Stove Top is usually the brand that comes to mind when you think about making an easy and traditional stuffing for Thanksgiving. The problem is that Stove Top is loaded with salt, high fructose corn syrup, MSG (bad!) and various other ingredients that I can’t even pronounce. Well, there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy stuffing that is FRESH, delicious and easy to make without adding all of the preservatives, additives and sodium most of the store-bought brands include.

Although I’m a huge fan of the weelicious Kids Sausage Apple Stuffing I regularly make at Thanksgiving, this weelicous spin on a “Stove Top” stuffing takes a bit less time to prepare, is economical to make and I find that kids (and adults!) love its simple taste and texture. Also, in the event if you are having a small Thanksgiving or don’t want to do a whole elaborate meal this year, I’ve been trying to showcase simpler Thanksgiving recipes this past week (check out Maple Roast Veggies, Simple Roast Turkey Breast and Pumpkin Butter from last week). This Super Simple Stuffing is a great way to go without having to sacrifice great flavor at your holiday dinner. Leave the Stove Top on the shelf!

Super Simple Stuffing (Serves 4)

3 Tbsp Butter
2 Celery Stalk, fine dice
1 Small Onion, fine dice
1 10 Oz Package Unseasoned Croutons (or 6 slices of sourdough bread cut into 1/2 inch cubes and toasted on a sheet tray for 15-20 minutes in a 400 degree oven or until totally dried out and golden).
1 1/2 Cups Chicken Stock (I use low sodium)
1 Tsp Dried Thyme
1/2 Tsp Dried Sage or Poultry Seasoning
1 Tsp Salt

1. In a large saucepan heat butter until melted.
2. Add the onions and celery and saute over medium heat for 6-8 minutes or until softened.
3. Add the chicken stock and bring mixture to a boil.
4. Turn off the heat, add the croutons and fluff with a fork gently (make sure not to over-stir the mixture or it will become mushy).
5. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes.
6. Serve.

Thanksgiving is next week and we’re already geared up for family, fun and some seriously good food! Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing holiday recipes that are perfect for a small family Thanksgiving meal (just in case
you aren’t having over every relative known to man!).

This roast veggies dish is a holiday favorite in my house and is great no matter if you are having twenty people over or just two. I first started making this simple dish for Thanksgiving years ago, but it’s so delicious and easy to make that I started making it all the time (most of the vegetables the dish calls for are available year-round). Roasting is one of the best techniques for getting the maximum amount of flavor out of vegetables. They become super tender, sweet on the inside and a bit caramelized on the outside.

Holidays or not, I usually double the recipe because they’re just as delicious (if not more so) the next day – -perfect for lunch or a quick, healthy snack. And, for anyone who has a child who is prone to say, “I hate vegetables,” just try making this dish and tell me if those words ever come out of their sweet little mouths again!

Maple Roast Veggies (Serves 6)

7 Carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
2 Red Bell Peppers, cut into large chunks
1 Delicata Squash, unpeeled, split lengthwise, seeds removed and cut into half moons (you could also use peeled butternut squash)
1 Yellow Onion, cut into wedges
2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
2 Tsp Oil
1 Tbsp Kosher or Sea Salt

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and toss to coat the vegetables (at this point you can place the vegetables in a large zipper bag and refrigerate overnight).
3. Pour the vegetables on to a foil lined sheet tray and roast for 50 minutes, stirring halfway through, or until tender and golden.
4. Serve.

After a TON of deliberation over all the INCREDIBLE healthy holiday recipes sent to weelicious, Anna Polack (Logan’s Mom) and her recipe for Beautiful Holiday Soup is the winner! Her recipe, which she notes can also be prepared vegan, is posted here and Anna & Logan will be the proud recipients of the LapTop Lunch Box. Anna’s recipe is super easy to make, tasty, healthy and perfect for the holidays or any winter occasion. The real bonus is anyone in the family 10 months or older can eat it and enjoy.

I’m printing Anna’s recipe, just as she sent it to weelicious.

Merry Christmas to everyone and thank you for all of your great recipes!!!!!

one bunch beets with tops
one 2-3 lb butternut squash
4 leeks, trimmed
olive oil
chicken or vegetable stock
goat chevre and/or yogurt

Cut the tops off the beets and save them, no need to peel yet, halve them if they’re bigger than a tennis ball
halve and seed the squash
split the leeks lengthwise and rinse out any sand
save a small piece to fry for garnish

coat everything with a little olive oil and a tiny bit of salt and bake on a cooking sheet at 350. We’re going for tender all the way through, but not browned.

after about 25 minutes take the leeks out, then the beets when they’re done, and finally the squash.
Plunge the beets into cold water to loosen the skins, then slip them off.

throw everything into the food processor, adding broth slowly until desired consistency

Trim the beet greens off the stalks, then make kind of a big chiffonade, fine slices.

Add olive oil or butter to a saute pan
Add bits of leek and cook until soft, then add greens and cook until very bright.

When I’m being fancy, I put the soup in the bowl, it’s a stunning garnet color.
Then I arrange the greens on top in a Xmas tree or wreath shape.
Then I thin down some goat cheese with a little goat yogurt until it’s the consistency of cake frosting, put it in a ziplock bag, make a tiny snip in the corner of the bag, and pipe the cheese onto the surface of the soup in a snow design, or as ornaments on the tree or wreath. I try to do a different design on each bowl.

I know this wouldn’t tuck all that easily into a bento box, but it’s festive, healthy, and easy.

*Allow to cool, store in appropriate container or ziploc bag, label and freeze up to 4 months. When ready, defrost in fridge for 24 hours or place in pot and bring to heat over low-medium heat.

At this time of year — from Thanksgiving through Christmas — I just can’t get enough of tangy cranberries and sweet oranges. The combination of these fruits is so traditionally festive to me and since I’ve watched Kenya down an entire cup of cranberry sauce in one sitting on more then one occasion, I knew he would love this bread. The other thing I love about this cranberry orange nut bread is that it is full of fruit and protein and has NO refined sugar, so you won’t feel guilty letting the little ones dig in as much as they like. I decided to make mini loaves so I could give them to friends as holiday gifts, but you could just as easily cook it in a single 9 x 5 inch pan and enjoy the entire loaf at home with your family!

Cranberry Nut Bread (1 9×5 inch loaf or 6 mini loaves)

2 1/2 Cups Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 Cup Agave or Honey
1/4 Cup Butter
1 Cup Orange Juice
1 Egg
1 Tsp Vanilla
1 Tsp Grated Orange zest
1 Cup Fresh Cranberries, chopped
3/4 Cup Chopped Walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
3. Cream the butter and agave and then add the orange juice, egg, vanilla and orange zest.
4. Pour the flour into the butter mixture to combine. Add the cranberries and walnut. Do not over mix.
5. Pour mixture into a 9×5 inch greased loaf pan or 6 greased individual mini loaves.
6. Bake 55-60 minutes for the 9×5 inch pan or 35 minutes for the smaller loaves.
7. Let rest for 5 minutes in the pan, remove and cool or a wire rack.
8. Serve.

OK, fine, so I made a 16 pound turkey last week and I still have tons of meat leftover. The sandwich thing is getting old in my house, so what can you do with all that extra bird that will excite your family?
A Brazilian friend of ours has made a similar dish to this for years and it’s SO delicious. I gave it a few weelicious tweaks, substituted turkey for chicken and presto, yummy Brazilian turkey polenta casserole.
This one dish meal is also perfect because is freezes beautifully, so you can make a small casserole for tonight and freeze another one for later. The carbohydrate (polenta), the vegetables and the protein (turkey) make this a well-rounded one-pot meal for dinner. And you deserve easy after days and days of cooking for Thanksgiving!
*If you can’t find quick-cook polenta, you can also make this recipe with fine cornmeal. Just note that the cooking time will increase to 30 minutes.

Brazilian Turkey Polenta (Makes 6-8 Servings)

1 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Red Bell Pepper, chopped
1/2 Onion, chopped
1 Garlic, chopped
1 Cup Okra, frozen or fresh
1 1/2 Cup Turkey, cooked and chopped
1 Tbsp Cilantro
1/4 Chicken Stock
4 Cups Water
1 Cup Quick-Cook Polenta (also known as fine cornmeal)
1 Tsp plus 1/4 Tsp Salt

1. Heat the butter and oil in a sauté pan over medium heat and cook the bell pepper and onion for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another 2 minutes or until vegetables are soft.
2. Add the okra, turkey, cilantro and chicken stock. Cook until all the ingredients are heated through.
3. Bring water and 1 teaspoon of the salt to a boil. Add the polenta in a slow stream and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook the polenta for 6-8 minutes or according to the package directions.
4. In a deep casserole dish, place a layer of polenta and smooth the top.
5. Place a layer of turkey mixture to cover polenta.
6. Make another layer of polenta and then top with the remaining turkey mixture.
7. Serve immediately or refrigerate and reheat in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until heated through.

Stuffing is one of those Thanksgiving foods that I’ve found you don’t have to twist a kid’s arm to eat. I mean come on, the base of it is bread!
This recipe is sweet, savory and truly delicious. There are tons of variations on the ingredients you can put in your stuffing. Cornbread, wheat or white bread, fruits, vegetables, herbs, the list goes on…But the mixture of ingredients in this apple sausage stuffing is truly geared for little ones taste buds (and secretly mine, too!).

Kids Apple Sausage Stuffing (Makes 8-10 Servings)

3/4 Pound Bread Cubes (I use 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 white bread cubes, but you can also buy other types of bread cubes that are already dried out and skip step 1).
3 Chicken Apple Sausage Links (or 1/2 pound ground sausage)
2 Tsp Oil
2 Tbsp Butter plus more for greasing
1 Apple, peeled and chopped (Gala, Fuji and Golden Delicious or any other sweet apple)
2 Celery Stalks, chopped
1/2 Onion, chopped
1 Tbsp Fresh Thyme, chopped
1/2 Tsp Salt
3 Eggs, beaten
1 1/2 Cups Chicken Stock

1. Toast bread cubes in a 300 degree oven for 8-10 minutes.
2. Turn the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
3. If using sausage links, remove casings.
4. Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a large saute pan over medium heat and cook sausage for 3-5 minutes or until cooked through. Remove to a plate.
5. Heat butter in the saute pan over medium heat and cook the apples, celery, onion, thyme and salt for 6-8 minutes until soft and tender.
6. Place the bread cubes in a bowl with the sausage, vegetables, eggs and chicken stock. Combine thoroughly.
7. Grease a 11 x 7 baking dish. Place the stuffing mixture in the dish.
8. Bake for 40 minutes.
9. Serve.

Some people look forward to Thanksgiving and to eat turkey for the stuffing or the gravy. Not me. I’m a total cranberry sauce girl. Since we’ve been on a roll roasting turkeys every week this month testing holiday recipes, Kenyas has acquired a real taste for it, too. He’s just like his mommy — he wants some turkey and a pound of the sauce to go with it.

That’s part of the reason I started making this sauce with agave nectar. Most cranberry sauces call for a cup of sugar for each bag of cranberries. It makes my teeth feel like they are going to rot just thinking about it. Granted, cranberries are uber sour, so they do need something to sweeten them up and agave does the trick. I also love adding oranges and orange juice to add not only citrus flavor, but also their natural sugars.

Cranberries are packed with the antioxidant vitamin C, which helps protects kids against infection, and antibacterial substances that can help prevent digestive and urinary infections.
We sat down for lunch last week and I’m not kidding when I tell you that Kenya kept pouring the sauce on his plate and eating spoon after spoonful. He loved it and hopefully so will your family this Thanksgiving.

Cranberr-Wee-Sauce (Makes 2 1/2 Cups)

1 Bag of Cranberries, washed and bruised cranberries discarded
2/3 Cup Orange Juice and or the orange pulp, removing the seeds and sections between the pulp
1/3 Cup Agave
1 Cinnamon Stick

1. Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. When they reach a boil, turn the heat to a simmer and cook for
10-15 minutes or until the berries start to pop.
3. Turn off heat and cool. Remove the cinnamon stick.
4. Serve warm or chilled.

*Allow to cool, place in appropriate container or ziploc bag, label and freeze.

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I tested this recipe out on several little ginuea pigs. I made these for a recent “kid’s dinner party” that my friends and I do every week and I can’t even tell you how hard I laughed when I pulled these sweet potatoes out of the oven and three of the kids simultaneously yelled “cupcakes”! No matter what we said they decided the orange and white “cupcakes” were a holiday treat and scarfed them down. The only “oops” moment came when one the little girls looked at me with a huge hunk of orange peel in her mouth and said, “I don’t like the wrapper”. Whoops!

These heavenly treats only take minutes to prepare, and they made quite a visual and edible impact on the kids and adults alike. I’m a big fan of cooking this dish with evaporated skim milk because it makes the potatoes really fluffy without the added fat of heavy cream. I usually don’t like to use foods that have a ton of sugar, but just a few mini marshmallows really take this recipe to the next level for kids and makes it fun for them. After all, it’s the “icing”! They’re not essential to the recipe, so you can easily leave them out.

This recipe is also a time saver when you’re cooking Thanksgiving dinner, because the orange pulp that you scoop out goes right into the weelicious cranberry sauce recipe! A green vegetable, some succulent turkey and you have a perfect meal for the entire family with a few leftovers for the next day.

Sweet Potatoes in Orange Cups (Serves 6)

2 Lbs. Sweet Potatoes (you want to use potatoes that are really orange, also known as yams)
2 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
1/2 Cup Evaporated Skimmed Milk (you can substitute it with regular milk)
1/2 Tsp Kosher or Sea Salt
3 Navel Oranges
Mini Marshmallows

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Poke the yams several times with a fork or knife to pierce the skin.
2. Place on foil or a sheet tray in the oven and bake for 1 hour.
3. Let yams cool for several minutes, cut in half and scoop out the fluffy insides (I love eating the high fiber skin as a snack).
4. Mash the yams with butter, maple syrup, evaporated milk and salt until creamy and fluffy.
5. Cut the oranges in half and slice a very thin disk from the bottom so they rest flat. The skins are actually going to be the “bowls”.
6. With a pairing knife cut around the inside rim of the orange removing the orange sections and pulp. Place any of the orange juice and pulp in a bowl and discard the white membranes and seeds. Save the juice and pulp for cranberry sauce recipe or just enjoy as a snack.
7. Fill each orange cup with 1/4 cup of puree and top with several mini marshmallows (you can cover and refrigerate these overnight).
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
9. Place on a sheet tray and bake for 20-25 minutes.
10. Serve.

If you’ve never had a brined turkey, trust me, you are missing out. And once you try it, you’ll never go back. This recipe is the piece de la resistance of our Thanksgivings. I have to say, if I was going to have a last meal, this would be it. When I make a turkey, even if I’m only serving 4 people, I always make one to serve 12. Turkey is the perfect leftover meat because you can keep it in the fridge and turn it into so many other dishes like sandwiches, turkey hash, turkey pot pies and so on. In our house you never have to worry about it going bad because it’s all gone before that can even happen. It feeds us all for a week: lunch, dinner….sometimes even breakfast!
I’ve been brining turkey for several years and I have to say it’s THE trick to making a perfect turkey. It makes turkey extra juicy and imparts the perfect flavor. I like to use cloves and bay leaves as aromatics in the brine, but you could also toss in some onion, cinnamon stick, apple, celery, or basically any flavors you love. I brought a turkey to our regular “kids dinner party” last night and everyone devoured it. At the same time, though, most of the mother’s were saying “I couldn’t EVER roast a turkey”. Don’t be intimidated, it’s really easy.
After making the brine and placing it in a large pot with the turkey, I cover it and leave it outside overnight. Yep, outside and overnight. First of all, I don’t know anyone with a refrigerator large enough to hold a gigantic pot and second, it’s usually 55 degrees or lower in
most of the U.S. this time of year, so it’s the perfect temperature to brine in — certainly as good as your fridge, if not better. Besides the cooking time, this recipes is reasonably
economical, super easy and everyone in the family will love it! Even the tiniest members.

The Best Brined Turkey (Makes 8-10 Servings)

Water
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Salt (preferably kosher)
1 10-12 Pound Turkey, defrosted if frozen
4 Cloves
4 Bay Leaves
1 Tbsp Vegetable or Canola Oil

1. Place the sugar and salt in 4 cups of hot water. Stir until the sugar and salt to dissolve.
2. Place the brine in a large stock pot with a gallon of cold water, cloves and bay leaves and a handful of ice to make sure the water is cold. Stir to combine.
3. Wash the turkey inside and out and place breast side down in the stockpot with brine (you want the water to just cover the turkey).
4. Refrigerate 18-24 hours (or set it in a cool safe place outside as long as it’s below 55 degrees outside).
5. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
6. Take the turkey out of the brine and rinse inside and out with cold water, discarding brine.
7. Place the turkey on a roasting rack inside a wide low pan and
blot the turkey with a paper towel.
8. Tuck back the wings and rub the skin of the turkey with the oil.
9. Roast on the lowest rack of the oven for 30 minutes and then place a piece of foil just over the breast of the turkey to cover (the breast cooks faster then the legs and wings so this process helps it to cook more evenly).
10. Pour 1 cup of water in the pan, reduce temperature to 350 degrees and continue to roast 1 hour.
11. Remove the foil from the breast and cook another 15-30 minutes. Insert a meat thermometer into the deepest part of the thigh (avoiding the bone) to reach a temperature of 160-165 degrees. The turkey will actually continue to cook a little even after you take it out of the oven (the total cooking time in the oven will be 1 hour 45 minutes-2 hours total).
12. Let the turkey rest for 20-30 minutes (this is an essential step to allow the juices to redistribute and settle).
13. Slice and serve.
14. So good!