Thankful Tree... We Have So Many Things to be Thankful For

We have so many things to be thankful for, both big and small.  Sometimes you just need to stop and think about all of the amazing things in our lives that we have to be grateful for.  I know a lot of people take part in the Facebook thankful posts, but I wanted ours to be a little more personal and I wanted to get the whole family involved.  One of my Thanksgiving/November projects was this Thankful Tree.  My family wrote some of the sweetest things.  Several of them almost made me cry.
This is an easy and very inexpensive craft.  You probably have all of the materials you need!

Materials:

• Cardstock 
• Hole Punch
• Vase
• Random Tree Branches
• Piece of Ribbon
• Tag Die Cut/Punch
• Pen

We gathered a few random small branches from our backyard and placed them in a vase.  I had some extra ribbon from the Fall Mickey Mouse Wreath so I tied a bow around the vase to make it a little more festive.  I used a die cut punch to create the "leaves" for the tree.  My family then wrote down a few things that they were thankful for on the tags, we punched a hole in it, and then hung it on the branch.  I made lots of tags so we have been adding "leaves" to it and hopefully we will continue over the next few weeks.  

If you don't have a tag punch, you can use a circle, square, or cut them by hand.

Another fall craft made with scraps....
2x4 Pumpkins

and a free printable...
Thanksgiving Invitation

Follow the Magical Moms on Facebook and Pinterest for weekly menu ideas, crafts, and Disney Magic.  

FREE Thanksgiving Printable Invitation

 We're excited to offer another FREE printable just in time for Thanksgiving!! This is a super easy invitation to print off and send to friends and family. Do not spend any money at the store buying invitations, you probably have everything you need already at home.

Instructions:
Click on the image below to enlarge it, then right click and select "save as." Save it in a folder where you can find it later on your computer.

 

Next, locate the folder where you saved it and open it in your picture viewing program (Microsoft Picture Manager etc.). Select print and when the print dialogue box opens, select 5x7, 2 copies per page and UNCHECK "fit to frame." See my screen shot below. Different computers will look different, this is just how mine looks.

 Print, fill out your info and send!

Follow the Magical Moms on Facebook and Pinterest for weekly menu ideas, crafts, and Disney Magic.

Cheddar Garlic Mashed Potatoes with French Fried Onions

I think that mashed potatoes are an ultimate comfort food.  At my house they always accompany warm and cozy foods like turkey, or pot roast.  But I want to eat them way more often than that!  You can change them up and add different things to them to make them better accompany what you are having for dinner.  I don't think I have ever measured the amount of salt, pepper, butter, or milk that I add to my mashed potatoes, but I did today.  Please adjust if you find it necessary.  Mashed potatoes are easy to make just start with less milk because you can always add more.  

Ingredients:

• About 5 Medium Russet Potatoes
• 1 teaspoon Minced Garlic
• 3/4 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• About 1/3 Cup Milk (start with a little less)
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• French Fried Onions

Serves about 6

Wash and peel the potatoes.  Cut into chunks and place them in water.  Bring water to boil and cook until fork tender.  Drain.  Place in large bowl and add butter, milk, and garlic.  Using electric hand mixer beat until smooth.  Add more milk if needed.  Add in cheddar cheese and a handful of French Fried Onions and mix throughout.  Top with a little more cheese and a couple of onions and serve!

I served this with Cranberry Pork Tenderloin, green beans, and Homemade Cranberry Relish.

Follow the Magical Moms on Facebook and Pinterest for weekly menu ideas, crafts, and Disney Magic.  

2x4 Pumpkins

I love fall!  So of course I love to craft and decorate for the season.  This year I made a few things with scrap wood.  I did this for a couple of reasons.  1.  My boys think of it more as "Building" not crafting and 2. They have discovered that they love to paint.  I love when they want to participate so I am all for it!  Don't be surprised if  I continue the "building" crafts into winter!  

Supplies:

• 2x4 (or 2x2) Piece of wood
• Orange Paint
• Wood Glue
• Various Artificial Fall Foliage, Berries, or other
• Ribbon
• A stick with approximately a 1 inch diameter (for the stem)
• A Piece of Sand Paper
• Hot Glue Gun

First I cut the 2x4 to the appropriate lengths.  I made the large pumpkin with 2- 8 inch and 2-10 inch pieces.  The smaller ones are made with 2- 6 inch and 1-8 inch pieces.  This allowed me to make 3 small and 1 large without wasting any of the piece of wood.  PERFECT!!!!  Next, I lightly sanded the rough edges.  I then glued the pieces together.  The small pumpkin has 6 inch, 8 inch, 6 inch and the large is 8 inch, 10 inch, 10 inch, 8 inch.   Make sure to center the smaller pieces on the larger ones.  Then using two shades of orange paint ( I put them both on a paper plate and lightly swirled them together as I painted the wood) I painted all sides of the wood.  The wood needed to coats of paint.

After they were dry I glued a piece of the stick to the top of the pumpkin.  When that glue was dry, I tied a piece of ribbon around the stick and then attached a few pieces of the accessories.  I used the hot glue gun to secure them in place.

Make sure to check out the Frankenstein I made with a piece of scrap wood
Here is the link to Frankenstein

Twice Baked Sweet Potato

You may have noticed that the Lewis Family has recently discovered that they REALLY like sweet potatoes.  We used to be the family that served them on Thanksgiving because that is what you are "supposed to do" well not any more.  We have made sweet potato fries, chips, baked with cinnamon sticks, and now twice baked!  DELICIOUS!

Ingredients:

• 4 Sweet Potatoes
• 2/3 Cup of Mini Marshmallows
• 3 Tablespoons of Butter
• 3 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons of Apple Sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon of Cinnamon
• A couple Dashes of Nutmeg
• Sugared Pecans (optional)

Bake sweet potatoes in the oven for about 40-50 minutes or until you can easily insert a knife.  If you don't have time to bake them, you can cook them in the microwave.  Cook time will vary depending on the size of the potato.  Let the potatoes cool a little bit.  They will be easier to handle and hollow out if they are cool.  

Preheat oven to 375.  Cut the top/center off and carefully scoop the insides into a bowl.  Be careful to keep the skin in tact.  In the bowl with the sweet potato add in butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Lightly smash with potato masher.  

Take a quick taste and make sure you have added the right amount of spices.  Since sweet potato sizes vary so much you may want to add in another dash of something.  Fill sweet potato shells with the mixture, place in baking dish, and bake for about 10 minutes.  

Then top with marshmallow and sugared pecans.  Place in oven for additional 5 minutes.  

I served this with Slow Cooker Rotisserie Style Chicken.

This recipe was featured on our 30 Days of Dinners June Menu, Make sure to check out all of the other great recipes on this month's menu!

Honey's Dutch Apple Pie

I spent some time hanging out in the kitchen with my Mother-in-law this morning.  She was making a Dutch Apple Pie.  I am watched  her very closely because I have never had success with making my own pie crust.  She made it look so simple!  I am sure that you will notice that in the ingredient list there is no honey.  It is named after my mother-in-law.  My kids have always called her "Honey."  My oldest started it and it has stuck for almost 7 years.

Ingredients for Pie Crust:

• 1.5 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1/4 Cup Vegetable Shortening
• 1/4 Cup Butter
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 4-5 Tablespoons Ice Water

First combine flour and salt.  Then cut in the butter and shortening with a pastry knife or two forks until a crumbly mixture forms.

Add in 4-5 tablespoons of ice water until dough forms.  Next roll into large ball.

Place ball of dough in between floured sheets of wax paper and roll out to desired size.  Remember to go from the middle out until the crust is about 1/8" thick.

Place in pie dish and lightly press down.  Pinch edges to form decorative crust.  Place in freezer for about an hour or until ready to use.  Or you can bake it immediately you are using it for a cream pie.  To use for Cream Pie, preheat oven to 425 and bake for 7-9 minutes.

Ingredients for Pie Filling:

• 5 1/2 cups peeled and sliced Apples
• 1/2 cup Grandulated Sugar
• 1/4 Brown Sugar (packed)
• 1/2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
• 3 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour
• 1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg

Peel apples and cut slices into uniform sized slices.  Add lemon juice as you go and toss with apples to make sure that they don't turn brown.  Add sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, and nutmeg.  Toss to evenly coat apples and then pour into pie crust.

Ingredients for Crumb Topping:

3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour

1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar (packed)

1/3 Cup Butter (at room temp)

The crumb topping is my favorite.  Mix together with a fork the butter, flour, brown sugar, and sugar until crumbly mixture forms.

Next sprinkle the topping on the pie crumbling as you cover it.

Bake pie for 50 minutes at 375