Gift Wrapped Door

After watching the parade and football, Thanksgiving evening is time to decorate for Christmas 🙂 I always try to find the cheapest way to decorate for the holidays without looking cheap.

What you will need:

• Tape Measure
• Marker/Pen
• Scissors
• Wrapping Paper
• Scotch Magic Tape
• 2 Sided Duck Brand Tape (for ribbon and bow)
• Ribbon
• Bow

Directions:

1. Decide where you want your ribbon and bow to be when completed. (left, right, or centered and high, low or in the middle) I used my door handle to decide how high and to make it easy to work around.

2. My door is not flat and I have a mail slot to work around so I broke the door into 4 areas making it easier to handle and secure the wrapping paper.

3. I started with my biggest section which was the top right of the door. I worked clock wise to complete sections. If you have a deadbolt or peephole make sure you trim around these before securing 🙂

4. Use 2 sided tape along seams then cut and attached the ribbon and bow to finish.

Two-Layer Pumpkin Pie

Don’t get me wrong, I love a traditional pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving but sometimes you lack the energy or time it requires to make a homemade from scratch pie. This no bake two-layer pumpkin pie recipe still gives you that great pumpkin pie taste without all the work 🙂

Ingredients:

• 5 ounces Neufchatel cheese, softened
• 1 cup and 1 tablespoon milk, divided
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 cups thawed cool whip
• 6 ounce ready-to-use graham cracker pie crust
• 15 ounce can of pumpkin
• 2 packages of vanilla instant pudding mix (1 ounce)
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ginger
• dash of ground cloves, nutmeg and pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

1. Beat Neufchatel, 1 Tbsp. milk and sugar in a medium bowl with whisk until blended.
2. Stir in cool whip.
3. Spread mixture onto bottom of crust.
4. Beat pumpkin, pudding mix, spices and remaining milk with whisk for 2 min. (Mixture will be thick.)
5. Spread over cool whip layer.
6. Refrigerate 4-5 hours before enjoying.

Recipe adapted from http://www.kraftrecipes.com

Cranberry Sauce

This is a very simple and quick recipe for cranberry sauce. While not my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner it is a tradition that I enjoy 🙂

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 3/4-1 cup sugar
• 4 cups (12 oz package) fresh cranberries

Directions:

1. Rinse cranberries making sure to pick out any damaged or bruised ones at this time.

2. Bring orange juice, water and sugar to boil. Stir until sugar is dissolved.

3. Add cranberries to pan and bring back to boil.

4. Lower heat and simmer 10-12 minutes stirring occasionally until most of the cranberries have popped open.

5. Remove pan from heat and allow sauce to cool completely at room temperature.

6. Transfer to bowl and refrigerate overnight.

7. Enjoy 🙂

5 Cup Salad

5 cup salad has always been one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving dinner.

Ingredients:

• 8 ounce package cream cheese (softened)
• 1 cup mandarin oranges
• 1 cup crushed pineapple (I use 1/2 cup)
• 1 cup coconut flakes (I use 1/2 cup)
• 1 cup marshmallows (I use 1.5 cups)

Directions:

1. Stir all 5 ingredients in medium bowl until well mixed.
2. Refrigerate overnight, stir before serving.

Italian Dressing Chicken

I found this easy and yummy Italian Dressing Caramelized Chicken recipe at http://www.haiyenskitchen.wordpress.com 

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
• .7 ounce dried italian dressing mix
• 2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
• large ziplock bag
• aluminum foil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a 9×13 baking dish with foil.
3. Mix brown sugar and italian dressing in large ziplock bag.
4. Add chicken to mix and shake until well coated.
5. Place chicken into baking dish and top with extra mix.
6. Bake 15-20 minutes on each side.