Cornbread Sausage Stuffing

This stuffing turned out great, I highly recommend it! Plus, it was easy, who doesn't love that?!?!

Start with all of this good stuff!

Butter a baking dish with 1 tablespoon of butter. Make it extra buttery!

You want to get 6 cups of cornbread croutons. I used the Bob's Red Mill gluten-free cornbread mix and, I'm really torn on how mean to be, but it was not very good. It made great stuffing, but it wasn't good as regular cornbread. I recommend that you use this cornbread recipe from Pamela's. Also, if you can't eat corn, use whatever your favorite GF bread is, this will still be a terrific recipe!

Make your cornbread or bread, cut them into 1/2" to 1" cubes, spread into a flat layer on a baking sheet and bake for 2 hours at 200 degrees.

Feel free to use your favorite sausage. I love chicken sausage that has apple and maple in it. Yum! Cut the sausage up into bite-sized pieces.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large frying pan over high heat. Cook the sausage until it browns. Try not to eat it all because it is going to smell really good!

When the sausage is done, add it to your cornbread croutons.

Just as with the herb bread stuffing, I had already chopped the herbs, onion and celery. Dice 2/3 cup of celery, 1 cup of onion and 1 tablespoon each of fresh sage, parsley and thyme.

Melt an additional 2 tablespoons of butter in the same frying pan you used for the sausage. Cook until the onions and celery become translucent and are beginning to brown.

Add them to the sausage and croutons.

While everything is cooking on the stove, whisk up the wet ingredients. Start with two eggs.

Add in 1/2 cup chicken stock, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Whisk it up!

Pour the wet ingredients over the sausage, vegetables and croutons and mix well (but gently, don't mush up the bread!). If it is not moist enough, add chicken stock in 1/4 cup increments until very moist. Just when you think it's moist enough, it's probably not, add some more!

Cover the top with little pieces of butter, just to make it extra moist!

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Remove from oven when it's golden brown. If you remove it from baking and it's too dry, add additional chicken stock. Mine was too dry and I just added an extra 1/4 cup of chicken stock directly to the stuffing while still in the baking dish and mixed it up. It was perfect, so feel free to fix it after the fact if you need to!

This is really good stuffing! I think the sweet sausage made it a really different taste but perfect for Thanksgiving with its maple flavor!

Cornbread Sausage Stuffing

Prep Time: 30 Minutes (45 Minutes if Making Croutons)

Total Time: 1 Hour (4 Hours if Making Croutons)

Yield: 10-12 Servings

6 cups, Gluten-Free Cornbread Stuffing Croutons

12-ounces Gluten-Free Sausage (i.e., Chicken Apple Sausage)

1 cup Diced Onion

2/3 cup Finely Diced Celery

1 Tbsp. Chopped Fresh Sage

1 Tbsp. Chopped Fresh Thyme

1 Tbsp. Chopped Fresh Parsley

6 Tbsp. Butter

1/2 - 1 1/4 cups Chicken Stock

2 Eggs

1 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Black Pepper

Make gluten-free cornbread croutons by making your favorite gluten-free cornbread mix. Chop the cornbread into 1/2" to 1 " cubes. Place cubes in a single layer on baking sheet and bake at 200 degrees for 2 hours. This can be done 1-3 days in advance, store croutons in an airtight container and store it at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 9 x 13 baking pan with 1 tablespoon of butter.

Chop vegetables and herbs, this can be done 1-2 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Chop sausage into bite-sized pieces. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large frying pan on high heat. Add the sausage and cook until browned. Mix with cornbread croutons in a large bowl.

Melt an additional 2 tablespoons of butter in the same pan used for the sausage. Add the onions, celery and herbs. Cook until onions and celery become translucent and are beginning to brown. Add to the sausage and croutons.

In a small bowl, whisk eggs, 1/2 cup chicken stock, salt and pepper. Add to the crouton mixture. Mix well but gently. If stuffing is dry, add chicken stock in 1/4 cup increments until mixture is very moist. Place stuffing in prepared 9 x 13 pan.

Cut up last tablespoon of butter into small pieces and place on the top of the stuffing. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees until stuffing begins to brown. Remove from oven, serve hot.

*Dairy Free: Use Butter Substitute

*Egg Free: Substitute 1 cup of chicken stock for the 2 eggs. Use Egg Substitute when making cornbread mix.

Printable Recipe:

Cornbread Sausage Stuffing

Mini Sweet Potato Casseroles

If you only make one new thing this Thanksgiving...make it these, they are that good!! Even people who don't normally like yams or sweet potatoes love these! Seriously, make these, you will not regret it!

The cast of characters.

The first step is obtaining 3 cups of yams (or sweet potatoes, whatever you prefer!). I used 3 large yams, pierced them with a fork, microwaved them for 4 minutes on each side until they were very tender, scooped out the flesh and left the peel. Cool the yams. It's the same strategy shown in the Sweet Potato Biscuit recipe! (If you are pressed for time, or for whatever reason, I'm sure you can use canned yams. I won't tell anyone!)

Also, butter your ramekins! You want them to be all ready to go once the sweet potato mixture is ready!

First, add the eggs to the mixer and beat them just for a few seconds. Really just break up the yolks and get them mixed a little!

Next, just add everything else! Namely: mashed sweet potatoes, both sugars, salt, vanilla, melted butter and cinnamon.

Beat until well combined. It will be slightly lumpy but that just adds to the goodness!

Pour the mixture into prepared ramekins.

Make the topping by mixing the butter, pecans and brown sugar. YUM!

Feel free to eat at least one spoonful of this...there should be plenty for you to have some!

Sprinkle the mixture over the tops of the casseroles. This is the fun part, enjoy it! I tend to really overload them because I love sugar and this is my favorite part of this casserole!

I ended up with an extra ramekin, so it was special and got the heart shaped dish! Okay, I just didn't have anymore of the cute yellow ones!

Place them on a cookie sheet - they sometimes spill over, use a cookie sheet! You can feel free to pause here, wrap up the casseroles and refrigerate up to 1 day until you are ready to use them. I always make mine the night before Thanksgiving and then all you have to do is bake them on the day of!

When you are ready to bake them, bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. If they are really cold (as in, straight from the refrigerator), please give them about 5-10 minutes extra in the oven.

This is what happens when you overload the top like I do. The sugar didn't completely melt, but did form a fabulous crunchy top. It was quite tasty! If you want your sugar melted, don't put quite so many layers of topping on!

Your guests and family will LOVE the impression that this makes. Everyone always thinks it's fun to grab their own little casserole dish and enjoy!

They are quite rich and filling, so don't be offended if they can't finish an entire ramekin worth in addition to all of that other great Thanksgiving day food!!

Also, this recipe is great to double for a big group and the leftovers freeze and refrigerate well!

Mini Sweet Potato Casseroles

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Total Time: 50 Minutes

Yield: 6-8 Servings

Sweet Potato Mixture:

3 cups Mashed Sweet Potatoes (or Yams)

1/2 cup Granulated Sugar

1/2 cup Golden Brown Sugar

1/2 tsp. Salt

2 tsp. Vanilla

2 Eggs

1/2 cup Butter, Melted

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

Topping:

1 cup Golden Brown Sugar

1 cup Chopped Pecans

2 Tbsp. Melted Butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 6-8 individual 3 or 4-ounce ramekins.

Add the eggs to the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat well. Add the remaining ingredients to the mixer: mashed sweet potatoes, both sugars, salt, vanilla, melted butter and cinnamon. Beat until well combined. Batter will be slightly lumpy. Pour into prepared ramekins.

Make the topping by mixing the melted butter, sugar and pecans in a small bowl. Sprinkle the topping over the tops of the ramekins.

If preferred, refrigerate the casseroles at this point by wrapping each casserole with foil. Refrigerate until ready to bake.

Place all ramekins on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (if straight from the refrigerator, add an addition 5-10 minutes of baking time). Let cool before serving.

Enjoy!

Printable Recipe:

Mini Sweet Potato Casseroles

Cranapple Sauce

Try this cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving, it's great! It's cranberry sauce but with some apples and cinnamon added in. It's tasty!

The ingredients...well...almost all of them. I forgot to put cinnamon in this picture, please forgive me!

First, peel, core and dice two apples.

Bring 1 cup of water mixed with 1.5 cups of granulated sugar to a boil. Once boiling, add cinnamon, apples and cranberries. Stir occasionally, for 10-15 minutes until apples are soft.

Yum!

Pour into a bowl and cool until room temperature.

Cool in refrigerator until ready to use. Can be done 1-2 days in advance.

Serve with turkey (or on roasted pork loin...I love cranberry sauce on roasted pork loin. Is that weird?)!

Cranapple Sauce

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Total Time: 25 Minutes

Yield: 10-12 Servings

1, 12 ounce bag Fresh Cranberries

2 Large Fuji Apples

1 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

1 1/2 cups Granulated Sugar

1 cup Water

Core, peel and dice apples.

Bring 1 cup of water and 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar to a boil in large saucepan on medium high heat. When boiling, add cranberries, apples and cinnamon. Reduce heat to medium and gently boil until apples are soft, about 10-15 minutes.

Transfer sauce to a bowl and cool to room temperature. Once cooled, seal and store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Serve with turkey and enjoy!

Printable Recipe:

Cranapple Sauce

Brussels Sprouts

What, Brussels Sprouts? Who eats those? That is something I said my entire life until about two years ago. Now, I love them!

I think the best vegetables are always fresh, so for this I started with 1 stalk of brussels sprouts, approximately 1 pound of brussels sprouts de-stalked!

Cut them in half and throw them in boiling water for about 3 minutes (blanch them) and then drain them. Probably best to not really "throw" them in boiling water, best to just place them in boiling water.

Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the brussels sprouts. Season with coarse kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Patience. This is the most important part of this recipe! You have to let the brussels sprouts caramelize! Try to resist turning them too much. If you just let them sit and get dark brown, the sweet flavor really comes out and they're terrific!

Serve!

Brussels Sprouts

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Total Time: 30 Minutes

1 lb. Fresh Brussels Sprouts

2 Tbs. Olive Oil

Coarse Kosher Salt

Ground Black Pepper

Cut brussels sprouts in half. Bring a large pot of boiling water to a boil. Blanch for 3 minutes by putting halved brussels sprouts in boiling water. Drain.

Pour 2 Tbs. Olive Oil in large frying pan. Add the blanched brussels sprouts. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Caramelize the brussels sprouts and cook until they are browned on all sides. Serve and enjoy!

Printable Recipe:

Brussels Sprouts