Christmas

1. Turkey, baked in a bag.

2. Mashed potatoes, red, skin on, mashed with butter and some roasted garlic.

3.  Grandma’s Green Bean Casserole from Allrecipies.com:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3 (14.5 ounce) cans French style green beans, drained
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup crumbled buttery round crackers
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth, and cook for one minute. Stir in the salt, sugar, onion, and sour cream. Add green beans, and stir to coat.

Transfer the mixture to a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Spread shredded cheese over the top. In a small bowl, toss together cracker crumbs and remaining butter, and sprinkle over the cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven until the top is golden and cheese is bubbly.

4. Darlene’s Buttered Squash 

Preheat oven to 350
Combine in large saucepan over low heat:
1 package frozen squash
3 T. butter
6 T. sugar
2 eggs
½ c. milk
½ t. ginger
¼ t. coconut flavor
¼ t. salt
Bake in casserole dish for 30 minutes, until set in center. Or, set it up in a crock pot to save room in your oven.

5. Cranberry Sauce

• 1 cup (200 g) sugar
• 1 cup (250 mL) water
• 4 cups (1 12-oz package) fresh or frozen cranberries
• Optional Pecans, orange zest, raisins, currants, blueberries, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice.

Wash and pick over cranberries. In a saucepan bring to a boil water and sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add cranberries, return to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer for 10 minutes or until cranberries burst. Mash if desired.

6. Rolls Rhodes Multi-Grain heat and serve.

7. Bread Stuffing http://whatisthewillishouseholdeatingnow.blogspot.com/search?q=stuffing

Another Vegetable Soup

I should start by stating that I like hearty soups.  I don't tend to cook flavored water.

So, for dinner tonight, we're having vegetable soup and grilled cheese.

For the vegetable soup,  I dumped the following ingredients into the crockpot, and turned it on:
3 cans of diced tomatoes (with these flavors: fire roasted, basil, garlic, rosemary and oregano)
2 cans of beans, drained
1 package of mixed vegetables
probably about 1/2 can of water


My verdict:  very good!

Stuffing!

Saute in 2 sticks of butter:
3 1/2 c. chopped celery
3+ c. chopped onion

Add:
1 t. thyme
1 1/2 t. salt
2 t. rubbed sage
1 t. pepper

Separately, in large bowl:
1 loaf of Brownberry Health Nut bread, cubed
15 oz. sliced mushrooms
1/3 c. craisins
1/3 c. raisins
3/4 c. walnuts

Pour butter mixture over bread mixture and stir to combine.

I put mine in the oven for an hour, or in the crock pot, and topped it with some pomegranate seeds since I had them on hand.

Blackberry Pie

I started here:
http://eggallergyandrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/09/best-egg-free-apple-crumb-pie.html

But, (as usual) I made some substitutions.  Not that this pie needs any, as I've tasted the original.  Here it is anyway:

1/2 of the flour was whole wheat
2 T. cornstarch vs. 1.5T
1/2 t. ground cloves vs. 1 t. cinnamon
and finally, blackberries instead of apples


Verdict: Mmmm!

Sausage Gravy and Biscuits

The Biscuits:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/fluffy-whole-wheat-biscuits/detail.aspx

I liked them a lot.  I will try them again.  I used brown sugar instead of white.


The Gravy:
most of the drippings from 1 lb. of breakfast sausage
about 1/3 c. flour (some whole wheat)
enough rice milk to make it saucy
salt and pepper to taste

My gravy was too thick and salty, but otherwise, it was a good meal.

Thai Pork Burritos

from my cousin-in-law Kara, from Nancy

I often do this without the pork, and serve it with whole grain tortillas

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground pork (ground turkey works too)

2 T grated ginger root

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1 bag coleslaw mix

1 tsp. sesame oil

3 T soy sauce

2 T lime juice

½ tsp. crushed red pepper

Fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish

8 flour tortillas

Directions:

1. Heat dutch oven over high heat. Add pork. Cook, crumble & stir 4-5 minutes or until pork is no longer pink.

2. Add ginger, garlic, onion & coleslaw mix. Stir-fry with with pork 3-4 minutes or until vegetables are wilted.

3. In small bowl, combine remaining ingredients, except tortillas & cilantro. Add to skillet. Stir constantly to blend all ingredients well.

4. Spoon into tortillas. Garnish with cilantro. Roll up.

If you’re really feeling adventurous, this also makes a great filling for egg rolls – use the directions on the egg roll wrapper package. Yum!

Accidental Vegetable Goulash

from the Vegetarian Bean and Barley Soup recipe at this link:

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/soupsstewsandchili/r/barleyvegsoup.htm

Saute in 1 T. butter, 1 T. olive oil:

I minced onion

4 ribs of celery, chopped

4 larger carrots, chopped

approx. 3/4 c. cauliflower

2 cans of vegetable broth, and also added some water

2 cans of crushed tomatoes.

2 cans of beans

1 1/2 + c. pearled barley

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. black pepper

1 t. basil

1 t. Italian seasoning

1 t. thyme

Bring to a boil, simmer for 1 hour.

Served with cornbread muffins from my brother's recipe.

Verdict: good, filling.