No-Cook, No-Bake Thanksgiving Dish!

Does the thought of Thanksgiving cooking bring you exhilaration and joy? Or are you on the verge of a meltdown just thinking about having to step foot in the kitchen?

Though I'm obviously a fan of a full fledged, homemade Thanksgiving, I know that not everyone enjoys the cooking aspect of turkey day. I've got plenty of friends who are pretty impressed with themselves if they can manage to pop open a can of biscuits and successfully bake them without setting off the fire alarm. It takes all kinds! 

With cooking-phobes in mind, I thought it would be fun to create a little something that anyone can put together using just a handful of inexpensive ingredients. Everyone deserves to have that moment of pride around the Thanksgiving table, and I've got just the thing that will elicit "oohs" and "ahhs" from guests without even having to turn on the oven...

It's a turkey-tizer platter!

Isn't this little fella cute?

I made him in just a few minutes from bits and pieces I found in my fridge. His body is made from half a pear and his plumage is an assortment of crackers, cheeses, meats and greens that can be put together as an easy {but impressive} appetizer tray. This design is pretty simple, but you could get as elaborate as you want!

So don't panic if you've been asked to contribute to dinner this year and you don't know the difference between the dressing you serve with a turkey and the one your pour over your salad. Whether you're running short on time or patience, you'll have one of the prettiest dishes on the table!

Thanksgiving Turkey-tizer Platter

{This "recipe" is a guideline, but feel free to get creative with your turkey!}

Assorted green leaves {I used 3 pieces of Swiss chard}

Assorted cheese {I used 4 pieces of muenster cut with a leaf-shaped cookie cutter}

Assorted meat {I used a few slices of prosciutto}

Assorted crackers

1/2 a pear, cut in half vertically

2 peppercorns 

1 small piece of baby carrot, preferably a pointy piece

1 small piece of walnut

1 pretzel stick, broken in half

Assembly:

Arrange leaves on platter in a fanned out fashion to form the back of the turkey's plumage. 

Place meats in desired pattern, then do the same with the cheese slices. Fan crackers out so you can still see the cheese and meats behind it.

Place pear in the center. To make the turkey's face, press 2 peppercorns into the pear for eyes. Press a small piece of carrot in place for the beak. Press a piece of walnut under the beak for the turkey's "gobbler" {it's actually called a wattle!}. Insert pretzel stick pieces into the bottom of the pear for the turkey's legs.

Serve with condiments such as spicy mustard and jam so guests can "dress" their crackers. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

{Stuffed} Banana Bread Muffins & Easter Goodies

 

Last week was so busy it flew by and I didn't even get to post once. {It's been a while since that's happened... the not posting part, not the busy part.} Since hubby was out of town all weekend, the pup and I had a little "unplugged" getaway over at my Mom's house for company and a change of scenery, hence the lack of Facebook posts, etc.

Though it was nice to disconnect from the digital grind for a short time, I am SO ready to get back to posting, especially with Easter happening in less than a week! {Where does the time go?!} I'm also going to be wrapping up my Tasty Travels: NYC posts in the very near future, and have quite a few drafts waiting to be shared.

Before I get to all that good stuff, I'm excited to announce that a winner was chosen for the Palm Beach Parties Personalized Tray Giveaway that ended last week. And the winner is...

Tina P.!

Congratulations, Tina! I hope you'll enjoy your tray {and maybe even send us a picture of how you personalize it? Because we're nosy that way. ;)} And thanks again to the lovely Carla from Palm Beach Parties for providing us with such a fabulous giveaway prize! {Be sure to check out her shop if you're into preppy & adorable goodies!}

Ok... now food.

Today I'm sharing a recipe for some extremely moist and delicious Stuffed Banana Bread Muffins that I baked up on Friday to bring to my Mom's over the weekend. I was originally planning on making a traditional loaf, but was running short on time, so I turned the recipe into muffins. Right before putting them in the oven, I decided they needed a little something... peanut butter. And chocolate chips. Because those two ingredients have never made anything worse.

The peanut butter sinks down as the muffins bake and leaves you with a little surprise "plug" of peanutty goodness that makes these even better... and they're pretty darn good on their own. {I actually made a handful with PB, some with PB & chocolate chips, and some plain.}





This is what it looked like hot from the oven. NOM.





I plan on spending some time coming up with some fun Easter foods that you can bring to the table this weekend, but until I get crackin', I'll leave you with a few favorites that would work great for an Easter Brunch and some sweet treats that make great {and easy!} additions to an Easter potluck.

Brunch Offerings:

Orange, Walnut & Rosemary Muffins

 Brie, Jam & Candied Walnut Braid

 Chocolate & Cheese Danish

Easter "Tweets"!

"Bunny Bait" Snack Mix - Free Printables for Bunny Bait tags included in this post!

 

Chocolate "Nests"

Easter Themed Rice Krispie Treat Pops

 

Sweet Spring Desserts

Chewy Strawberry Blondies

 

Orange-Yogurt Bread

 

 

Chewy Lemon Crinkle Cookies

 

 

{Stuffed} Banana Bread Muffins

Adapted from Flour Bakery's recipe via Food Network

 

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Scant 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil

3 1/2 very ripe bananas, mashed

2 tablespoons non-fat Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Optional Add-ins:

Semi-sweet chocolate chips

2/3 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped {optional}

Reduced Fat Peanut Butter

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a muffin tin* with non-stick cooking spray or line with liners. {Note: Make sure you spray the tins well if you aren't using liners, these like to stick.}

 

2. Beat together sugar and eggs until very pale and thick, about 3-4 minutes. Slowly pour in oil to combine, then add bananas, yogurt, and vanilla extract and continue to mix until everything is well incorporated.

 

3. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl.

 

4. Sprinkle the flour mixture into the banana mixture a bit at a time, mixing until just moistened. {Don't overdo it or you'll get gummy, dense banana bread.} The batter will seem pretty liquidy, but that's ok. Note: If you'd like to use walnuts in your muffins, this would be the time to add them in and mix by hand so the mixer doesn't break them up too much.

 

5. Using an ice cream scoop, spoon batter into muffin tins until 2/3 of the way full. Spoon about a teaspoon or so of peanut butter onto the tops of the muffins and push down just a tiny bit with your finger. {It'll sink as it bakes.} Sprinkle tops of muffins with chocolate chips if desired.

 

6. Bake for about 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. {Don't forget there's molten peanut butter in there so you'll have some stickiness, but you should be able to tell whether it's batter or PB.}

 

7. Let cool for about 5 minutes in the tins, and then use a small paring knife to loosen from the tins and help you pull out the muffins. Cool on a wire baking rack.

 

*You can make this as a loaf, too, just pour the batter into a greased loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the top is golden brown, testing with a skewer to ensure that the center is cooked through.

 

Makes about standard 20 muffins, or 1 loaf.