Christmas in January

Since we traveled to Disney World at Christmas, I missed out on what I see as a traditional Christmas Eve and Christmas Day experience. For me, this involves soup of some sort on Christmas Eve (preferably gumbo), followed by an assortment of cookies. Christmas Day favorites include ham and sweet potato casserole.

I mentioned to a group of friends that I thought I should have Christmas in January to capture the things I missed in December. This idea was greeted with great enthusiasm and we had a dinner party last night.

Offerings were:
Cheese ball
Cream cheese with pepper jelly
Bruschetta

Salad with homemade dijon viniagrette
Cran apple casserole
Green bean casserole
Mashed potatoes
Sweet potato casserole
Tomato Spinach Artichoke Soup
Ham
Rolls

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls (with rice krispies inside, yum!)
Magic Bars
Pecan Tassies

It was a wonderful time of food, fun and friends. I contributed the following:

Tomato Spinach Artichoke Soup (from my friend Aimee's recipe blog!)
4 tbs olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 tbs minced garlic
1 tsp dried thyme
15 oz can artichoke hearts, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup frozen chopped spinach
28oz can chopped tomatoes, with juices
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/3 cup sour cream

Saute onion in olive oil.
Add garlic and thyme and saute a tad longer.
Add remaining ingredients, except sour cream, and let simmer 30 minutes.
Add sour cream and heat for 5 more minutes.

Pecan Tassies
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sifted flour
1 egg
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt
2/3 cup chopped pecans

Blend cream cheese and butter.
Stir in flour.
Chill for at least 1 hour.
Shape into small balls and place in ungreased mini muffin pans.
Press dough against bottom and sides.
Place 1/2 of pecans into shells.
Beat together egg, brown sugar, 1 tbsp butter, vanilla and salt.
Put topping over pecans in shells.
Top with remaining pecans.
Bake at 325 for 25 minutes.

I forgot to read my own directions and greased the muffin pans. I think the crust would have been crispier had I not done this. Maybe I'll remember next time!

Sweet Potato Casserole
3 lbs. sweet potatoes
3 eggs
1/3-1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp or more vanilla

Boil sweet potatoes until soft.
Remove potato skins and mash with fork.
Beat remaining ingredients together until smooth.

Top with:
left over pecan tassie filling
1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/3 - 1/2 cup butter, melted

(The recipe actually calls for 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup chopped pecans, 1/3 cup flour, 1/3 cup melted butter, so feel free to use this if you're not making pecan tassies on the same day.)

Mix all together and put on casserole. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes, uncovered.

Chicken Fajitas

1 lb. thin chicken strips (I used fajita style chicken strips purchased via Angel Food Ministries)
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
3/4 of an onion
1 tbsp olive oil
2 dashes chili powder
dash garlic powder
flour tortillas

Slice peppers and onion in food processor (or by hand, if you must)

Heat oil in skillet

Saute chicken until almost done

Add veggies and cook to desired softness

Serve in flour tortillas and top with sour cream, salsa, cheese as desired.

We had this with refried beans from a can, mixed with 1 heaping tablespoon of salsa and 2 heaping tablespoons of plain yogurt while heating over medium low heat.

EXTRA TIP: While I had the food processor out and was slicing peppers anyway, I went ahead and sliced another three peppers and put them in the freezer to use in soups, casseroles, etc. as needed. I also went ahead and chopped the entire onion and froze the 1/4 of it that I didn't need for tonight's dinner.

Spaghetti Pie

8-10 oz. spaghetti, cooked
2 medium eggs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/3 cup milk
1 lb. ground turkey
1 jar spaghetti sauce
garlic powder
dried basil
dried parsley
brown sugar
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1 Tbsp crumbled feta
1 Tbsp fresh mozzarella, crumbled

Brown ground turkey. Drain fat.

Add spaghetti sauce of choice, doctored as you like it. I used the above spices and about 1 tbsp brown sugar.

Mix eggs, parmesan and milk. Add spaghetti noodles and stir to coat.

Place spaghetti mixture in 9 X 13 pan.

Cover with spaghetti sauce.

Top with cheeses.

Bake, covered, for 20 minutes at 350.

Uncover and bake 10 additional minutes.

I'll be serving this with texas toast and a spring mix salad with halved cherry tomatoes, pecans and feta cheese.

Fast Black Bean Soup

I have about 20 minutes to put together a dinner that the girls and I can eat when we return home from A's PTO performance this evening. Luckily, a friend had blogged about this recipe:

1/4 cup pineapple salsa
3/4 cup regular salsa
1 can chicken broth
2 cans black beans, drained and well-rinsed
plain yogurt

Heat the salsas in a pot over medium low heat for 3-5 minutes.

Add broth and black beans and heat for 15 minutes, or until returning from PTO meeting.

Blend partially with submersible blender.

Top with plain yogurt (or sour cream, if you happen to have that).

The original recipe calls for lime juice and fresh cilantro, which I'm sure would be lovely, but there is not time in my afternoon agenda for a stop at the store, so we'll go with this and see how we like it. I'll probably top with a few whole grain tortillas for a bit of crunch.

Curry Chicken Casserole

Sometimes you just want comfort food. Perhaps I should say sometimes I just want comfort food. I've had a cold all week that keeps getting worse and I really want some homemade chicken soup. However, I don't have any homemade chicken stock in the freezer and I just can't make chicken soup without real stock. I decided this was the next best thing - and easy, since I had the ingredients on hand.

1 cup dry rice, cooked (use 1 1/2 cups dry next time)
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, defrosted :-)
1 can cream of chicken soup
2/3 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp dry mustard (use 1/4 tsp next time)
1/2 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1 package frozen chopped broccoli pieces
1 sleeve ritz crackers
1/4 cup butter or margarine

Put cooked rice in greased 9 X 13 pan.

Layer chicken over rice, followed by broccoli.

Stir together cream of chicken soup, yogurt and spices.

Pour mixture over broccoli.

Crush sleeve of ritz crackers.

Melt butter and mix with crackers.

Sprinkle on top of casserole.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Meatball Soup

1 bag frozen turkey meatballs
28 oz. crushed tomatoes
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, with juice
28 oz. water
1 1/2 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Pour all ingredients into crockpot and cook for several hours.

We took half of this recipe to friends with a new baby and ate the rest ourselves.

When serving, top with parmesan cheese or add chunks of fresh mozzarella, which we did last night.

The girls love this soup. Even K, who is not a fan of protein in any form gobbles up the soup and the meatballs!

Chicken Apple Tacos

1 1/2 cups cooked chicken
1 onion, chopped
1 red apple, sliced
1 green apple, sliced
1 TBSP butter
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 garlic clove, minced
salt
pepper
corn tortillas

Melt butter in pan. Saute onions until softening.

Add apples and saute until medium soft.

Stir in chicken and remaining ingredients and heat through.

Heat corn tortillas in pan over medium heat and serve.

Fresh Tomato Pasta

Cooked macaroni or other pasta
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp basil
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt & pepper to taste
3-4 oz. fresh mozzarella, diced

Heat olive oil, basil and garlic over medium heat. Add tomatoes and cook until beginning to soften.

Add pasta and diced mozzarella to bowls.

Ladle tomatoes over top and serve with garlic bread.

Pork Tacos

Left-over pork from crockpot
1 zucchini, chopped
sauted onion, red pepper, yellow pepper and green pepper (1/2 of each)
1/2 packet taco seasoning
corn tortillas
shredded cheddar cheese

Heat first four ingredients over medium low heat until warmed through and zucchini are desired crispness.

Heat corn tortillas, one at a time over medium heat.

Serve together with cheese on top.

My girls loved these tacos alongside a fruit salad of cantaloupe, strawberries and apples.

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

1 box yellow cake mix
1 small box vanilla pudding
1 cup oil
1 cup milk
4 eggs, lightly beaten
8 oz. german chocolate bar, chopped

Mix first five ingredients.

Fold in chocolate chunks.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

This is A's birthday cake each year. It's moist without being overly rich, a requirement for a birthday that follows so closely on the overindulgent holidays.

Carrot Souffle and Apple Pecan Salad

2 cans carrots, drained
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
6 tbsp flour
6 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
dash of cinnamon

Heat butter and carrots in the microwave until butter is melted.

Puree in food processor until smooth.

Add remaining ingredients and puree until smooth.

Pour into well greased 9 x 13 casserole dish and bake at 350 for approximately 60 minutes.

I doubled the original recipe for this in order to feed 7 people. It was A's request for her birthday dinner and we had it along with:

1 bag mixed greens salad
1 apple, chopped
1 tsp butter
3/4 cup pecans, chopped
3 Tbsp feta cheese

Dry roast pecans in a pan over medium high heat.

Melt butter and lightly saute apples.

Toss all together with feta and salad greens.

We had these two side dishes with the sweet and sour pork from yesterday's post and chocolate chip pound cake. (Recipe to follow later.)

Sweet and Sour Pork

A's birthday is tomorrow and her requests for dinner were carrot souffle and salad. I decided pork was a nice accompaniment to the items she wanted, so I'm trying this:

1 cup red wine (I used shiraz)
2 T worcestershire sauce
2 T balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup grape or blackberry jelly (I wanted blackberry, but used grape, which was on hand)
1/3 cup peach pineapple salsa
5 lb. boston butt

Mix all liquid ingredients together and pour over pork.

I'll let this marinate for a few hours and then put it in the crockpot on low before I go to bed this evening to be ready for dinner tomorrow night.

Tomato Tart

My Bible Study is having a wrap-up potluck tonight for our last meeting on the book of Ruth, so I'm making two tomato tarts - one to bring and one for my family to eat. Since the pie shells come two to a box, I nearly always make two of these. I'll often share one with a family who just had a baby or otherwise could use a meal. The tart is good paired with a vegetable soup or hearty salad.

2 refrigerated pie crusts
4 cups shredded mozzarella
4 Tbsp feta cheese
6-8 roma tomatoes, sliced
olive oil
garlic salt
basil
salt
pepper

Place each pie crust in a pie dish.

Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with a dash of garlic salt.

Put two cups of mozzarella in each pie shell and top with 2 Tbsp feta.

Arrange sliced tomatoes on top of cheese.

Brush tomatoes with olive oil and sprinkle basil, salt and pepper on top.

Bake at 400 for 25-35 minutes or until bubbly.

Vegetable Enchilada Casserole

I've had a few cans of black beans in the pantry for a while and wanted to use them this week. When I was at the store, they were out of flour tortillas, so I nixed my original idea of doing bean burritos and decided to try this using the corn tortillas that were available.

1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 can Rotel tomatoes
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 pack taco seasoning
dash of chili powder
dash of garlic powder
1/2 cup salsa (I used medium red and mild green salsa combined)
sour cream
shredded cheese
corn tortillas

Saute onion and peppers in olive oil.

Mix together with remaining ingredients (except tortillas).

Place 1/3 of veggie mixture in bottom of crockpot.

Spread thin layer of sour cream on tortillas and place on top of veggie mixture.

Repeat with remaining ingredients, ending with tortillas on top.

Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of tortillas.

Cook on low for 5 hours. Serve with sour cream and cheese on the side.

Spinach Breakfast Casserole

We had brunch with some good friends this morning and I brought Spinach Breakfast Casserole to share. Here's what I did:

1 lb. sausage, browned
1/2 cup diced bell pepper
10 oz. frozen spinach
4 slices of bread, cubed (larger bread)
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
2/3 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 tsp minced garlicf
3-4 slices gouda cheese
3-4 slices colby jack cheese

Place cubed bread in greased 9 X 13 casserole dish.

Brown sausage, adding peppers part way through and spinach just before everything is done.

Mix sausage, peppers and spinach with remaining ingredients and pour over bread cubes.

Refrigerate overnight.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Top with salsa when serving.