Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes {featuring Country Crock Spread}

I love this time of year!!  The weather is starting to cool off and Thanksgiving is right around the corner.  I couldn't be happier.  This is about the time that I start anticipating all the delicious Thanksgiving food that I'm going to make for my family.  I still make many of my mom's recipes that I grew up eating, and I only make them this one time a year so Thanksgiving dinner is really something special.  I was super excited to be given the challenge to make a couple of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes, substituting Country Crock for butter, and share the results here on my blog.  How fun is that?!  {As a bonus, I'll share my recipes with you, too!}

The first thing I knew I wanted to try was my mom's sage stuffing.  I've eaten LOTS of different stuffings in my day, but none of them hold a candle to my mom's simple, delicious recipe.  Since I wasn't ready to roast a whole stuffed turkey, I used the sage stuffing to make a crock pot chicken and stuffing casserole -- all the delicious flavor without all the work!

 Mom's Sage Stuffing

{printable version}

1 loaf of bread, cubed

2 medium onions, diced 

1 stick butter

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp. pepper

2 Tbsp. salt

2 -1/2 tsp. sage

Melt butter in a small saucepan.  Add onions and saute until soft.  Put cubed bread in a large bowl.  Pour butter and onions on top.  Add seasonings and eggs.  Stir gently until bread is moistened.   If the mixture seems too dry, add warm water 1 Tbsp. at a time until moistened.  Stuff inside turkey cavity and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes per pound of turkey.

Crock Pot Chicken and Stuffing Casserole

{printable version}

4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 bowl of Mom's Sage Stuffing {uncooked}  

Boil  chicken breasts about 10 minutes, until cooked through.  Shred chicken breasts and set aside. {You could also use a rotisserie chicken, shredded.} Mix up your sage stuffing. 

Line your crock pot with a plastic liner. {This makes clean up sooooooo much easier!!} Layer in your ingredients as follows:

1. 1/2 can of cream of chicken soup
2. 1/3 of sage stuffing
3. 1/2 of shredded chicken
4. 1/3 of sage stuffing
5. remaining chicken
6. remaining stuffing
7. remaining cream of chicken soup

Cover and cook on low 3-4 hours.   

It tasted every bit as delicious as it usually does using Country Crock in place of the butter!!  I served it to my family with hot rolls and my kids preferred the Country Crock on their rolls, so that's saying a lot.

After such a delicious, Thanksgiving-inspired dinner we needed a little dessert to go with it.  Maybe some double layer pumpkin pie?  With a graham cracker crust?  Ummm . . . yes, please!

Double Layer Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie

{printable version}

 5 Tbsp. butter, melted

1-1/4 C. graham cracker crumbs

1/4 C. sugar

 

1pkg.  (8 oz.)cream cheese, softened

1 cup  plus 1 Tbsp. milk, divided

1 Tbsp.  sugar

1 tub  (8 oz.) COOL WHIP , thawed, divided

1 can  (15 oz.) pumpkin

2 pkg.  (3.4 oz. each) vanilla instant pudding mix

1 tsp.  ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp.  ground ginger

1/4 tsp.  ground cloves

To make pie crust, melt butter and stir in graham cracker crumbs and sugar.  Press evenly into 9-inch pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes.  Allow to cool completely.

Make first layer of pie filling by beating cream cheese, 1 Tbsp. milk, and 1 Tbsp. sugar with a whisk until it is well blended.  Stir in half of the tub of Cool Whip and spread the cream cheese mixture in the bottom of the cooled crust.

Make the second layer of the pie by whisking remaining milk, pumpkin, dry pudding mixes and spices together until smooth. (Mixture will be thick.) Spread over cream cheese layer.  Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm.  Top with remaining Cool Whip before serving.

{Please forgive my poor food photography skills -- the pie is delicious in real life!}  I substituted Country Crock for the butter in the graham cracker crust and it was perfect.  There were only rave reviews all around.

I liked using the Country Crock in these recipes because it melts really quickly and tastes fantastic. It also has fewer fat and calories than regular butter.  Win, win!!  I hope you'll give it a shot, too!  

 Thank you to Good to Know & Unilever Spreads for being a sponsor. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own.