Catching up with the Kelnhofers-66

This week on Catching up with the Kelnhofers, I’m telling you all about how I managed to create a small family Thanksgiving dinner at home, sharing my favorite desserts (some that are pie, some that aren’t!) and an Amazon snack find you won’t want to miss.

My smoke alarm was going off, half my dishes broke in the microwave…and the kids were hungry (and not quiet about that.) And I had had back to back meetings all morning.

But I managed to get our small family Thanksgiving on the table. 

I was doing a trial run to see if I would be able to share some advice on how to have a small family Thanksgiving. 

And guess what? 

It was so special and delicious. 

If I can manage to pull off a small Thanksgiving, anyone can. I promise! 

I put together a blog post with tips and tricks, recipe ideas, and a checklist that might help get everything organized for you. 

And if you have any questions or need any recipe ideas, please feel free to message me! 

New on the blog:

Check out our latest content, full of great Thanksgiving recipes!

• Air fryer turkey breast – I cannot believe how well this turned out, so so good!
• Catching up with the Kelnhofers – our weekly update from last week
• Iced Maple Latte – a repost of a homemade maple latte that is so so good, no need for fancy equipment
• Instant Pot chicken and rice turmeric soup – this soup is like a warm hug for your tummy
• Love List – sharing things me and my team love from around the web.
• Cheesy jalapeno bread – perfect as a side to soups!
• Thanksgiving meal planner for a small family – I mentioned this above, but was so happy to pull together a fun small Thanksgiving dinner!
• If you don’t want to worry about grocery shopping, I’d recommend trying a Thanksgiving Meal Delivery!!

Theme of the week:

This week, I’m sharing the best ending to the most delicious meal – dessert!  And, specifically, I’m sharing my favorite Thanksgiving desserts with you:

• Cranberry walnut crumb bars – I love this dessert as an alternative to traditional pie!
• Healthy pecan pie bars – if you’re looking for something that is just a touch more healthy, these bars are the way to go.
• Squash cakes – great for any Vegan friends or family you might have.
• Brown sugar pie – only 5 ingredients and a great alternative to traditional pumpkin pie
• 5 ingredient pumpkin pie – a super easy, classic recipe for Thanksgiving dessert.
• Pumpkin pecan pie –  a perfect combination of my brown sugar pie and pumpkin pie!
• Coffee crumble apple pie – in case pumpkin isn’t your thing, everyone loves apple pie!

5 recipes to make this week:

• Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Waffles – my kids love waffles so these are one of the many recipes we make at home.
• Sheet Pan Meal – Ground Turkey Balsamic Meatloaf – a super easy, weeknight meal that’s super tasty.
• Chicken Stir Fry Soba Noodles Bowl – a great meal for healthy meal planning
• 5 Ingredient Ginger Teriyaki Salmon and Green Beans – great for 5 ingredient Friday, this salmon recipe is simple and delicious.
• Chocolate Turtle Chex Mix – one of Nick’s favorites that never lasts long in our house.

What I’m making:

• I made Vanilice – raspberry filled vanilla cookies – for a special Serbian called Slava (it’s a patron saint day). I also put together a little video of Ben helping me make the cookies. Here are a few other pictures from the celebration (my in-laws made plates of food and everyone celebrated separately – oh 2020). We had garlic roasted leg of lamb, sarma (stuffed cabbage), gibanica (cheesy phyllo dough dish, kind of like spinach pies), Russian salad (my family calls it Romanian salad), and homemade bread and cookies.

• We made nachos and instead of pork we used some leftover beef roast we had, it was SO good.

Reader Comments

I love these cookies and was thrilled to see this reader loved them too!  Check out the comment on my pumpkin spice latte cookies.

• “These cookies are INCREDIBLE! I followed the recipe exactly as listed except mine took about 20-25 minutes to fully bake. 10/10 would recommend.”

Reader Recreations 

• A SweetPhi reader shared her amazing recreation of these fun sprinkle bars – they look so great!

Things I’m Loving 

They tried 35 pancake mixes (article here), these are the top 2 – and I have some thoughts.

1. Birch Blender  – I tried this brand’s Paleo pancakes and could not recommend, they were flat out gross. But…their regular pancakes, I’ll give them another go.
2. Bob’s Red Mill – this is the brand I use to make a waffle bar.

Item from Amazon you didn’t know you needed

These covered grapes are SO GOOD!

What I’m Reading

• This is a first, but I’m re-reading Beach Read. I loved the book and just wanted a book I knew I’d like and look forward to. 

Personal Stories

• Ben went into his room and brought PJs for Frankie and Freddie – it was too cute and sweet. Made me teary eyed that they fit the twins, they’re growing so fast!!

• I bought the kids matching Christmas jammies from Hanna Andersson.  They’re having a sale so I cannot recommend them enough. You know I HAD to get the gnome print ones for everyone.

• We played outside – the weather has been amazing. 
• The twins are teething – so of course they want to eat everything (including rocks, lol).

• We had some lovely family moments – I wanted to put my feet up for a second but the boys thought it would be funny to play ‘bridge’ and were climbing all over me. And went on a scavenger hunt around the block (looking for leaves and rocks lol).

• Frankie’s hair is getting long so I put it in a little pony tail, my little princess!!

Did you Know?

Did you know that I always make it easy to search for what you’re looking for on SweetPhi.com?  Wherever you are on the post, you can always hit the magnifying glass, on the right side of the page, to quickly get to a search bar. 

Popular this week: 

• Most visited blog post: This post for sourdough stuffing – it’s seriously so good!
• Most liked Instagram post: this post featuring one of my favorite chocolate chip cookies recipes.
• Most pinned image: loved seeing this pin on the top of the list this past week.
• Most viewed YouTube video: this video for an easy chicken dinner.
• Most purchased item: Loaf pan – I love a good loaf pan, I have 3 myself

Any Thanksgiving questions I can help answer?  I’d love to help, so leave a comment below and let me know!