Thanksgiving to do's

Being prepared is the only way to be for any holiday party! Last year I made notes on what worked and what didn't for me and kept these in my "Holiday Notebook".

Here is what my to-do's look like for this year:

Wednesday 11/10:
*Make guest list and start making calls to invite everyone.


Saturday 11/13:
 *Make menu. Decide what guests should bring and what I will provide.

Wednesday 11/17:
*Start making calls to confirm who is coming. Discuss what dish people are bringing. Keep a list of who is bringing what.

Thursday 11/18:
*Continue making calls to confirm who is coming and what dish they are bringing. Keep a list of confirmations/dishes.

Saturday 11/20:

*Make mashed potatoes. Freeze.

*Make pecan bars. Store in airtight container until Thanksgiving.

Sunday 11/21:

*Put turkey in fridge to start thawing.

Monday 11/22:

*Start cleaning house. Plan to do one or two rooms thoroughly.

Tuesday 11/23:

*Pull mashed potatoes from freezer and place them in the fridge to start thawing out.

*Make napkin rings and place cards.

*Work on cleaning one or two more rooms thoroughly.

Wednesday 11/24:

*Make sweet potato casserole. Place in fridge after cooking.

*Make stuffing. Store in airtight container overnight.

*Finish cleaning house thoroughly.

Thursday 11/25:

7:30 am - Bake muffins and cut up some fresh fruit.

8:00 am - Clean out thawed turkey. Stuff turkey and preheat oven.

8:30 am - Turkey in the oven!

9:00 am - Feed family breakfast (overnight bubble bread and fresh fruit)

9:30 am - Put mashed potatoes in Crock-pot on low (need to warm for 3-4 hours)

11:00 am - Put together veggie and relish tray.

11:20 am - Prepare smoked salmon spread. Serve with crackers.

11:30 am - Start setting table and set out munchies.

1:00 pm - Warm sweet potato casserole in microwave.

1:15 pm - Make green bean casserole

1:30 pm - Pull turkey from oven and let "rest" for 10-15 minutes before carving.

1:30ish pm - Make gravy using turkey juices

2:15ish pm - Gather everyone around table and EAT UP!!!!

Before serving pumpkin pie give yourself 20 minutes to make fresh, homemade whipped topping.

Friday Recipe - Beef over Noodles

I found this recipe here about 2 years ago and I added the noodles to our version and added in a little more water. We love it and eat it a lot! Anything I can throw in a Crock Pot is one of my favorites!

Beef over Noodles
INGREDIENTS:
2 to 2 1/2 lbs boneless beef chuck roast
1 envelope dry ranch dressing mix
1 envelope dry Italian dressing mix
1 envelope dry brown gravy mix
1 c water

GRAVY:
1 Tbls flour
1/2 c water

1 package egg noodles

Place roast in slow cooker.

In a small bowl, combine the salad dressing and gravy mixes. Stir in 1 c water. Pour over meat. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or until the meat is tender, but not dry.

Cook egg noodles according to package directions.

Remove roast to platter.

Pour cooking juices in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Mix together flour and 1/2 c water in a small bowl and whisk together. When juices come to a boil, pour flour-water into pan and stir constantly until juices thicken.

Slice meat into pieces and serve with gravy over cooked egg noodles.

Friday Recipe - Best Whipped cream

When I was young my dad always made fresh whipped cream for pies and desserts. It was the BEST! Now I carry on this tradition, especially at Thanksgiving time.

Best Whipped Cream
INGREDIENTS:
1 carton heavy whipping cream
4 Tbls confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Chill bowl, cream and beaters in freezer for 10 minutes. Beat all ingredients on medium speed for 20 minutes or until stiff peaks form.

Make-ahead mashed potatoes

This is an excellent way to save some time on Thanksgiving day! Make your mashed potatoes up to 2 weeks prior to Thanksgiving. I make mine the weekend before, freeze and then pull them out to thaw 2-3 days prior to Thanksgiving. They taste just as good as if you made them that day. **Note: You can just make your potatoes the same way you always do, but this is the way I like to make mashed potatoes**

Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
INGREDIENTS:
8 pounds potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
3/4 c sour cream
1/2 stick of butter
3/4 c milk (adding in more as needed)
salt and pepper to taste

Put potatoes in large pot of cold water. Bring water to a boil (adding in a little salt if you wish). Cook for about 25 minutes or until tender. Drain off water and put the potatoes back into the pot. Mash potatoes with masher or use a hand-held mixer. Add in cream cheese, sour cream, butter, milk and salt and pepper. Mash again until thoroughly whipped. Spoon into a large freezer-safe container.

THANKSGIVING:
Two or three days before Thanksgiving put the container of frozen potatoes in the fridge to thaw.

On Thanksgiving day, spray the inside of the Crock-pot with cooking spray. Add potatoes. Put a few dabs of butter on top of potatoes. Cover and warm on low for 4-5 hours.

Sit back and enjoy your company!

Holiday Swap

I love participating and hosting swaps. They are the funnest things ever!!! Who doesn't like getting a package in the mail? That is what swaps do - you send someone something and someone sends you something. Win win situation!!


Click here to read about this super awesome, super all-about-mom, Christmas Stocking Swap. Basically, you will sign up, be paired up with someone and send that person a Christmas Stocking. How fun is that? So go over here, read all about it and then sign up (I did!)

Fall break recap

Al though the kids and Mr. Man had last week off from work and school, I did not. Every morning while they slowly rolled out of bed and casually ate breakfast, I was busy getting ready for work, eating breakfast and making my lunch.

They had a busy, eventful, but overall wonderful week! Thankfully I was able to take part in some of it too!

Monday - some cousins and grandma & grandpa came over to help make a million more pints of applesauce. We freeze it and so with what we made earlier in the year and this batch we will have enough to last us until next summer! I love homemade applesauce!

Tuesday - we went to the football stadium for some trick or treating. It was FREEZING cold and the kids were less than thrilled to stop and take pictures, but they did their best to smile through the shivers.

 Wednesday - after I got off work we picked up the new dog.

Thursday - the kids went with Mr. Man car shopping and almost bought me a new car, but there was a slight problem with it so it had to go to the shop!

Friday - got called from the dealer car was done in shop so Mr. Man and kids went back to the dealership and bought a car! We now are selling our van (which hasn't been running well for several months) and I am the proud owner of a new-to-me car!

Saturday - went to an Air Force Academy vs Utah football game!

Sunday - trick or treating. Spirit went as a football player, Lefty was a cop and Lady Bug was a cowgirl. I didn't get a good picture of Spirit alone, but he was the same thing he was when we went to the football stadium.

Disclaimer

The more I write on here the more I feel like I shouldn't. Each post offends SOMEONE somewhere. I started this blog as a way to journal the fun and funny things my kids say and do. I also wanted friends and family who don't live close to be able to read about what we are doing as a family. My original plan was to maybe someday turn it into a book (there are some great sites out there that do this for you!) But, you can't please everyone all the time and so often I get emailed about how I have offended someone.

You know what? I write as a journal and not to please anyone or everyone. The definition of the word Journal is "A personal record of occurrences, experiences, and reflections kept on a regular basis; a diary." A PERSONAL RECORD... hmm interesting! There have been some things I just chose not to post because I knew someone would be offended which sort of defeats the purpose of a journal. I know when I was a kid a journal or a diary was private and the only person  you worried about reading it was your mom or your siblings, but when I am blogging it becomes quite public (so public I can't even imagine all the people who have access to my journal!) I get that, I get that I need to be careful which is why I don't post certain things and why I keep our names private, but those who read this know who we are.

Friends and family have passed along this blog to other friends and family and I am always surprised to bump into someone I haven't talked to in a while and they tell me how they've been reading my blog..... Really? I am glad people can keep up on our doings, but in "real life" no one is ever going to be 100% accepting of the things I say or do or the way I may act at times, so why is it different when I write on my blog? Am I supposed to become someone else to write on my own blog? I think not! This is MY blog and I can post what I want to and what I feel like I want captured.

I am putting my disclaimer now that I may or may not offend you. My intention is not to offend. I may say things you don't agree with. My family may go to an event you wouldn't. We may let our kids do things you don't let your kids (or not let our kids do something that you would), but this is MY blog and if I offend  you then you are welcome to not read that post or not read this blog ever again, that is YOUR prerogative just like it is MY prerogative to say what I want on here. If you want to have a civil discussion with me about something then that is fine and I am open to listen, but I don't appreciate hateful emails or comments posted by "anonymous" people who aren't big enough to tell me who they are.

Thank you very  much for listening!

Now back to your regularly scheduled posts! :-)