Thanksgiving over stuffing waffles!

What!! Thanksgiving in January? Yes, we had Thanksgiving dinner all over again last night, but with a minor stuffing twist that turned out to be delicious and pretty creative.

This really isn't a recipe per say and there wasn't anything magical or back breaking about it either. I didn't have to make a full turkey, a ham or stuffing to get the same effect, although of course you could, but I happened to have all the pre-made items in my pantry/refrigerator to make this dinner feel like the a real Thanksgiving feast. Easy! Just like it should be!

I also happen to get this idea from Guy Fieri's Triple D show (Diners, Drive-ins and Dives), from one of the restaurants he visited and I couldn't wait to try it myself.  This restaurant in Syracuse, New York calls this "Jive turkey on a waffle." The gist of it is that once all the main turkey dinner ingredients are made they are all piled on top of a waffle made out of stuffing!

Yes, you heard correctly. A Stuffing waffle!! What a concept!

So here is what I did:

First, I began by warming up my waffle iron on the side.
In the meantime, I put the carving board turkey in the oven to brown for 10-15 minutes, warmed up the mashed potatoes and gravy, and then made the stove top as directed on the box.


Once I had the Stove Top cooked I spooned the stuffing onto the waffle iron, shut it and basically let it cook until ready like I would a regular waffle.









See It comes out all nicely browned and crispy!! 

You can make upto 2 waffles with 1 box of Stove Top which was just enough for us since the boys don't like stuffing, and I would probably do 1/2 a waffle per serving anyway.

Next I placed the turkey slices on top,

then I spooned the mashed 'taters next to that.

Then I poured the gravy over the whole thing...

Voila!

Winner, Winner...a Thanksgiving waffle Dinner!!

I also added lightly grilled deli ham slices since the turkey slices were pretty thin, some corn, and

 of course you can add cranberries or any another favorite Thanksgiving fixin' you'd like. 

But one bite of it all together and O.M.G!!!

I honestly can't say enough just how delicious it was.

*****

Here's an added bonus for all my Weight Watcher friends- Points Plus Values!
I actually went ahead and calculated the points for this dinner because I had all the information available for me to calculate it pretty easily:

Here's the breakdown:

Turkey (2oz- about 3 slices)                 2 points
95 % fat free Deli Ham Slice (1 oz.) - 1 point per slice ( I had 1 slice)
Stove top (1/2 cup or 1/2 waffle)      - 4 points
Costco Mashed Potatoes (1/2 cup)    - 5 points             (you can always make a lighter version)
Canned or gravy in a jar (1/4 cup)     - 1 point
Canned Corn (1/4 cup)                         - 1 point

Total points                                         14 points

Obviously you can adjust it to make them lower. You can have 1/4 of  the stuffing waffle and 1/4 cup of potatoes to adjust the points, and still have a very filling turkey dinner.  I also know its sounds kind of high but If you budget your points correctly throughout the day, these 14 points are totally worth every mouthful!

Jerry and I love watching Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-in's and Dives (aka- Triple D), and some of his kitchen shows. We think he's pretty funny, and his shows are a lot of fun, but most of all we love it because we (or 'I' really) have gotten a few of our family's favorite meal recipes just from watching these shows and trying them out for ourselves. So I thought it be fun to share it with you guys.

Its always nice to get creative with our food presentation for the whole family to enjoy!

Hope you'll like the idea enough to give a shot yourself in the near future. You can't go wrong!

From my corner to yours...Happy Thanksgiving on any night you'd like!!

Crock Pot Cooking- BBQ Pulled Pork

Its raining today and its perfect weather for crock pot cooking! Don't you think?

I discovered the beauty of using a crock pot about 2 years ago and I can honestly say it is something I can't live without anymore. Its just too easy and convenient not to use, and to be able to take dinner off  my to do list first thing in the morning is such a blessing on busy days! There is nothing complicated or mysterious about using a crock pot, it is just a matter of having your raw ingredients and a few hours on your side and your good to go.

You just set it and forget it!  Oops, I think that's a different machine, right?  ;)

Anyway, but its true! I'm sure many of you have one and enjoy them yourselves, but since winter started I have been using mine at least once a week for different recipes, and I just thought it was the perfect day to share one of our family's favorites that I made last week during those nice cold days we just had. It was the perfect comfort food and maybe you all would like to try it too.

I've tried a few different recipes but my favorite so far has been this one which I actually cut out of a coupon insert. (See those coupon inserts do more than just save you money!)

Note: The recipe gives specific brand names for some of the ingredients but I will keep it generic because I'm sure we all have our favorite cooking brands and they all work just fine.

Ingredients
2/3 cup of Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup of Ketchup
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 med. white onion, chopped
2 tbsp. yellow mustard
2 tbsp. white vinegar
Salt and pepper
4-6 thick bread rolls (Any kind) 
Your favorite BBQ sauce to top off your sandwich to taste
3 1/2 1b. boneless pork shoulder, trimmed and cut into 4 pieces
(I don't usually cut mine into pieces until a few hours into cooking- but its all preference)


One thing that I discovered in using and taking care of my crock pot are these wonderful slow cooker liners. They are heat resistant but they allow you to cook your food as normal but without the messy clean up after. You just pull the bag out and your crock pot should be dry or at least minimally dirty so you don't have to soak or scrub it too much. I highly recommend them and Target usually has them priced really well.

Directions:

First, slice openings in the pork shoulder with a knife to allow for flavors to set in. 

Salt and pepper to liking. Mix all ingredients (except bbq sauce)

 and pour over pork to make sure it covers it completely. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

4-6 hours later, I take two forks and shred the pork within the pot, 

and mix the shredded pork with the juices to further mix and set in flavors.

 Check taste and add salt and pepper (or even some seasoned salt) as you see fit.

Depending on the tenderness of the pork I will continue to check and reshred as needed.

Serving suggestion: I like buying those nice freshly baked 6" rolls from Vallarta (aka- bolillos, some bakeries have a whole wheat option too) which you can then, lightly toast in the oven or serve soft, cut down the middle and add a hearty serving of the pulled pork with its juices for flavor. I add the BBQ sauce at the end as a topping because 2 of my boys are not crazy about it and I let the others add as much as they like.

Add some baked fries or these great baked potato wedges from Trader Joes and you've got yourself a winning dinner!!

Its super tasty and very filling and I fed my family of 5 with this recipe. The best part being that I still had enough to freeze away for another dinner or a light weekend lunch. You decide!






Anyway, there it is for you to try and play around with. You might already have your own recipe or find that you'd like to add or change up this one, but whatever you do, you can make the crock pot work for your family and help you make an easy meal on the days you need more time for other things.

I've got other great recipes I've made and will share them on occasion, but I'm ALWAYS looking for others to try. Please, please email me your favorite crock pot recipe, and I will try it and will post it on my blog and report on how it came out for us.

From my little corner to yours...Enjoy this beautiful rain and may you use your crock pot today!

email me at sandyslittlecorner@gmail.com