Hopefully my house will look like this for Thanksgiving...next year!

I guess I told a pretty funny joke the other night. I was out with some girlfriends who all happen to be moms, and I asked them, “So did any of you ever cook an entire Thanksgiving dinner in your first year as a mom? They all gave me this strange look and then suddenly the table erupted with laughter! My one friend replied, “ Are you kidding me?  I didn’t even get to pee by myself for the first year! How the heck was I supposed to cook a turkey ?” Everyone else at the table agreed with this statement.

I was pretty surprised.  I always thought those Martha Stewart maternal instincts to cook a big holiday meal, kick in once you have a baby…guess I was wrong. Personally I haven’t been feeling them myself either…I was just toying with the idea because I thought it was something I was supposed do now that I’m a mother.

Good thing I checked with my friends before attempting such a crazy feat. Whew! The pressure is off and I feel much better realizing it’s okay to not be “Super Mom” right away and maybe let someone else cook Thanksgiving dinner for me this year.

So my advice (and the advice of my girlfriends) to those current first time moms with small babies, is to accept those invitations to attend a Thanksgiving dinner at someone else’s house this year. If your mother invites you over, say “Yes”! If your best friend invites you over, say “Yes”! If your mother-in-law invites you over…check with the first two options first and if they say no, then say “yes” to her.(Just kidding…love you Thelma!)

But if you’re like me, you don’t feel right coming to a dinner empty handed so I have the perfect Thanksgiving dish for you to bring: Schwartzie Potatoes!!!  They take practically no effort and very little time and people will beg you for the recipe once they’ve tried it. Here you go:

Schwartzie Potatoes

Ingredients

2 lbs frozen hash browns (you can also use fresh potatoes but this is way easier!)

2 cups sour cream ( you can use light sour cream if you want to pretend this is healthy. lol)

2 (10 ounce) cans cream of mushroom soup ( I use cream of chicken soup cause I hate mushrooms)

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup onions, grated ( to taste)

1 teaspoon sea salt (to taste)

1 teaspoon pepper (to taste)

2 cups cheddar cheese grated

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated ( to taste)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Thaw frozen hash browns ( just a little bit)
3. Mix all but the parmesan with the potatoes.
4. Transfer this mix to a presprayed 9X13 inch baking dish ( I prefer a glass one)
5. Sprinkle the parmesan over the top.
6. Bake at 350F for 60-90 minutes (depending on your oven temp…I would highly recommend getting an oven thermometer..very handy)
7. Voila!  Delicious Schwartzies!

Yummy Potatoey Goodness! Mmmmmmmmm!

Now, I know this is definitely not the healthiest dish in the world, but man do they taste good!  Besides, isn’t Thanksgiving also about being thankful you have the rest of the year (or at least until Christmas) to work off those two plates of turkey dinner? I believe it is!