Tag turkey

Cranberry Sauce

Mrs. Rhodes 2 Comments

This time of year I love having a few cans of cranberry sauce on hand to use in several ways. You can just open a can and pour into a dish to slice and eat along with your holiday meal. It is also good for making a sauce for cocktail lil’ smokies or meatballs. I have also made cranberry chicken or cranberry pork roast in my crock pot.

Some years ago I started making my own cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries when I saw how easy it is to make. I prefer the taste of it over the canned version so now I take the time to make the homemade version every Thanksgiving and Christmas. Here is how I make it:

Crockpot Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:
1 12oz. bag of fresh cranberries
1 cup of sugar (I like using 1/2 c. white and 1/2 c. brown sugar)
1 cup water or orange juice (I like doing 1/2 c. orange with 1/2 cup cranberry, apple, or Cranapple juice)

Directions:
Spray a small crockpot (under 5 quarts) with cooking spray.  Put clean cranberries in crockpot.  Pour the sugar and juice of choice on top.  Cover and cook on High for 1 hour. Stir and continue cooking another hour. Stir every 15 minutes as the cranberries will soften and pop. Once it is the consistency you want turn off and cool down. Pour into a container and refrigerate over night for the flavors to blend.

Note: This tastes even better made a day or so in advance so that the flavors will have time to sit and blend together. I do a mixture of white and brown sugar to give it an extra flavor boost. Using juice instead of water enhances the flavor as well.

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Homemade Breakfast Sausage

Mrs. Rhodes 6 Comments

I have made my own breakfast sausage many times using ground pork (for pork sausage), ground beef (for beef sausage), ground venison, ground chicken, and ground turkey (for chicken or turkey sausage). I have even done a 1/2 and 1/2 mix with beef and pork, beef and venison, or chicken (or turkey) and pork. They all come out tasty and much cheaper than buying name-brand sausages filled with MSG and other unhealthy additives. Once you see how easy this is to make you’ll wonder why you haven’t tried this before.

Homemade Breakfast Sausage

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs. ground pork, venison, beef, turkey, or chicken (can use any ground meat of your liking)
1 tsp. Salt (I like sea or Real Salt)
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. ground sage
1 tsp. regular or smoked paprika
2 tsp. brown sugar (or Maple Syrup- see note below)
3/4 tsp. thyme
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. ground fennel seed (optional)
1/4 tsp. marjoram
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (use more to make it spicy if you’d like)
1 Tbsp. olive oil (if using only venison, chicken, or turkey)

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. The flavors blend in better if you make this a few hours ahead of time. After mixing in a bowl, cover and chill (or refrigerate it overnight) before cooking. When ready to cook, shape into 8-9 patties and cook in a heated skillet with a little olive oil (if using chicken or turkey) about 4-5 minutes per side or until done. Serve with your breakfast, or freeze cooked sausage in Ziploc bags for later use. These are good with biscuits!

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Unstuffed Bell Pepper Casserole

Mrs. Rhodes 3 Comments

If you like stuffed bell peppers, how about turning your favorite recipe into a one dish casserole. Here is mine:

Unstuffed Bell Pepper Casserole

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef, turkey, or ground sausage
3 bell peppers, chopped (I used 1 green, 1 orange, and 1 yellow for a pretty Fall look)
1 medium onion, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, minced (or 1/2 garlic powder)
1/2 cup instant rice (or 2 cups cold cooked rice)
1/2 cup water (if using instant rice. omit if using cooked rice)
14.5 oz. can Italian stewed tomatoes
1/2 bottle of Heinz chili sauce (or 8 oz. can Italian tomato sauce)
1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
8 oz. pkg. shredded cheddar cheese (Italian blend or Colby/Monterey Jack would work too)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a pot full of boiling water put in the chopped bell peppers. Let them blanch for 5 minutes then remove them from the water to a strainer. Run cold water over them to stop the cooking. In a skillet brown your meat with the chopped onion and garlic until no longer pink. Drain. In a 2qt. casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray. Put in your meat with veggies, tomatoes, and bell peppers. If you are using instant rice now is the time to stir that in with the water. If you are using cold cooked rice just put that in. Add in the chili sauce with the rest of the seasonings and 1/2 of the cheese and stir. Cover with foil and cook for 30-40 minutes. Uncover, stir, then sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Pop back in the oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

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