As we gather all the relatives together for Thanksgiving meals, we get geared up for some delicious turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and green beans. If you have a child like my daughter … she will eat none of the above. (The battle with that is a story for another day!) Alas, I have a few recipes below that are family favorites for all of us and they can easily slide in with the other Thanksgiving items on the buffet. Hopefully even the pickiest of eaters may take a taste. I am not claiming that any of these are healthy – just yummy and easy!
Below is a recipe for a Poppyseed Chicken Casserole that everyone in my family enjoys, and a tasty appetizer recipe given to me by friend Barbie (she calls it Crack Dip). The third recipe is a brunch or breakfast favorite that is perfect to serve out-of-town guests to keep the gorge-fest going well after Thanksgiving dinner is over. Please share your favorite recipes below that are great for kids and adults of all ages.
Poppyseed Chicken Casserole
Meat from 1 rotisserie chicken or 4 boneless breasts
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
Dash of celery salt
Tube of Ritz crackers (crushed)
1 T. poppy seeds
1 stick melted butter
2 boil-in-bags white rice
Cut chicken into bite-size pieces and cook in skillet until done. Prepare rice according to instructions. In 13×9 pan, combine chicken, rice, both soups, and celery salt. In separate bowl mix crushed crackers, melted butter and poppy seeds. Add cracker mixture to chicken mixture. (I like to save some of the crushed crackers for the top.) Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Yummy Corn Salsa
2 cans black beans
1 can white corn
4 oz. crumbled feta
1 bunch of green onions, chopped
Dressing:
½ cup veg. oil
½ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup sugar
Mix the first four ingredients. Mix all ingredients for the dressing. Pour dressing over the first mixture and let marinate for a bit…overnight if possible. Stir it up and serve with tortilla chips!
Pecan &Cream Cheese Squares
2 packages Crescent Rolls
16 oz. softened cream cheese
1 c. sugar, another ½ c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 stick melted butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350. Unroll one pack of crescent rolls and press onto bottom of 13×9 glass pan and lightly up the sides. Combine cream cheese, 1 c. sugar, egg and vanilla. Mix with electric mixer. Spread over dough.
Unroll second pack of rolls and arrange over cream cheese. Press perforations to seal.
Combine melted butter, ½ cup sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Spread on top.
Bake 30 minutes or until cooked through. (For some reason it always takes mine longer than 30 minutes, so just keep checking on it!)
Enjoy!
