First of all, I want to say HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I hope you are reminded of how important family is today and continue to remember how thankful you are after Thanksgiving. Even though the focus of Thanksgiving shouldn’t be on the food, I’d like to share some Thanksgiving recipes from MomsWhoThink.com for those who still need some recipe ideas!

Sweet Potato Pie

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1 1/2 cups cooked mashed sweet potatoes
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ginger
• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Beat until blended then add egg yolks and beat.

3. Stir in sweet potatoes, vanilla, milk, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger.

4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites. When foamy, slowly add 1/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff. Fold into the sweet potato mixture.

5. Place in pie crust, bake about 40 minutes until firm. Serve with whipped cream.

If you know me in the “real world” then you might know I LOVE the crockpoct.  There are so many easy recipes that you can be converted to crock pot use. Obviously being a Busy Mom, I like throwing the ingredients in the pot and dinner’s ready in a few hours. No mess, no fuss. For your holiday meals you can even create appetizers in the crock pot. Moms Who Think have a great selection of recipes for all types of occasions.

CROCK POT ARTICHOKE & CHEESE DIP

• 1 lb. shredded Mozzarella
• 1 c. grated Parmesan
• 1 c. (8 oz. jar) mayonnaise
• 1 c. (8 1/2 oz.) artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• Minced onions

Directions:

1. Mix ingredients together.

2. Cook in in lightly buttered 3 1/2 quart Crock Pot on high for about 1 hour.

3. Serve with broken up French bread or wheat crackers

 CROCK POT HOT DOG HORS D’OEUVRES

Ingredients:

• 2 (1 lb.) pkgs all beef hot dogs, sliced in half
• 1 lb. bacon, sliced in half
• Brown sugar

Directions:

1. Wrap each hot dog half with bacon strip. Fasten with toothpick.

2. Layer in slow cooker/Crock Pot, sprinkling each layer with a thin layer of brown sugar. Repeat layers until hot dogs run out.

3. Cook on low for 2-3 hours, stirring gently with wooden spoon every 30 minutes

I also like MomsWhoThink’s awesome ideas to create more family time during Thanksgiving and a little less focus on the food. Some Thanksgiving family activities are: (You can find more information about all of these activities on Moms Who Think)

• Take a walk
• Make butter
• Cooking class
• Visit a farm
• Create a centerpiece for the table

 Happy Thanksgiving!