And here’s the kind of stuff I like to save time for. The things that give me the vain feel-goods that I so desperately need sometimes. You know, ‘oh you are so creative!’…”how do you find the time?”..and my all time favorite…’you rock mom!”

Sweet Pudding Pumpkin Dip

1 – 15 oz can of pumpkin
1- 5 oz box of instant vanilla pudding
1-16 oz container of cool whip
1 – small pumpkin
1/2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tbsp cinnamon

Mix it all together and chill for several hours.

Put the dip in the pumpkin and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Soak up the adoration from your friends and family for being so creative.

Continuing on with my easy stress free Thanksgiving this year (please keep your yeah right’s to yourself…if I don’t lie to myself before the holidays then I’ll never make it through) here is my KISS Cranberry recipe. I know it’s really only one step above plopping the jellified-can-shaped mound on the table..but hey…I’ve got kids….and one has strep throat. I’m doing my best here people.

Seriously…I try to keep the basics easy so I can have time for the fun stuff…see above post!

Easy Cranberry Sauce Recipe
1 cup white sugar
1 cup orange juice
1 12 oz package fresh cranberries

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the orange juice. Stir in the cranberries, and cook until they start to pop (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat, and transfer to a bowl. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

I cannot freakin’ believe it’s Thanksgiving already. I have mixed feelings about this. I love this time of year and all the stress and hassle that goes with it….because there is still part of me that’s not quite dead inside yet. But I hate this time of year because of all the stress and hassle involved.

My cure to the S&H (stress and hassle) is to KISS. Keep is simple stupid. With things like tried and true recipe. Blam!

Classic Thanksgiving Green Bean Casserole

2 (10.75 ounce) cream of mushroom soup
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
8 cups cooked cut green beans
2 2/3 cups French Fried Onions

Stir soup, milk, soy sauce, pepper, beans and 1 1/3 cups onions in 3-qt. casserole
Bake at 350 degrees F. for 25 min. or until hot. Stir
Top with remaining onions. Bake for 5 min. more

This recipe is so awesome that I nearly got my 14 month old and the hubs to eat a few of them. I must note that this is the closest anything green has been to my husbands mouth since the last time he ate a green peanut M&M.

These look beautiful out of the oven, they change the texture and flavor of a hated vegetable and they turned something I love already into something out of this world. Seriously…if you could compare a vegetable to crack ..this is probably as close as you could get.

Crispy Parmesan Asparagus Sticks

1 bunch of asparagus

2 egg whites

1/4 cup flour

1 cup seasoned panko breadcrumbs

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lay a wire rack on a baking sheet and coat with non-stick spray.

Snap off the tough ends of each asparagus spear. On two separate plates, add the eggs whites (lightly beaten) and the panko + flour + cheese. Season the panko mixture with salt and pepper if desires. Coat each asparagus spear in egg whites, then lay in the panko mixture and thoroughly cover. If the panko won’t stick, dip back in the egg whites and roll in panko once again. Lay each spear on the wire rack.

Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy.

HowSweetItIs.com

I might have mentioned before that we have taco night quite often at my house. It’s just one of those things like spaghetti that I always seem to have the ingredients for and the boy will always eat a cheese quesadilla, so it’s pretty much a staple.

Since I don’t eat red meat (and very little chicken/turkey/fish) I usually have a taco salad made with fat free refried beans. But last night I switched the script up a bit.

I used to eat alot of Morningstar Farms ground beef style veggie crumbles when I was in full blown vegetarian stage…and lately since getting sick at Disney off some poorly cooked chicken I am totally remembering why I was veggie/vegan for so long.

Anyhoodles…I found this ginormous bag of veggie crumbles at BJ’s and I’ve been cooking with them on a daily basis. Here is my latest concoction.

Low Calorie Vegetarian Quesadilla Recipe

2/3 cup Morningstar Farms Veggie Crumble

1 triangle Laughing Cow Cheese

1 Flour Tortilla

Heat crumbles in microwave for about 1.5 minutes…add laughing cow cheese and mix well.

Place mixture in tortilla and fold over like a taco…

Spray omlette pan with cooking spray and gently place tortilla in pan once it’s hot.

Let each side get toast and crunchy.

Remove and CHOMP!

Delicious alternative to a fatty dish ..coming in at around 230 calories!!!

I added a 90 calorie serving on edamame for a total of 310 calories and I was full and happy. But still on my way to losing those last few.