Thanks for joining me for a Thanksgiving treat bought to you by Oxo! I receive product samples and the fabulous new Now & Again cookbook to inspire this post.
We have friends who host an annual Friendsgiving Celebration each year a couple of weeks before the official Thanksgiving Holiday. They carve up the turkey and everyone attending brings one of their favorite sides. For me, Thanksgiving recipes are nearly ritualistic. The shopping experience, the seasonings, everything is baked into a sense that I can follow with ease.
Friendsgiving is different. It’s an opportunity to try out other families favorite treats and be a bit more experimental with what I decide to make. When I dove into the Now & Again Thanksgiving menu I knew I needed to try something new for Friendsgiving this year. Written by Julia Turshen, Now & Again features a year of recipes intended to be reinvented as leftovers for weeks to come. When it comes to Thanksgiving, there is no better menu to consider both the 1st meal and all the proceeding leftover makeovers. With large portions and flavors that last for hours on the buffet table Radicchio and Roasted Squash Salad is the perfect dish for a Friendgiving gathering!
I love that this recipe is easy to prep in advance so I can pull it all together to day before and Oxo’s kitchen products are just the ticket for laying out this meal in advance.
This dish calls for Butternut Squash, raddicchio, olive oil, salt, honey, garlic and maple cider vinegar.
When prepping in advance I start out by peeling the butternut squash using Oxo’s swivel peeler. This easy to use peeler is perfect for the tough skin of a butternut squash and the handle makes peeling a whole batch a breeze. After chopping into pieces you’ll store the squash in the top tray of Oxo’s On-The-Go Lunch Container. The bottom half we’ll fill with sliced raddicchio. We’ll set those ingredients aside to roast before the actual dinner.
Thanks to the combination of honey and apple cider vinegar the dressing for this dish is both sweet and savory. I mix up twice as much so I have left over dressing for other salads throughout the week.
Anyone else really struggle with measuring out liquids by the tea or table spoon? I love this little mini measuring cup! The angled view of the measuring line helps make a more accurate pour.
Everything gets whisked together and stored in an Oxo Squeeze Bottle until I’m ready to use it. Toss it all in the fridge and we’re prepped for heading to dinner.
A few hours before we head over to the party is time to roast the squash. Once cooked, everything goes back in the On-The-Go Lunch container and combined with the dressing before serving. It’s such an easy recipe but it feels like a fancy dish that took hours!
What are your favorite Thanksgiving Traditions? Do you celebrate a Friendsgiving before the official Holiday?
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of OXO.
On of the best things about fall is pumpkin spice everything and I love how versatile pumpkin can be in a bunch of different recipes. I once attended a cooking class where they taught how to make a pumpkin stew with chicken and when I started brainstorming what kind of recipe I wanted to make for Halloween night, this variation of chili came to mind. The pumpkin in this recipe gives the chili a subtle sweetness and the cinnamon is just enough of a reminder that fall is here.
This is the perfect recipe for whipping up quickly before trick or treaters start arriving and leaving to slow cook as you hand out candy. In just a couple of hours the flavors have fully combined and it’s ready to serve.
Ingredients
1.) This dish start off by sautéing a cup of yellow onion in olive oil. Once the onion is translucent, add in the ground sirloin and allow it to brown. I used an 80 / 20 blend so before putting into the crockpot I drained off the grease. If you use a leaner cut of meat you might not need to do that.
2.) In the Crockpot add the beef and onions, bell peppers, canned tomatoes, kidney beans (optional) and pumpkin puree. Mix it together well.
3.) Add all the dry seasonings and mix well. At this stage the recipe will be very thick. Add in 1 1/2 cups chicken broth and stir until combined.
4.) Place the on high and allow to simmer for 2 hours. When done, serve topped with Avocado and cheese.
Fall wouldn’t be complete without a hearty beef stew. CrockPots are practically made for beef. I am way too impatient to properly cook roast or stews using my stove. CrockPot meals using beef allows the meat to tenderize and absorb the flavors of the dish. I like to make a big batch of this stew on Monday morning and enjoy it for lunch all week long!
Ingredients
The key to really locking in the flavor of this dish is starting the beef off right. Put the flour, salt pepper and garlic powder into a 1 gallon ziplock bag and mix it together. Add the beef and shake it around to completely coat with flour.
Using a small amount of olive oil, brown the beef in a hot pan. Remove when fully seared and place into the bottom of the crock pot. With the remaining oil in the pan, saute the onion and garlic. When done, add that to the crock pot.
Add rest of the ingredients (carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, broth, Worcestershire, Thyme, beer) to the pot and leave on low for 8 hours. Depending on the heat of your crock pot, the dish may be done or you may want to thicken it some more. To thicken, add 2 tbs tomato paste and stir in 30 minutes before you intend to serve. Move the heat up to high to finish cooking.
[tasty-recipe id=”2731″]
When given the option between flavors, I’ll choose buffalo every single time. Buffalo chicken pizza, buffalo chicken wraps, buffalo chicken salad, you get the picture. I love buffalo (except the CU one). The first time I made a buffalo chicken used chicken breasts that had been marinated overnight in Frans Red Hot and baked them in the oven.
After a bit of experimenting I’ve found that I prefer using the CrockPot because it requires less patience and the texture is perfect for shredding the chicken so it can be used as a base in a wide variety of dishes.
I like to make a big pot and use it for sandwiches, salads and on top of sweet potatoes over the course of a week. This is a very easy recipe to master and it’s the perfect weekend meal prep!
Start off by placing three chicken breasts into the bottom of the crock pot. This is approximately 1 pound of meat.
In a separate bowl, mix together two cups of Franks Red Hot and 1 tsp Dill, 1 tsp Parsley, 1 tsp minced onion and 1 tsp garlic powder. This is virtually adding a pre-made Ranch Dressing powder to the mix. I get headaches from MSG so I can’t use the pre-made recipes in my dishes, but if you don’t have problems with MSG you could save some time and go that route.
Salt and pepper to your preference and mix the seasonings into the sauce.
Pour the mix over the top of the chicken breasts and set the CrockPot on low for 8 hours, or high for 3. The chicken is done when it is easy to shred with a fork.
My two favorite ways to serve this is on top of a bun with coleslaw as a side, topped with blue cheese crumbles and ranch dressing. Coleslaw is the perfect side or can be added to the top of the sandwich for a bit of a crunch. If you want a lighter meal, heat up a sweet potato and serve the same way.
Interested in more ways you can CrockPot? Check out my CrockPot Tortilla Soup Recipe!
