How to Cooking Tips

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Delicious Vegetarian Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas

 

 

Are you unsure how to celebrate Thanksgiving as a vegetarian? Thankfully, there are lots of options available for a meatless feast! Here is a basic menu suggestion, followed by recipes.

 

* Stuffed Butternut Squash (instead of turkey)
* Crispy Green Beans
* Pumpkin Dinner Rolls
* Cranberry Pear Crisp


1.) Stuffed Butternut Squash

Ingredients:

* 4 medium butternut squashes
* 3/4 cup wild rice
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 cup chopped onion
* 2 cloves minced fresh garlic
* 2 1/2 cups whole wheat bread, torn into bite-sized pieces (pack firmly into cup to measure)
* 1/2 teaspoon dried sage (or 2 teaspoons minced fresh)
* 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1 cup unsweetened orange juice
* Salt or salt-free blend to taste

 

How to Prepare:

  • Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
  • Cut the squash in half lengthwise and use a fruit spoon to scrape out the seeds. Place halved squash in shallow baking dishes, cut side up. Cover and bake for about 45 minutes, or until you can pierce one easily with a knife but it is still somewhat firm.
  • While the squash bakes, cook the wild rice in 2 cups of water – stir rice into boiling water, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Place cooked rice in the bowl.
  • Sautee onions and garlic until soft. Add them to the rice in the bowl, and stir in remaining ingredients.
  • Cool the squash until you can comfortably handle them, then scoop out some of the cooked flesh, leaving about 1/2 inch of flesh in each squash. Chop the scooped-out flesh and add to the stuffing mixture, then stuff the squashes. Place them in a baking dish and cover. Heat before serving in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

2.) Crispy Green Beans

For a side dish, try these crisp beans that can be eaten with the fingers. To serve 4.

Ingredients:

* 2 pounds green beans (stringless tenderettes or haricot verts)
* 2 teaspoons margarine or butter
* 1/4 teaspoon dried mustard
* 1 tablespoon dried chives
* 1 tablespoon dried parsley
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

 

How to Prepare:

  • Steam green beans for 5 to 7 minutes.
  • Place in a bowl and add remaining ingredients
  • Toss to coat and serve

3.) Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

For 14 rolls.

Ingredients:

* 2 1/2 teaspoons baker's yeast
* 3/4 cup lukewarm buttermilk
* 1/3 cup sugar
* 7 cups flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon dried nutmeg
* 3/4 cup butter
* 1 large egg
* 1 can pumpkin puree (16oz)

 

How to Prepare:

  • Sprinkle yeast over the lukewarm milk and let sit until bubbly (about 5 minutes).
  • In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry blender or fork. Lightly beat the egg and add it to the flour mixture.
  • Add the pumpkin and the milk/yeast mixture. Stir it well, then knead the dough for about 10 minutes, adding up to a cup of flour to keep dough from sticking.
  • Form dough into a ball, place in greased or buttered bowl, and let it rise, covered, for about an hour (or until it's doubled in size).
  • Punch dough down and form into 14 balls. Place these balls into a 10-inch spring-form pan or non-stick cake pan, cover with a clean towel and let rise about 45 minutes.
  •  Bake risen rolls at 250 degrees F for about 45 minutes, allow to cool, then remove from pan and serve.

4.) Cranberry and Pear Crisp

Serve this as an unusual but seasonal dessert.

Ingredients:

* 3 medium-sized pears, cut into thin slices
* 2 tart baking apples, cut into thin slices (peel if desired)
* 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 2 tablespoons cornstarch

 

Topping:

* 1 cup flour
* 1/2 cup rolled oats
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/2 cup buttery spread or butter

 

How to Prepare:

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  • In a large bowl, mix the pears, apples, cranberries, cinnamon, 2 tablespoons sugar, and corn starch. Spread into a 9-inch baking pan or pie dish.
  • In another bowl, mix the topping ingredients, cutting the buttery spread/butter into the dry ingredients until crumbly. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit and bake for about half an hour.

 

 

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Fun Thanksgiving Snack Ideas

Families who have children know they have little tummies. Since they can’t hold as much food as an adult, they may need to eat snacks to keep them going. As the holidays near, you may want to teach your children about these fun Thanksgiving snack ideas. In fact your children can help you prepare these snacks the day before Thanksgiving so they’ll be available for guests until the meal is ready to eat.

 

 

 

 

 

1.) Sugar Cone Tepee Treat

Children will love having their own tepee treat made out of a sugar cone.

Ingredients:

* 8 sugar cones (or increase the recipe to have one for each child)
* 2 cups of sifted powdered or confectioner’s sugar
* 1/4 cup of unsalted butter
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* Colored tubes of cake-decorating icing
* Decorative candies
* Three toothpicks for each sugar cone

 

How to Prepare:

  • Combine the sugar, butter and vanilla until it is smooth and easy to spread. If the frosting is too thick, you can add a little bit of milk to help thin it out.
  • Lightly ice the outside of the cones and place them upside down on a cookie sheet.
  • Put them in the freezer for a little while to give the icing a chance to harden.
  • When the cones come out of the freezer, draw line patterns and American Indian motifs on them with tube decorating icing. Use the icing to glue candies onto the tepee.
  •  Place three toothpicks in the top of the cone to look like the lodge poles. Have the children remove the toothpicks before they try to eat their tepee snack.

 

2.) Snack-time Acorns

 Acorns are a common item found around Thanksgiving but you probably don’t want your child picking up acorns and putting them in their mouth. Here is a way they can do just that!

Ingredients:

  • donut holes
  • chocolate frosting or peanut butter
  • crumbled toffee
  • broken pieces of pretzel

 

How to Prepare:

  • Begin by putting frosting on the top third of a donut hole. This can be done with peanut butter or chocolate frosting to give the look of the cap of the acorn.
  • Carefully roll the frosted top into crumbled toffee.
  • Finish it off by placing a small piece of broken pretzel into the frosting to act as a stem.

 

3.) Ice Cream Cone Cornucopia

Your child can help make an ice cream cone cornucopia which can be both a fun Thanksgiving snack and a table decoration. These are very simple to do. Spoon a little bit of frosting into a sugar cone. Then your child can place M&Ms, pretzel sticks, nuts, raisins or other small snack items into the cone. Let the goodies spill out of the cone to signify having plenty.

These three fun Thanksgiving snack ideas are so easy to make that the children in your family can do most of the work all by themselves. If you think about other common Thanksgiving items, you may be able to come up with snack ideas for those as well. Your children will love helping to make these fun snacks but they’ll enjoy eating them even more.

 

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Thanksgiving Cooking with Children

 

Thanksgiving usually means there will be plenty of cooks in the kitchen. Your children may feel left out. When it comes to Thanksgiving cooking with children, try one or more of these easy recipes your kids can make. They will enjoy helping prepare something for the meal and delight in spending time with you in the kitchen even more.

 

 

 

You may not feel comfortable with your children using the stove just yet, so you’ll want to find recipes which can be made without actually cooking. Many desserts don’t require heat to prepare them, so you might want to enlist your children to help with something sweet. These recipes don’t require you to help but you’ll want to be available to them just in case.

 

1.)  Pocahontas Pudding

This recipe is very easy and takes about ten minutes to prepare. Here’s what your child will need to make four servings:

 

Ingredients

  • 20 vanilla wafers, crushed
  • 12 vanilla wafers, whole
  • 1 can yellow cling-sliced peaches – 8.5 ounces drained
  • 16 ounces of prepared vanilla flavored pudding

 

How to Prepare:

  • Crush the vanilla wafers and distribute them evenly in four dessert cups.
  • Place a spoonful of pudding over the wafers and spread it out.
  • Then place a slice or two of peaches over the pudding.
  • Complete the dessert by adding another helping of pudding on top of the peach.
  • Put the dessert cups into the refrigerator.
  • Right before it's time to eat them, have your child place three wafers standing up on top of the pudding in the shape of a pyramid.

 

2.) No-Bake Pumpkin Pie

Baked pumpkin pie is a traditional Thanksgiving dessert. Here’s a no-cook version of this dessert your child can make.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 package of vanilla instant pudding mix (3.4 ounce box)
  • 1 1/2 cups milk (preferably 2% or whole)
  • 1 can pumpkin (15 ounces)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 9 inch graham cracker crumb pie shell
  • Whipped cream for the topping

 

How to Prepare:
  • Begin by whisking together the pudding mix and the milk until it is smooth and thick.
  • Next add the pumpkin and cinnamon and whisk these into the pudding until the mixture is smooth again. Spoon the mixture into the pie shell and place it in the refrigerator for at least four hours.
  • When it’s time to serve, spread whipped topping over the entire pie or put a spoon of whipped cream on each individual slice.

Thanksgiving cooking with children does not have to be stressful if you choose your recipes carefully. Children want to be involved with preparing the meal so they can share in the love that goes into cooking for others. These two easy recipes your kids can make will allow them to feel like they have contributed to the Thanksgiving meal.