Black Bean 'n' Pumpkin Chili with Turkey

This is the perfect autumn meal, especially after Thanksgiving when you have leftover turkey to use. It is quick, healthy, and delicious! There is very little if any pumpkin taste, but the pumpkin makes it rich and smooth. We found the recipe online at Taste of Home and decided to try it to use up some of our mounds of leftover turkey and we are so glad we did. It is definitely a keeper!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium sweet yellow pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
3 cups chicken broth (reviews online said that the recipe turned out more soupy, so I just did a little more than 2 cups of broth and it was great)
2-1/2 cups cubed cooked turkey
2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
2 teaspoons chili powder
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cubed avocado and thinly sliced green onions, optional

Directions:

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and pepper; cook and stir until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.

Transfer to a 5-qt. slow cooker; stir in the next 10 ingredients. Cook, covered, on low 4-5 hours. If desired, top with avocado and green onions. Yield: 10 servings (2-1/2 quarts).

Nutritional Facts

1 cup equals 192 calories, 5 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 28 mg cholesterol, 658 mg sodium, 21 g carbohydrate, 7 g fiber, 16 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2 lean meat, 1-1/2 starch, 1/2 fat.

Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes

Thanksgiving!  It's the best meal of the year!  The turkey is great, but the side dishes and desserts are the stars for me.  Following are some recipes I've posted for great Thanksgiving side dishes and desserts:

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Rotkohl
A tradition at our house.

Yams
Again you'll have to choose which ones to try.  We love both.

Candied Yams 
We've made it this way for years,

 but found this new recipe that is also delicious:

Yam Souffle'

Green Beans with Caramelized Onions and Almonds

Delicious rolls

Pecan Pie: 
Choose your version- we like both!

Dear Abby's Pecan Pie

Southern Pecan Pie

Key Lime Pie- 

This is a family favorite and always part of our Thanksgiving dinner.

Apple Pie

I think we go kind of "pie wild" on Thanksgiving.  We always include my husband's favorite, too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Green Beans with Caramelized Onions and Almonds

These beans are delicious on Thanksgiving or any time.  It's a Tyler Florence recipe, so you know it's going to be good.

Green Beans with Caramelized Onions and Almonds
3 lbs. green beans, trimmed
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup butter
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, sliced thin
2 teaspoons thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil the green beans in salted water.   Cook for about 10 minutes.  You can do this in a large skillet, then use the same skillet to finish the dish. Heat the pan and put the almonds in.  Toast, turning frequently for about 3-5 minutes until toasty and golden.  Remove the almonds and heat the pan again on medium heat.  Add the butter and olive oil.  Heat until melted, then add the onions.  Season with salt and pepper.  On medium heat, cook and stir frequently until the onions caramelize and turn golden.  It takes a long time- at least 30 minutes.  Add the thyme and cook another 5 minutes.  Add back the beans and almonds and combine all together.  Add more salt and pepper if needed.   Oh my, these are good!

Rotkohl

Thanksgiving dinner wouldn't be complete without Rotkohl.  Rotkohl is a delicious German dish- a sweet and sour cabbage.  It is a delicious side dish any time of year, but it's been a Thanksgiving tradition in our family for many years.  After my brother served a mission in Germany when I was a teenager, it replaced our previously traditional Sauerkraut on the Thanksgiving menu. . . and we've been eating it ever since.  This is a revised recipe from my sister-in-law, Cindy. (She is married to the brother that served in Germany.)  Every fall, they put on a big Oktoberfest meal that includes this Rotkohl.  She has really perfected it.

Rotkohl
1 head red cabbage
About 1/3 cup sugar
About 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4-1/2 cup finely diced crispy bacon
About 1 Tablespoon butter
1 apple, shredded fine OR a little apple juice added to the chicken stock
About 1/2 cup chicken stock

Chop the head of cabbage into very fine slices.  Throw away any of the big, woody white parts of the cabbage.  They will never become tender.  Cook the bacon until very crispy.  Drain well.
Put the chopped cabbage, shredded apple and bacon into the bacon pan (that has been drained of grease.)  Salt well.  Add the sugar and chicken stock.  Cook until the cabbage is very tender.  Add the vinegar a little at a time.  The cabbage will turn a bright purple.  Add the butter and stir until melted.  Taste and add more sugar, salt, and vinegar until it tastes just right.

Yam or Sweet Potato Souffle'

After making yams the same way for so many years (Candied Yams), do we dare try a new way?  Well, we did last year and loved it!  This Yam Souffle' is so delicious with the pecan topping.  I think this is how I'll be doing it again this year!

Yam Souffle'

4 medium Sweet Potatoes or Yams

1cup sugar

1 cup milk

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

1 teaspoon salt

Topping:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup pecans, chopped

1/2 cup flour

6 Tablespoons butter

Wash and wrap the yams in foil.  Place on a lined (sil pat or foil) baking sheet and bake in a 350 oven until the yams are done and fork tender.  How long it takes will vary by the size of the yam and your oven, but it will be 40 minutes - an hour.  When done and slightly cooled, remove the skin and put the yams in a large bowl.  Add the white sugar, milk, eggs, vanilla and salt.  Mash with a potato masher.  Mash and combine well, but it's okay if it isn't totally blended and smooth.  Spread them into a 13x9 pan or another casserole dish (I have a large round one I like to use.)

In a separate bowl, combine the brown sugar, pecans, flour and butter.  The easiest way to do this is with your hands, but you can use a pastry blender.  When blended sprinkle the topping over the yams.  Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes until golden brown.    

Candied Yams

This is our traditional Thanksgiving yam recipe.  We got it from Grandma Stratford.  Grandma Stratford is my sister's mother-in-law, so I'm not really even related, but we still called her Grandma Stratford.  She is a marvelous cook.  My parents would make this every year and bring it to our Thanksgiving feast.  When I eat it, I think of them.

Candied Yams

4-6 Yams or Sweet Potatoes

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

6 Tablespoons butter

2 Tablespoons water

Cook the yams still in their skins in boiling water on the stove or wrap them in foil and bake them in the oven.  Check often with a fork and take out each potato when it is fork tender. It will take any where from 1/2 hour-1 hour, or even longer, depending on the size.  Let  cool a bit. Peel the yams when they are cool enough to touch. Then slice the yams into a 9x13 pan or large casserole.  In a saucepan, over medium heat, stir together the butter, sugar and water.  Stir until the butter is melted and all is combined.  Continue cooking until the mixture comes to a full boil.  Boil for about a minute.  Pour over the yams, coating all.  Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. You can make them the day ahead and then just microwave them before serving on Thanksgiving day.  You can serve them in that pan, or transfer to a nice serving bowl.  Be sure you pour the candy mixture over all.

"These Mashed Potatoes Are SO Creamy"

"These mashed potatoes are so creamy."  Name that movie!  NOW I know what recipe Mary used to make those creamy mashed potatoes.  It MUST have been this one.  I will never make them any other way again.  This method really works to make them creamy and never gummy or dry.  I tried them first last Thanksgiving.  I got the recipe from  The Pioneer Woman.   I've been waiting for over a year to post this recipe so you could have it just before Thanksgiving.  I've made them dozens of times, varying the amount of fat added, but not varying the method.  Honestly, you can get by with lots less fat than originally called for.  I also vary what I put in: butter, cream cheese, cream, half and half, milk etc.  All are good.  The important thing is to get the potatoes dried out with the masher before you add back in the moisture and fat.  I LOVE that you can make these ahead, cover them, store them in the fridge and just heat them when ready to use.  This is especially wonderful for Thanksgiving.  

Mashed potatoes are one of my favorite foods.  To these I added a few threads of saffron.  Wow~

Yummy Mashed Potatoes
5 lbs. potatoes (this will make a large bowl of potatoes)
3/4 cup butter (you can get by with a lot less)
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/2-3/4 cup half and half or milk
Salt, Pepper, other seasonings of choice
Peel and cut the potatoes (as shown above, I don't always peel them, but just scrub them )
Cut into cubes.  In a very large pot, bring a lot of salted water to boil.  Add the potatoes and cook until the potatoes are well done and fork tender.
Here's the important part!!!Drain the potatoes through a colander.  Put them back into the pot and put the pot back on the stove.  Turn the burner to low.  Mash the potatoes with a potato masher while on the low heat.  Watch the steam escape!  Mash and mash until there's little or no steam escaping.  Now turn off the stove and add the half and half or cream. Several sources on the Internet suggested that you need to add the milk first so that the potato can absorb the moisture before adding the fat.  Keep mashing.  Then add the 3/4 cup butter and an 8-oz. cream cheese (or less of both or one or the other) and mash and mash until everything is  well blended and creamy.  Add seasoning of your choice.  The Pioneer Woman suggests seasoning salt.  At least put salt and pepper.  Blend well.
Put in a round casserole or baking dish.  Put some butter on the top.  If you're making them ahead, you can cover them and put them in the fridge at this point. A few hours before you need to serve them, take them out to warm  to room temperature, and then bake in a 350 oven until the potatoes are warmed through and the butter is melted.  Perfect mashed potatoes every time!!!

Candied Yams

This is my personal favorite part of Thanksgiving and an essential in the Hinton household for this holiday. The original recipe came from Grandpa and Grandma Gabe and Aunt Pam. I got it from my Mom's super helpful cookbook, "Kitchen Fun with Kay." My mouth is watering right now just thinking about these yams. A dessert disguised as a veggie . . . awesome.

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
(1/3 cup) -- 3/4 stick butter
2 T water
Boil about 3 minutes in a saucepan, until the sugars are fully dissolved. Be sure not to boil it too long or it will harden and create a crust over the yams. The ideal is to keep it saucy.

6 medium yams, steamed until soft. Slice in pan. Pour sauce over. Bake 350 for about 1/2 hour. So yummy!