So if you’ve been following here for a while you know that I am participating in a program to help Walmart spread the word that they are doing something new to help moms (and dads) find quick meal solutions for their families.   Each week they feature certain ingredients to grab and go so that you can pick them up and cook up some dinner with out any planning at all.  I’ll let you in on the ingredients and what Walmart suggests you make this week…and I’ll share my tips on how to spice it up and make it WHOLESOME! Here’s what their offering this week:

• Sugary Sam Cut Yams (29 oz) $1.32
• Kraft Jet Puffed Mini Marshmallows $0.84
• Great Value Light Brown Sugar (2 lbs) $1.58
• Del Monte Cut Green Beans (14.5 oz) $0.67
• French Fried Onion
• Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup (10.34 oz)
• Ocean Spray Jelly Cranberry Sauce (16 oz)  $0.88
• Betty Crocker Pumpkin Cookie

Lots of great buys on the stuff you need to set your Thanksgiving dinner table!   This year I’ll be having Thanksgiving with my family at my grandmother’s house.  Four generations will be sitting around the table eating our traditional Thanksgiving dishes.  Our Thanksgiving is a very southern, home cooked, meal including a big turkey with cornbread dressing and homemade giblet gravy, asparagus casserole, squash casserole, sweet potato casserole, and homemade cranberry sauce (not a thing like that canned stuff!).

So, for our family Thanksgiving dinner I’d switch up the canned yams for fresh sweet potatoes to make sweet potato casserole.  Here’s our family recipe:

Sweet Potato Casserole:

4 or 5 sweet potatoes, peeled
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup organic milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 stick organic butter

Topping:
2 cups rice krispies (or corn flakes)
1/2 stick organic butter (melted)
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup pecans
1 cup mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel and chop the sweet potatoes and boil them until soft. Drain off the water and mash well. Add the rest of the casserole ingredients and mix well. But into a baking dish and bake in preheated oven for 20 or 25 minutes (until warmed through).

Mix together all the topping ingredients except the marshmallows. Put topping and marshmallows on top of the casserole alternating a stripe of cereal topping then a stripe of marshmallows. Bake for 15 minutes longer or until brown.

This post is part of a series on Making Meals Easier for Mom (Meal Solutions).  I hope you love it as much as I do!  Follow me and my fellow Walmart Moms, Jenn at Frugal Upstate, Heather at The Domestic Diva, and Lori at My Wooden Spoon, to get a fresh take on a new meal plan each week.  Walmart has provided me with compensation and a gift card in return for this post. Participation in this program is voluntary.  All opinions are my own.

WARNING: This macaroni and cheese recipe will make you want to NEVER make the boxed kind again.  I’m serious, if you make this for your family they will gobble it up and beg for more and you’ll vow never to make that kind in the box ever again.

This mac & cheese has 4 eggs in it, so if you have picky eaters that live off of mac & cheese, you can rest easy knowing this dish IS actually a protein replacement!  You can serve it as a main dish and not feel a bit guilty and your children will grin from ear to ear!

Ultimate Macaroni & Cheese

1/2 stick of butter (I use organic) cut into pieces and softened
2 1/2 cups of uncooked elbow macaroni (although other shapes would be equally delicious)
16 ounces of cheddar cheese, shredded (about 4 cups) ( I use organic)
4 ounces cream cheese, cubed (I use organic)
1 c. half and half (I use organic)
4 large eggs (I use free range/local)
1/2 cup sour cream (I use organic)

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 13×9 baking dish.

Boil noodles according to the package directions. Drain noodles and return to pot. Add the cheddar cheese and the cream cheese to the hot macaroni and stir well. Spread into your buttered 13×9 dish.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the rest of the ingredients. Pour over the macaroni. Bake, uncovered, for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbling. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

One of the recipes I get asked about often is my sauteed asparagus.  This is one of those easy recipes that looks fantastic on a plate and tastes even better, especially when asparagus is at its peak.  If you are wondering asparagus is generally a spring vegetable.  It is in season from around April to June.

Which, by the way, eating vegetables in season is one of the ways you can eat natural (or organically) on a budget.  If you purchase vegetables in season you will get a much better (read: tastier) product as well as a cheaper price (since they are more readily available).  To read more about when vegetables are in season, read the post HERE.  By the way, asparagus is one of those items you can purchase conventionally (not organically) because they are considered “clean.” In other words they don’t have the pesticides that many other fruits and veggies do.  So, save your money here and use that money to purchase something else on the “dirty dozen” list.

Asparagus is by far one of my favorite green vegetables and cooking it this way makes it a favorite of everyone at my house.  I always look forward to the short months that it is in season and we eat it at least once (if not twice a week) during these months.  Another bonus: it is super easy to make and doesn’t take a lot of prep or extra ingredients to make it delicious!

Sauteed Asparagus

a bunch of asparagus*
a can (or homemade equivalent) of chicken stock
olive oil
2 or 3 cloves of garlic

First wash your asparagus and place on a cutting board. Bend the asparagus until they snap. This is how you find the natural place to “cut” the asparagus so that you are left with the yummy part of the veggie to saute. Don’t throw the end away! Put them all in a freezer bag and save for round 2 – home made asparagus soup! Mmmm.

Once all the ends have been snapped place a small amount of olive oil in your saute pan (enough to drizzle the bottom of your saute pan). Heat the pan on medium and add the asparagus. Meanwhile finely chop your garlic. Turn the asparagus in the pan to “brown” them evenly. Once the asparagus gets a little color add the garlic. (The reason for waiting is the garlic will burn quickly and turn bitter. You want to give your asparagus ample time to saute and once you add the garlic you only have a few more minutes before you need to add a liquid to keep the garlic from burning). Just before the garlic burns add in a little chicken stock (enough to keep the asparagus/garlic from sticking. When the chicken stock begins to evaporate add a little more. Continue to add a small amount of chicken stock to the pan until the asparagus is tender enough for your liking. It takes about 3/4 of a can at my house. We like them pretty tender.

Once the liquid is all evaporated it is time to gobble these little guys up! They are so delicious with the garlicy goodness!

Side note: I used to add the whole can of chicken stock at once, and while the asparagus are still delicious this way, I have found that they are even better when you add a small amount at a time. I think this is due to the fact that the asparagus tend to “boil” in the chicken stock when you add a whole bunch at once. By adding only a little they continue to saute and drink in the goodness!

*Choose asparagus that has tight heads and the skinnier the better! Small, thin asparagus = tender and delicious! If you purchase your asparagus one day and don’t plan to cook it for a couple more days, store it in the fridge in cup with a small amount of water in the cup. You should store them kind of like flowers in a vase – but in the refrigerator! This will keep them fresh for up to a week (depending on the freshness of your asparagus).