Happy Day before Thanksgiving! and a recipe

Almost all of Thanksgiving dinner is complete.  The menu:

Butternut-Apple Soup

Smoked Turkey

Cornbread Dressing

Fruit Compote

Turkey Gravy

Broccoli Slaw

Mini Bread Loaves

Cream Cheese Frosted Pumpkin Mincemeat Bars

The soup is a VitaMix recipe and will be made tomorrow right before we eat with squash from Oklahoma Food Coop and a Honeycrisp apple.

Steele smoked half a small turkey last Saturday.  We froze the other half, raw, for later.

Homemade cornbread dressing

Dried cranberry, apricot, fig, plum compote

Turkey gravy with chopped giblets and hard-boiled eggs

Broccoli slaw from the Oklahoma Food Coop

Sister Schubert Mini Bread Loaves

Homemade, and my own recipe, Frosted P-M Bars

Cream Cheese Frosted Sorta Healthy Pumpkin-Mincemeat Bars

15 oz can pumpkin puree

BOX of mincemeat (reconstitute with 3/4 cup water, per box directions, and let cool)

3 eggs

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 cup flour

1 2/3 cup Splenda

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 and butter a 13 x 9 pan.

Use a stand or hand mixer to mix pumpkin puree, eggs, mincemeat and applesauce well.  Sift all dry ingredients together and add gradually to wet mixture as the mixer is working the batter.

Pour into pan and bake 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool and frost.  Refrigerate leftovers.

Frosting

8 oz low-fat softened cream cheese

2 cup confectioner's sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1-2 Tblsp milk

Beat first 3 ingredients together and add milk, if needed, to bring to frosting consistency.  Spread on cooled bars.

Count your blessings and enjoy Thanksgiving!!

Sorta Healthy Semi-Homemade Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal Craisin Cookies

First, as much as I love my fellow Oklahoman, Pioneer Woman, I will NOT be posting step-by-step pictures of the "making of the recipe."  If you can't follow this recipe, no amount of pictures will help you.  Just sayin'.  BTW, this recipe came from my head, using ingredients I had on hand.

You will need:

Oatmeal Cookie Mix (17.5 oz)
1 egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute
1 cup craisins (dried, sweetened cranberries)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (I use canned)
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tbsp water

Have everything at room temperature before you begin mixing.  Using pumpkin puree instead of butter decreases fat (and calories).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  

Mix spice, craisins and cookie mix together until craisins are well covered with cookie mix and spice. Thoroughly mix water, pumpkin and egg (or egg substitute) together, then add to dry ingredients.  Mix all ingredients until well-moistened and drop by teaspoonfuls onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Bake until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.  They don't flatten out because there is no butter and they are very tender and cake-like on the inside.  Let cool on cooling rack.  Should make about 36-40 small cookies.

Grace of Yes Book Club

http://catholicmom.com/grace-of-yes-book-club/

Use this link to check out and follow a new online book club through Catholic Mom, written by the founder of the website.

"In The Grace of Yes, Lisa Hendey explores the eight spiritual virtues she believes are the foundation of Christian life. Allowing readers to peek into the window of her own spiritual journey, she shows how the virtues of belief, generativity, creativity, integrity, humility, vulnerability, saying no, and starting over lead to generous living and the ability to joyously say yes to God.

Join us on Saturdays beginning November 3 as we explore and discuss what it means to embrace the grace of yes."

Mary, the Mother of God, changed the world when she said yes to the angel, Gabriel.  Who knows what our yes can do for the world?

Thot for the Day

Ven. Fr. Solanus Casey: “Thank God ahead of time.”  He speaks of a certainty and confidence in faith, one that is undaunted by death and unwavering in the midst of inevitable trials.