A Twist On...Thanksgiving Recipes

Is it just me, or are y'all sick of the same old green bean casserole and pumpkin pie? I've never been a fan of the cream of mushroom soup/french fried onion version. Blegh. No offense if you love that. And pumpkin pie is aight, but this girl needs something sweeter. SO. Here are two recipes that are on repeat every Turkey Day with my family.

The first recipe is a twist on green bean casserole. We call it Aunt Sue's Green Beans. I don't know the whole story, but I'm assuming my Aunt Sue (who we lovingly call Aunt Sewage) came up with it and it. is. GOOOOD. It includes bacon and brown sugar (yum) and has a little kick of horseradish to make in interesting.

Aunt Sue's Green Beans

Ingredients:

2+ cans of french style green beans
1 lb. bacon
1/2 cup butter
1/4 to 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup horseradish sauce
1/4 cup mustard

Sauce:

Whisk together 1/2 cup mayo, 1/4 cup horseradish sauce, 1/4 cup mustard (adjust any of these to your personal taste)

Instructions:

1. Cook the bacon (I like to microwave it in layers separated by paper towels) and let it cool.

2. Slice the butter into pads and put half of them on the bottom of a baking dish.

3. Drain green beans (use 4 cans if you if you have a lot of people to feed or want yummy leftovers).

4. Put the rest of the sliced butter on top of the green beans.

5. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Crumble bacon and put half on top. Drizzle sauce over green beans. Top with remaining bacon.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. The sauce should barely begin to brown when it's done.

I found the next recipe on Pinterest years ago, but never pinned it! I recently found a similar recipe and kind of adjusted it to what I wanted, so here it is!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 14 oz. can pumpkin
1 tub Cool Whip
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
1 pkg cream cheese
1 graham cracker crust (if you buy a pre-made crust, get the 10 in. size or make your own and it's usually yummier!)

Instructions:

1. Combine pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, sugar, and cream cheese with a mixer. Gently stir in 2 1/2 cups of the Cool Whip.

2. Pour the mixture into the pie shell and refrigerate for around 3 hours to set.

3. Top with remaining Cool Whip and enjoy!

I wish I had beautiful pictures for you. Maybe I'll update this post after we make these dishes next week! Let me know if you decide to try these out or if you have your own fabulous non-traditional recipe that I need to know about.

Thanks for reading!