Kikk Up Your Thanksgiving (& My First Giveaway!)

------This Giveaway is Now Closed------

A little while ago, I was contacted by Kikkoman with a cool offer. They were looking for homecooks who might be interested in "Kikk-ing" up their Thanksgiving by using Kikkoman products to prepare their entire Thanksgiving meal.

I know you all are probably thinking the same thing I did initially. "Kikkoman? For Thanksgiving??" But I decided to give it a try!

So the good folks at Kikkoman sent me all this stuff to help with my meal preparation. I got:

• $25 Whole Foods Gift Card for the ingredients
• Kikkoman's Naturally Brewed Soy Sauce
• 6 assorted full size Kikkoman products for me to use/try out
• Kikkoman tongs and a spoon rest
• Kikkoman apron
• Kikkoman reusable grocery bag
• A brand new Kikko rubber duck (just for fun)

Here's my handy grocery bag filled full of yummy things for the meal :o)

They also included for yummy recipes for me to prepare.

• Savory Turkey Brine
• Green Bean Casserole
• Glazed Yams
• Panko Crusted Mashed Potato Cakes

So I put my apron on, grabbed my ingredients and got to work! (I know I look like crap, but since I'd been cooking all day, I'm giving myself a pass on my appearance)

Even Kikko duck got in on the action! He supervised! :o)

So after a day of cooking, here's how everything turned out -

Savory Turkey Brine

Let me just start off by saying that when I dumped out this brine (after brining the turkey overnight), it smelled so good!! It made me excited for how the turkey was gonna taste!

Now I've never cooked a turkey before, so I looked around and decided to use this tutorial and cook the turkey low and slow (and covered), which is why it doesn't have that crispy crust most people are used to. I only seasoned it with a little melted butter, salt, and pepper because I really wanted to be able to taste the flavors from the brine (Kikkoman Soy Sauce, water, sugar, salt, celery seed, thyme, and sage).

The verdict? Yummy!! Everyone kept commenting on how delicious and moist the turkey was. This recipe was definitely a hit!

Green Bean Casserole

Who doesn't love green bean casserole? This recipe was super simple to make and used all the traditional flavors. The Kikkoman twist? Putting the onions in the casserole, and using Kikkoman Panko Bread Crumbs on top instead of the fried onions. Certainly healthier without the "fried" topping, but it didn't sacrifice the flavor! My mom said the panko was a great alternative to the traditional casserole topping.

Glazed Yams

This recipe made me the most nervous. It involves using the Kikkoman Teriyaki Baste & Glaze with Honey & Pineapple. I wasn't sure how teriyaki flavor worked in with Thanksgiving, but I just went with it. Then, once I made the glaze and was getting ready to pour it on the yams, I tasted it first and freaked out! All I could taste was teriyaki! I was so scared how this was going to turn out!

Much to my surprise (and relief) a lot of the teriyaki flavoring baked off in the oven. When FH tried them, I asked him (nervously) how it tasted and he responded with "Like cinnamon". Yay!! I should have known that the people at Kikkoman knew what they were doing. I'll never doubt again! :o)

Panko Crusted Mashed Potato Cakes

Oh. My. God! These were by far the biggest hit!! We all love fried foods and we all love mashed potatoes. This recipe combines the two for this awesome dish! Using Kikkoman Panko Bread Crumbs as a coating makes a wonderful light and crispy crust for your mashed potato cakes. Let me say it one more time - DELICIOUS!!

All-in-all these recipes were a success! Who knew Kikkoman products could help make such a fantastic Thanksgiving feast?

And for all you homecooks out there who are interested in "Kikk-ing" up your own meals, Kikkoman has graciously offered to give 2 full-size Kikkoman products (to be chosen at random) to one lucky Homemade Diva reader!

Here's how to enter (please leave a separate comment for each entry):

• Follow this blog (or tell me that you already do)  one entry
• Head over to Kikkoman and tell me what recipe you'd love to try  one entry
• Like The Homemade Diva on Facebook  one entry
• Like Kikkoman's Kitchen on Facebook  one entry 

This giveaway will end Thursday, November 18th at 8 p.m. MST (I gotta be in bed early)

And as a treat for everyone, Kikkoman currently has a "Buy One, Get One Free" Coupon that you all can use to recreate these recipes at home!

Happy cooking!