"Thanksgiving" Recipes

Here are some of the things I made for our early Thanksgiving dinner :)

Crockpot Sweet Potatoes With Apples
5 medium sweet potatoes, sliced
3 Granny Smith apples, cored & cut into slices (you can peel if you want)
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons butter, melted (I used canola & coconut oil)
1/4 cup pecan pieces (optional)

Wash & slice sweet potatoes. Place in bottom of crockpot. Top with apple wedges. Mix nutmeg & cinnamon, maple syrup & melted butter in a bowl, and pour over the apples & potatoes. Cover & cook on low about 6 hours or until potatoes are tender. Sprinkle w/pecans the last 30 minutes (I left these out).

Crockpot Stuffing Recipe (from the Crockpot Lady)
1 loaf of bread, lightly toasted in the oven (I used homemade gluten-free bread)
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup tart apple, peeled and diced
1/4 cup butter, melted (I used canola oil)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth (and maybe 1/4 cup later if needed)
1 T ground sage
1 tsp ground marjoram
1/2 tsp savory (I didn't have this)
1/2 tsp thyme
(if you have poultry seasoning in the house, use 1 tablespoon and omit these spices.)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

If you only have a 4 quart, toss everything well in a very large mixing bowl, then put into your crockpot.

Toast the bread slices in the oven at 300 degrees. This took 30 minutes before it was all toasty. While the bread is toasting, chop up the onion, parsley, celery, and apple. Add to crockpot. Add the seasoning, and add oil or butter. Stir well.

When the bread is done, cut into 1/2 inch size-or-so cubes. Add to the crockpot. oss very well with the butter, chopped vegetables, and spices. When the bread is coated nicely, pour in 1 1/2 cups of broth (I actually used 2+ cups).

Cover and cook on high for 2 hours. When finished, the bread will have browned a bit on the top and around the edges, and it will be hot throughout. It can stay on warm for probably another 2 hours before serving, if needed. Stir.

Chocolate Crinkles
1/2 c vegetable oil (I used coconut oil)
4 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
2 c sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 c rice flour mix (I also used a little garbanzo bean flour)
1/2 t xanthan gum
1/4 t salt
1 t baking powder
confectioners sugar

Mix oil, chocolate, and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly between each. Add vanilla. Measure flour by "dip-level-pour" method. Stir into chocolate mix along with salt, xanthan gum, and baking powder. Chill several hours or overnight. Heat oven to 350. Form dough into balls (it will be stiff) and roll in confectioners sugar to coat. Place about 2" apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake about 10-14 minutes.

I made my own confectioner sugar because traditional confectioner sugar has corn in it. You use a ratio of 1 cup white sugar to 1 tablespoon starch (I used potato starch). You put the sugar in a blender or coffee grinder and pulvarize it. It's not quite as fine as the store-bought kind, but it works well.

These cookies are awesome with or without coconut oil, but using high quality coconut oil adds just a touch of coconut flavor.