Try making “Blessing Mix,” a thoughtful combination of sweet and salty treats that guests can snack on before the big meal.  Package in cello bags, little canning jars, or reusable mini storage containers (like the one I used above), and label with guests’ names to mark their places at the Thanksgiving table.

I’ve created the tags for you here: Harvest Blessing Mix.  Just open and print!

You can also put your dehydrated corn from food storage to good use by packaging it in a cute container and attaching the printable tag below.  The tag shares a tradition of gratitude based on the experiences of early pilgrims, telling the recipient to place a few pieces of corn on each dinner plate and invite guests to share something for which they are grateful for each piece of corn.

This is also a great way to show others that food storage foods are practical for every day use.  Let your recipient know that any leftover dehydrated corn will be great added to their next soup recipe!

Click here for the Pilgrim Corn tags.

The other container in the photo is a container decorated to look like a squatty turkey and filled with Turkey Noodle Soup Mix.  Turkey Noodle Soup Mix uses pasta, bouillon and spices from food storage, and is a tasty way to use leftover turkey.

If you want to make these for Christmas, there are printable Turkey Noodle Soup Christmas tags under the Food Storage Printables tab at the top of this web page. Just print them, glue onto cardstock, and fold over the top of cello bags filled with the soup mix.

All of my storage containers are from Alison’s Pantry. The containers shown in this post have shaker tops, and can be reused for bulk spices.

I tease about skipping Thanksgiving just so we can get on to Christmas, but I really enjoy preparing this special family meal.  It’s a lot of work, but like many of you who love to cook, I get a great sense of satisfaction from presenting my wares at the kitchen table and hearing my family and friends murmur their pleasure as they indulge. Last year, I posted some of my favorite easy Thanksgiving side dish recipes including Corn Souffle, Orange Jello Salad, Yam and Apple Bake, and Make Ahead Crescent Rolls.  Today I’ll share another favorite side dish recipe, and a new recipe I’m trying this year for homemade sugar-free cranberry sauce made with agave nectar.

I mentioned in a previous post that it’s a great time to stock up on canned goods and other items for food storage because so many products go on sale for holiday cooking and baking. One of my favorite products to buy in November is stuffing mix.  It lasts at least a year on your shelf and is great to use in casseroles, to crush for nice seasoned crumbs to use in coatings for meat, or simply to prepare as a side dish.  For the big Thanksgiving meal, I like to customize it with this family favorite recipe:

CROWD PLEASING APPLE STUFFING

1 Box (12 ounce) Seasoned Dressing Mix
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
2 tart green apples, cored, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup raisins

½ cup dried cherries
2/3 cup chopped parsley (fresh is best)
¾ cup chicken broth

¾ cup apple juice
1/2 cup melted butter

In large bowl, combine stuffing, celery, onion, apples, raisins, cherries and parsley. Moisten with broth, apple juice and butter, tossing lightly but well. Add more apple juice if needed.

Casserole Method: Place in a 12 1/2 x 9 x 2 1/8-inch baking pan or 3-quart oven-safe casserole dish. Cover and bake at 350 degrees 30 minutes until heated through. To make it crisper, uncover and bake 5-10 minutes longer. Makes 12 to 15 servings.

Cranberry sauce is typically loaded with high fructose corn syrup, so I’m excited to try this all-natural version this year.  I have been using agave nectar for about 5 years now, and specifically Xagave brand , which is a blend of blue and white agave nectars, for about a year.  I love agave not just for of its nutritional benefits, but for its great shelf life for food storage.  It has nearly the same flavor and consistency of honey, but you can keep agave on your shelf for years and it will never crystallize.  If you’ve never used agave before, you can go to www.allaboutagave.com or www.xagave.com to learn more about this awesome natural sweetener. 

The cranberry sauce recipe is very simple and can be jazzed up to your liking with orange zest, pomegranate seeds, etc.  so I’m excited to try it out. I thought it might be hard to make my own, but there is even a YouTube video demo here to help us out.  I’d love to hear your favorite Thanksgiving dishes.  Please post them!  Enjoy your Thanksgiving meal!

This recipe is taken from Delicious Meets Nutritious, a great agave cookbook by Xagave.

Spiced Yam & Apple Casserole: To me, these are the flavors of the season. Apples and yams are great together,  and a step up from the traditional whipped sweet potatoes or the casserole with mini marshmallows on top (I know, I love that one too.)

4 large yams

 3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 cups apple juice

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon Apple Pie Spice

3 large apples – peeled, cored and sliced

Place yams in a large saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook 30 minutes, or until tender but firm. Drain, peel, and cut into 1/3 inch thick slices. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter with the cornstarch and brown sugar. Mix in the apple juice, lemon juice, cinnamon, and allspice. Alternate layers of yams and apples in the prepared baking dish. Pour the apple juice mixture over the layers. Cover, and bake 1 hour in the preheated oven. Remove cover, and continue baking 30 minutes. Baste frequently with the juices from the pan to prevent drying.  

Corn Souffle:  This simple recipe whips up fast and is delicious.  If you pour it into a nice serving pan (before baking), it looks impressive. 1 can creamed corn1 c. sour cream

1 can whole kernel corn, drained

1 small box corn muffin mix

3 eggs, beaten

1 stick butter, melted

1/4 c. mayonnaise

1 c. shredded cheese

Mix all ingredients except cheese, then pour mixture into a greased 8 x 8 x 2 glass pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Sprinkle cheese on top and bake another 10 minutes, until all is melted.   Clearly, this one would be off the charts for Weight Watchers points, but it’s perfect for this once-a-year meal.  I have cut the fat almost in half by using Smart Balance butter, light sour cream and light mayo with no reduction in flavor.

Make-Ahead Crescent Rolls: These are a standby in my busy house, but they make Thanksgiving special, allowing you to have homemade rolls for the feast without the effort on the busy day.  They don’t need to raise twice like most breads.  They freeze beautifully so you can pull out just what you need. And, the dough can be used for cinnamon rolls, homemade hamburger buns, fry bread, or bread.

3 c. warm water

3/4 c. sugar or honey

3 Tbsp. yeast

1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk

6 Tbsp. butter, melted (allow to cool so it isn’t hot when added)

2 tsp. salt

10-12 c. flour (I use about 4 c. wheat and 6 c. white)

Mix water and honey.  Sprinkle yeast on top.  Let set until yeast rises to the top and foams.  Stir in milk, melted butter and salt.  Stir in 5 cups flour.  Stir until smooth.  Keep adding flour until dough is soft and not sticky.  Knead until satin smooth.  No need to let rise.  Make into desired shape.  At this point, if you want to freeze them for later use, put them on greased cookie sheets over night and then place them in zippered freezer bags in the morning.  When you are ready to use them, take them out of the freezer 2 1/2 – 3 hours prior and let unthaw and raise.   If you don’t freeze them, place shaped dough on greased cookie sheets and let rise 15 minutes.  Then bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, until light brown. 

My Favorite Orange Jello Salad: 

1 small box tapioca pudding

1 small box vanilla pudding (cooked kind)

1 small box orange jello

3 c. boiling water

1 can mandarin oranges

1 (8 oz.) Cool Whip

Boil water; pour in all three pudding / jello boxes.  Mix–mixture should be a pudding consistency.  Let cool in fridge.   It will cool faster if poured into a 9 x 13 pan.Once cool, stir in mandarin oranges and Cool Whip.  Then serve. 

Even mashed potato purists, who would never dream of using potato flakes for Thanksgiving Dinner (What would my mother-in-law say?!) would be surprised at how tasty “potato pearls” are.  I should know…we used them for Thanksgiving dinner once ourselves (and my family makes homemade pies!) and they were great.  They save a ton of time and taste equally delicious with homemade gravy.  Since then, we’ve eaten them regularly with weekday meals.  If I don’t feel like making gravy, I mix in Garlic Supreme and shredded cheese for scrumptious cheesy potatoes.