Thankful Thursday

Nothing much to report here today, just plugging along! I've been doing some little household projects, organizing my recipes, and a bit of holiday shopping. Can you all believe that Christmas is only 51 days away?  The retailers are well aware of it, they have the shelves stocked with Santas and snowmen, as if Thanksgiving doesn't exist.  Grr..it makes me crazy!

I myself have no desire to skip over Thanksgiving, can't wait to sit around the table with my family and count our blessings! I've been gathering some new recipes and would like to share them with you over the next couple of weeks.

You probably know how much I love to use my Crockpot.  Slow cooking is so easy, time-saving, and sensible, especially on an occasion when you have a lot of dishes that must be ready at the same time.  Between all of our houses, I counted up at least 5 slowcookers which I'll be making ample use of on Thanksgiving!

Because my family consists of mostly-vegetarians with a couple of carnivores thrown in, the turkey isn't really the main event.  The side dishes are what we love the best; the stuffing, rolls, potatoes, and yes, even the veggies, are what make our hearts sing! For most of my life,  I never had to worry about making stuffing because Mom handled that but since she's passed I'm on my own. Using boxed mixes as a base, I'm going to try this Cornbread Dressing Recipe courtesy of Southern Living magazine, but I lightened it up a bit to save on fat & calories.  I ran this through the Weight Watchers Recipe Builder and have noted the POINTS+ values for you.

Slowcooker Cornbread Dressing Redux   Photo courtesy of Southern Living PointsPlus® Value:    5 Servings:  16  Ingredients 5 cup(s) cornbread stuffing mix, prepared, crumbled    1 package(s) cornbread stuffing dry mix    21 1/2 oz Campbell's Healthy Request Cream of Chicken Soup      28 oz fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth      1 large vidalia onion(s), diced      1 cup(s) celery, diced      1 cup(s) Egg Beaters Egg substitute    1 Tbsp ground sage    1/2 tsp black pepper    2 Tbsp Smart Balance 37% Light Spread Margarine, cut up    Instructions 1. Combine first 9 ingredients in a large bowl. 2. Pour cornbread mixture into a lightly greased 6-qt. slow cooker. Dot with butter. Cover and cook on LOW 4 to 6 hours or until set and thoroughly cooked. Note: We tested with Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing. Two (6-oz.) packages of Martha White Buttermilk Cornbread & Muffin Mix, prepared according to package directions, yields 5 cups crumbs. TRY THIS TWIST! Sausage-Apple Cornbread Dressing: Cook 1 (16-oz.) package ground pork sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring often, 8 to 10 minutes or until meat crumbles and is no longer pink; drain. Stir sausage and 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced, into cornbread mixture in Step 1.

Have a Beauty-Full Day,