White Chicken Chili – Lindsey Enlow

1 ¼ lb. boneless skinless chicken

2 (15 oz) can great northern beans or navy beans

1 (15 oz) can hominy or white corn

1 envelope taco seasoning

1 (4.5 oz) can chopped green chilies

1 (10.75 oz) can condensed cream of chicken soup

1 (14 oz) can chicken broth

½ cup sour cream

Chopped green onion (optional)

Monterey jack cheese (optional)

Place chicken in crock pot and top with beans and corn.  Combine taco seasoning, chilies, condensed soup and chicken broth in a bowl.  Pour over chicken mixture.  Cover and cook on low for 8 – 10 hours.  Before serving, stir gently to break up chicken, and then stir in sour cream.  Served topped with onions and cheese if desired.

If you love to shop for deals the day after Thanksgiving then this post is for you!

BlackFriday.info has a huge list of stores that have already released their Black Friday adds. Why wait until last minute to plan your morning of shopping when you can do it now.

Below is also a partial list of stores that will be closing down or closing stores after Christmas. If you buy or receive gift cards for any of these stores make sure you use them right away. You don’t want to be stuck with a gift card that can’t be used. If you’re not sure about the store you want to buy the gift card from always ask if they will be around for awhile.

Circuit City (filed Chapter 11)
Ann Taylor- 117 stores nationwide closing
Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug ,and Catherine’s to close 150 stores nationwide
Eddie Bauer will close stores 27 stores and more after January
Cache will close all stores
Talbots closing down specialty stores
J. Jill closing all stores (owned by Talbots)
Pacific Sunwear (also owned by Talbots)
GAP closing 85 stores
Footlocker closing 140 stores,more to close after January
Wickes Furniture closing down
Levitz closing down remaining stores
Bombay closing remaining stores
Zales closing down 82 stores and 105 after January
Whitehall closing all stores
Piercing Pagoda closing all stores
Home Depot closing 15 store
Macys to close 9 stores after January
Linens and Things closing all stores
Movie Galley Closing all stores
Pep Boys Closing 33 stores
Sprint/Nextel closing 133 stores
JC Penney closing a number of stores after January
Ethan Allen closing down 12 stores.
Wilson Leather closing down all stores
Sharper Image closing down all stores
K B Toys closing 356 stores
Lowes to close down some stores
Dillard’s to close some stores

In light of Thanksgiving next week, we wanted to take some time to reflect on what we are thankful for. Makes me think of the song, “Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings, see what God has done.” So, here are a few things I am thankful for:

~ That I have a relationship with God! And that He is helping me to see more and more, how much He loves me.
~ For a very thoughtful, helpful, gracious husband.
~ My kids who are truly such a blessing.
~ God answered prayer and helped remove very unsafe neighbors from our neighborhood (prayed for 8 years!)
~ For a comfy couch and bed, since that is where I spend all my time these days (for those of you that don’t know, I am pregnant with #3 and very sick).

So, what are you thankful for?

I don’t know about all of you but so many of my holiday traditions include food. I am happy to say that I have only missed 1 Thanksgiving with my Mom’s amazing food my entire life. She makes everything! Homemade rolls, 4 or 5 different pies, every side you can think of and all from scratch. No mixes or frozen pie crusts (not that there is anything wrong with using help sometimes!). She shows us her love through her effort and time in the kitchen. It sounds cheesy but she really does bake with love. I am so thankful that she has passed on so many of these recipes and love on to our family. Here are a few of my favorites:

Chocolate Pecan Pie

3 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup light corn syrup

3 oz. (3 squares) of semisweet chocolate, melted

3 TB unsalted butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 inch pie pan with pie crust dough. Chill until the filling is ready. Melt the butter and chocolate together (I do it in the microwave carefully). Combine each item in the order listed. Be sure to blend well after each addition. Place the pecans into the pie crust then gently pour the filling over top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes. Be careful not to overbake. The filling should be just slightly soft in the very center. It will continue to firm after removed from the oven. Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This pie gets RAVE reviews wherever we have brought it and it is easy to make!

Pumpkin Pancakes

2 cups Bisquick

2 TB brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup pumpkin

1 (12 oz.) can Evaporated milk

2 TB oil

2 eggs

Combine all ingredients. Cook on a greased griddle. Top with butter, real maple syrup and chopped nuts.

Streuseled Topped Sweet Potatoes - (this is an old Weight Watchers recipe that is light on calories and tasty too)

4 cups cubed peeled sweet potato (about 5 pounds)

1/2 cup half and half

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1 large egg (lightly beaten)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place potato in a dutch oven or large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil . Reduce heat and simmer 12 minutes or until tender. Drain well.

Combine the half and half, sugar, maple syrup, salt and egg. Add potatoes to the egg mixture and beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Pour the potatoes into a 13×9 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Combine flour and sugar in a food processor. Pulse to combine. dd chilled butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the pecans and then sprinkle over the sweet potatoes. (I usually just use a fork or my hands to mix all of this together instead of dirtying up the food processor)

Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 25 minutes or until the topping is browned.

So, what are some of your favorite family recipes? Do you eat the same thing every year or branch out and try something different? Leave a comment and let us know or leave a recipe on your personal blog and link back here to share.

Traditions can be serious, sentimental or silly but they are what make holidays memorable.

Something that I admire about my parents is that they are always up for making new traditions and doing what makes the most sense for my family at the time. As a result, over the years some traditions have stuck and others haven’t. The constant Thanksgiving traditions became that my immediate family (5 kids & 2 parents) were always together, thankful and ate a special meal. What we ate, where we were and who was with us changed from year to year. For example, until I was in college my family was completely vegetarian, so we had the traditional meal minus the turkey. (One year my mom tried tofu turkey “Tofurkey” but it didn’t go over well.) Some other things that we did over the years include having family and/or friends join us, watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on tv, going to a church service, feeding the homeless or going to the movies together. One tradition that I always liked was when we would go around the table during the meal and each person would share something that they were thankful for from the previous year.

What is your favorite Thanksgiving tradition? Do you have a favorite food or activity that you do with your family or friends?

Don’t forget the UPC Annual Thanksgiving Praise Service this Sunday, November 23 at 6pm in the Worship Center. You are encouraged to bring an object that represents how God has been faithful to you in the past year. Be prepared to share briefly what the object represents.