Make-Ahead Thanksgiving- Dishes That Freeze Well

You can save time in the kitchen this Thanksgiving by making some of your dishes ahead. And, if you have the room for them, even make them well in advance and freeze them.

These dishes freeze well, and you won't lose any texture or flavor:

• Dressing/Stuffing
• Sweet potatoes if they are mashed or in casserole form
• Mashed potatoes if you use plenty of cream and butter
• Corn casseroles
• Squash casseroles
• Yeast breads and rolls
• Gravy 
• Cookies
• Fruit pies (not pumpkin)- assemble, but do not bake prior to freezing. Pies may be baked from frozen state (just add a bit of extra time.)

You may be tempted to freeze the kind of pies that you can buy in the supermarket frozen- but remember, those factory-made pies have added stabilizers to make them freeze-able. That's something the home-cook cannot replicate. 

To use, simply defrost in the refrigerator (except cookies and breads!) and warm in the oven. 

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The Easiest Mock Butterbeer Recipe Ever

We still love the Harry Potter franchise over here at the Disheveled household. And every Halloween we try new recipes of the delicious and magical foods found in the books and movies. This year, I wanted to develop a simple butterbeer, that can be doubled or tripled as needed, tasted yummy, and didn't require me going to the city to get butterscotch sauce. (Which was in the former easiest recipe I had found.) I worked out one that passed the picky Potterhead taste test, (x3), and to boot- if you use diet soda, can be carb-free!

Here it is...
so easy...

Mix together:

• 2 12oz cans of cream soda (or diet cream soda)
• 1/4 tsp imitation butter flavoring (we use Watkin's)
• 2 drops of caramel flavoring
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of heavy cream

Just mix it. Pour it. Drink it.
Makes about 4 servings. Two if they're huge.

Feel free to share with a link! Here's a Pinterest image :)

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Homemade Fake Blood For Halloween

In a pinch, or if you don't want to spend money on a tiny tube of the stuff, fake blood can easily be made at home with every day ingredients. This recipe can be used safely on the face, on cloth (I've always used clothes I was going to throw away for bloody costumes...) or anywhere you can wash up.



You will need:

• 1 cup plain/light corn syrup
• red food coloring
• blue food coloring
• and if wanted for an old/not fresh blood look, green food coloring
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch

In a bowl, or a jar (I use a jar so I can just toss on a lid and store), put your corn syrup and 40-50 drops of red food coloring. If using gel coloring, or wanting to adjust your color feel free to experiment.

 This step will give you a cherry-red color, not at all how blood looks.
This is where the blue comes in. Add a SINGLE drop of blue food coloring, and mix thoroughly.

Much better. Looks VERY dark in the jar, but if you get some out you will see it is still red, and not as purple as it seems.

But it looks a little too see-through, so that is where the corn starch comes in. Add one tablespoon and mix like crazy. Now you have cheap, slowly dripping, chemical-less fake blood.

Feel free to experiment, not everyone's drop are the same and you may want yours to have a different look. Also, if you want a more less fresh, old blood look, (getting brown...), simply add 3-5 drops of green food coloring.

Feel free to pin on Pinterest, and share freely on Facebook, etc.

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Shanah Tovah! Moist Honey Apple Cake

Our house LOVES this cake, not just for holidays, but pretty much all autumn and winter long. Not overly sweet, dry or spiced, this cake is a perfectly rounded honey cake with just enough apple-goodness.

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and spray a NON STICK bundt pan with a release. I use an olive oil one with great results. (A non stick is very important because of all the honey in the batter.)

You will need:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup of honey
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup oil (a light oil)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 3 cups of flour (I use 2 AP, and one wheat- very delicious!)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• pinch of ground ginger
• 4-6 apples of choice, pealed and grated. (I zip them through the grater on my food processor. It makes them uniform, and doesn't give them time to brown.) You can use any apples you like, this isn't a pie where you need firm pieces, so if they cook down into the batter it doesn't hurt it.

and for the glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar 
• 1 tablespoon, or slightly less,  almond milk or your choice of dairy substitute. (or milk if you're not making it kosher!)
• splash of vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl beat your eggs until they are creamy-yellow and a bit foamy. Beat in your honey until fully incorporated. Then you can easily beat in your brown sugar, oil, and vanilla extract. 

Over the top of the mixture, SIFT the remaining DRY ingredients. Stir until mixed. Fold in your apples. Depending on the size of your apples, you will have about 4-5 cups of gratings. 

Spread the thick batter into your prepared bundt pan. Bake for around 70 minutes before checking. A skewer into the middle of the ring will come out clean, and the sides of the cake should shrink slightly away from the edges of the pan. It may take up to 90 minutes, this is a very moist cake.

Let cook in the pan for about 10 minutes to help with releasing without breakage. Then turn over onto a plate, platter or rack to continue to cool thoroughly. It make take a couple hours because of the density.

To make the glaze, mix your splash of vanilla and about 1/2 of a tablespoon of your milk/substitute. Incorporate as  much as you can before adding more liquid splash-by-splash until the right consistency. You'll want it pretty thick, about like honey. Drizzle onto the cake. You can just use a fork, or pipe it on with a bag. Let dry before cutting.

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Easy and Cheesy Quinoa Bites

These are a tasty, and reasonably healthy, treat we whip up when we want a warm savory snack. I make a large batch of quinoa in the beginning of the week for lunches, and often we have it as a side dish- so I just grab some from the fridge (it makes great leftovers!) and pop these together.

Preheat your oven to 400, and spray a mini muffin pan with non-stick pray, or brush with the tiniest of olive oil.

In a bowl, mix together

• 2 cups cooked and cooled quinoa (mine is often mixed white & red, yum!)
• 1/4-3/4 cup shredded cheese. Any kind or mixed kinds. If it is strongly flavored, you may wish to use less. 
• 1 beaten egg
• a pinch of salt
• pepper or other seasonings to taste. 

Use a cookie scoop, or spoons to divide the mixture evenly among the muffin cups. Don't pack tightly. 

Bake 12-18 minutes, or until golden and the edges just start to crisp. 

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Whole Wheat Calzones

Delicious and gooey, while being both chewy and a bit crispy, what isn't to love about calzones. You can fill 'em all the same, or let each family member fill theirs with their favorite items. This recipe makes 4-6 calzones, depending on size.

In a mixing bowl combine 1 C or warm water, 1/2 tsp white sugar and 1 packet (or 2 1/4 tsp) yeast. You can use regular or quick-rise. (Quick-rise if you're HUNGRY ;-) ) Let sit for 5-15 minutes. (5 for quick rise, 10-15 for regular yeast.) It will get frothy.

Add in 1 tsp kosher salt, and 2 1/2 C wheat flour. (If you use this recipe with white flour, use 3 C, as the wheat soaks up more moisture.) Mix until smooth, then knead for 7-10 minutes until more elastic. Lightly oil a bowl with olive oil, and let the dough ball rise in it until doubled in size. (Time will depend on your yeast.)

Divide your dough into 4-6 pieces, and roll into balls. Let these rest for 15 mins will you get your fillings together. Fillings can include, (but get creative!) pizza sauce, cheese, pepperoni, sausage, peppers, onions, etc.

Preheat your oven to 500. Roll each ball thinly with a rolling pin, fill carefully on one side of the dough circle. Fold over the empty side of the dough circle, and crimp shut with your fingers or a fork. Poke the tops of each calzone with a fork once to let out some steam. Place all your calzones on a baking sheet (or 2), and brush with an egg-wash. (1 egg and 1T milk or water.) Bake until golden. (Time will depend on size, and your oven.)

I couldn't get super great pictures, the sun had already gone down and my kitchen lights are horrendous for pictures. But gooey cheese and crisp-chewy crust, YUM!

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Great Deal on Leapfrog Videos

Right now Wal*mart.com has a printable coupon for $2.00 off two select Leapfrog videos.

We just love Leapfrog over here, for school and for fun. The coupon is valid for "Adventures in Shapeville Park" and "The Magnificent Museum of Opposite Words". The former is on sale for $12.73, but "The Magnificent Museum of Opposite Words" is currently on sale for only $9.98, a good price, but with the $2.00 off- $7.98 is a great price.

(I don't get anything for sharing the link- I just thought it was too great a deal to pass up sharing!)

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Are You Going to IMATS?

I know I still have some readers from when my make-up blogging was done here, plus some new readers who might love to hear this...
BFTECosmetics (one of my favorites, if you can't tell by my EOTDs!) is FINALLY going to IMATS!

So, if you're there {I, sadly, will not be =-( } swing by booth #805. If you're one of the first 500 customers you'll get a great special gift. And if you're not, you'll still leave HAPPY!


Quick disclosure...yes, she did ask for bloggers to post, with a chance of winning a GC- but if you look back you'll see I've posted pretty much all her sales and new for years, and would very likely post this as well! ;-) (Holy run-on sentence!)

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