You can also use a small crockpot to keep it warm. Sprinkle a little green onion on top before serving.
8. Cheesy Dill-Cream Cheese Pecan Ball
Our family and friends love this one! It’s always a favorite because it has a little dill and green onions in it. We serve this one with Wheat Thins for sure!
Ingredients:
2-8 ounce packages of cream cheese
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon dill weed
1 teaspoon onion powder
3 washed and chopped green onions or equal amounts of freeze dried green onions
Pecans or almonds to garnish on top of cheese ball (optional)
Instructions:
Combine all the ingredients and use a hand mixer or stand mixer to blend them together. Roll in pecans or sliced almonds if desired. Serve with crackers of choice.
PRINTABLE recipes: 8 Appetizer Recipes by Food Storage Moms
I love “finger foods” for appetizers because I feel like people need more time to talk and laugh together. It seems that social media has taken the closeness of face to face conversation away from some of us. I love social media and use it most every day, but I firmly believe girls need girls, women need women and friends need friends. Have a great time with friends and family soon. I hope you can use some of these family favorite appetizers of mine! Happy Thanksgiving and may God bless you and your family. Thanks again for being prepared for the unexpected.
My favorite things:
Cuisinart Smart Stick CSB-75BC 200 Watt 2 Speed Hand Blender, Brushed Chrome
The Meals in a Jar Handbook: Gourmet Food Storage Made Easy
Prepare Your Family for Survival: How to Be Ready for Any Emergency or Disaster Situation
Nordic Ware Natural Aluminum Commercial Baker’s Half Sheet
All-Clad 59946 Stainless Steel Lasagna Pan with Lid Specialty Cookware, 14.5 by 11.75 by 2.5-Inch, Silver
Camp Chef Camping Outdoor Oven with 2 Burner Camping Stove
Lodge L12CO3 Camp Dutch Oven, 6-Quart
Camp Chef Butane 1 Burner Stove with Camping Case
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