Christmas Recipes

For Christmas Eve dinner we had chuck roast that I was supposed to do in the crock pot but didn’t do it in time. I put it in the pressure cooker (it was 2.5 or 3 lbs) for 60 minutes then did natural release. I skipped the carrots. I made the recipe for gravy.  

https://www.melskitchencafe.com/perfect-pot-roast-and-gravy/

https://www.melskitchencafe.com/buttery-pull-apart-bundt-bread/

We also made fruit salad but didn’t like the recipe. Next time I may try just vanilla yogurt and whipped cream with blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries. Or just plain berries. 

We had a green salad, instant mashed potatoes, Bundt pan rolls, and hot chocolate for dessert. It was a great meal. 

Christmas breakfast was a winner. I didn’t have to force my kids to eat it. I made the casserole and the Bundt rolls the night before so I didn’t do anything except powder sugar and slice oranges and cook the casserole and Bundt rolls. We had this with egg nog. My favorite is almond nog right now. Still get flavor but don’t feel sick after. 

https://www.melskitchencafe.com/make-ahead-overnight-tater-tot-breakfast-casserole/

We ate it with ketchup, salsa, and green onions 

I through the pecans in the blendTech for a sec so they would be more like halves. All the butter and brown sugar was really good on the bottom of the rolls but there wasn’t much on the top. It would be good to add a mix butter and brown before the rolls are added. I didn’t cook them for 30 minutes. I did more like 20 I think. They did need to be covered with foil the last little while too. 

For lunch, we had cheese and crackers. 

For dinner we had leftover turkey soup with leftover fruit salad, green salad, and leftover Bundt rolls from the night before. For dinner we had a premade Oreo pie crust with York peppermint patty pudding that refrigerates for 30 minutes. Then I topped each serving with whipped cream and shaved Andes mints. 

https://www.melskitchencafe.com/the-best-leftover-turkey-soup/

I felt like every meal was simple and easy. It was a success! 

Valentines or Anytime Sheet Pan Eggs

I needed some type of egg that I could cut a heart out of for valentines so i used this as a guideline, but added cut up ham, 3 or 4 green onions, 1/4 tsp salt, pepper, about 1/3 cup sour cream and about 3/4 cups shredded cheese. It was so fast and tasted a lot like grandma glo's recipe. 

Sheet Pan Eggs – How to Cook 12 Eggs Quick!

Sheet Pan Eggs are easy way to cook 12 eggs quick! These eggs are great to feed a crowd, use for microwave omelets or for a big batch of make ahead freezer breakfast sandwiches!

Ingredients

• 12 large eggs(I had 15 so i used all of mine)
• 2-3 tablespoons water

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Prepare a 12 x 17 sheet pan with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Whisk the eggs and water together and pour on the sheet pan.
4. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes until eggs are cooked through (no loose liquid) but not too browned

Here's another comment/twist I'd like to try:
Yes, I have been making eggs this way for more than thirty plus years. One of my favorite things to do is after cooking the eggs, immediately invert the pan on to a piece of parchment paper which is laid on top of a clean lint-free towel to help insulate and keep the eggs hot. Quickly spread precooked vegetables and herbs of your choice almost to the side ends, but not quite, similar to making a jelly roll or a roll of cinnamon roll bread (broccoli, onions and mushrooms make a great combination), and top with shredded cheddar cheese or cheese of your choice and bacon, sausage or ham or all three. Now roll up the long way, meaning from the shorter width, being careful to not tear your eggs. Then sprinkle cheese on top and baked for a few minutes until cheese is melted and roll is hot. Serve with garlic toast or toast of your choosing. This is one of my family’s favorite meals and after 30 plus years, they never tire of it. I also use the baked eggs to make egg sandwiches and so on. I introduced a lot of vegetables in this way to my children when they were little. My mother made this when I was a child and we loved it too. Happy cooking, everyone!


OR THIS!
 http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-freezer-friendly-frittata-breakfast-sandwiches-227329

Puffy Oven Pancake from Risa

I usually make my recipe from Betty Crocker book but when Risa came to visit she made a version that was much better than mine. This is it:

let 1/2 stick of butter melt in oven  in 9x13 pan while preheating to 400 degrees.
6 eggs
1 c. flour
1 c. milk

Mix three ingredients with beaters or in blendtec.
add 1 tsp. salt and three dashes or about 1/2 T. ? of vanilla.
cook for 22 min. 

Bacon Mushroom Spinach Frittata

We had this for dinner and I liked cooking something different to mix it up. It wasn't too hard either which is nice. Next time I would love to add chopped green onions and serve with hash browns and oranges. http://damndelicious.net/2015/02/02/bacon-mushroom-spinach-frittata/?m

Bacon Mushroom Spinach Frittata

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Yield 4 servings

So quick, so easy and so perfect as a quick weeknight dinner or fancy brunch - and you can make it ahead of time too!

Ingredients

• 5 large eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• Dash of hot sauce
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 slices bacon, diced-Beth used crumbled bacon from Costco
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced-Beth feels there were too many mushrooms and that 4 0z. Would be better. 
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 1 Roma tomato, diced

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, basil, oregano, thyme and hot sauce; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.
• Heat a large oven-proof skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes, reserving 1 tablespoon excess fat. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
• Add garlic and mushrooms to the skillet, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and browned, about 3-4 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in spinach and tomato until the spinach begins to wilt, about 2-3 minutes.
• Stir in egg mixture and bacon, reserving 2 tablespoons, until well combined. Cook, undisturbed, until edges are set, about 2 minutes. Top with remaining bacon.
• Place into oven and bake until top is set and golden brown, about 14-15 minutes.
• Serve immediately.

zucchini and summer squash casserole

THIS recipe is very good. It reminds me a bit of a good egg casserole as it has that egg element in it. Mine looked better than this picture, i have to say. I think it's taken before the crumbly topping goes on. quite a few adjustments. I didn't have to cook the zucchini as long as it says and also, I cut them thicker than pictured. I used one really big green zuchini and three small/medium yellow squash. I cut down the salt and pepper by about 1/3 and added just a sprinkle of thyme (I don't love thyme).  I used vitamin D milk instead of cream. I think that's all. I think it's pretty versitile :)

Mark's Coconut Oatmeal Pancakes

Mark made up a pancake recipe and he has made it twice.  I love coconut so this is favorite of mine. These are all guesses for the amounts of course but at least it's written down so I can recreate it!

1/4 C. of oats
3/4 C. of wheat flour
1 heaping T. of coconut oil
1 egg
1 T. brown sugar
a pinch of salt
dash of vanilla
1 C. or so of milk
1 heaping tsp. of baking powder  :)

The only thing I would change is to add some coconut flakes to it.

Gingerbread Waffles

I love gingerbread so I thought these were so fun!  Apparently you can make them fat free too because I didn't even notice I left out the butter until I opened my microwave and there the butter. :) What I also thought was so fun was that I had vanilla frosting in the fridge and it was so good spread on the top.  It was like eating a gingerbread cookie for breakfast!  Whoo-hoo!  I ran out of molasses so I ended up using 1/2 of the amount of brown sugar. I also didn't have yogurt or sour cream so I used 1 tsp of vinegar and mixed it was milk (enough to make a cup)  so that it would be like buttermilk.

The recipe is one I got off pinterest called alaskafromscratch but it is adapted from Annie's Eats.

1. C. white Flour
1 C. whole wheat flour
2 T. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1/1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
4 eggs
6 T. of butter melted
1 C. milk
1/2 C. plain greek yogurt or sour cream
3 T. molasses

Preheat  waffle iron and spray with nonstick spray. In large bowl stir together dry ingredients.  In smaller bowl whisk together wet ingredients.  Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and whisk until completely incorporated.  Serve with syrup, butter, and powdered sugar.

oatmeal cinnamon waffles

http://codykitchenconfections.blogspot.com/2012/01/cinnamon-and-brown-sugar-oatmeal.html?m=1


 Julie made similar waffles when I was at her house and I loved them so I thought I'd find the recipe. I couldn't find the exact one but I did find this one and changed it a little. I decreased the flour by a fourth a cup and used whole wheat and I did 2 tablespoons of canola oil instead of butter.

Easy Broccoli Quiche

This is a recipe I have had for a while and made it again last night so I thought I would share.   Here is the link:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-broccoli-quiche/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=easy%20broccoli%20quiche&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

Easy Broccoli Quiche

Rated:	Prep Time: 20 Minutes	Ready In: 50 Minutes
Submitted By: sal	Cook Time: 30 Minutes	Servings: 6

"This easy vegetarian quiche is a snap to make but looks great on the table."

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter 1 onion, minced  Beth used 3/4 of a large and it was still a lot of onion 1 teaspoon minced garlic 2 cups chopped fresh broccoli  Beth used frozen chopped Beth added one chopped red bell pepper 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust  Beth made one from her Betty Crocker Cookbook but substituted the flour for wheat and the shortening for butter 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

4 eggs, well beaten 1 1/2 cups milk 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1 tablespoon butter, melted  Beth never added this

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.	Over medium-low heat melt butter in a large saucepan. Add onions, garlic and broccoli  (and red bell pepper if want). Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft. Spoon vegetables into crust and sprinkle with cheese.
3.	Combine eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in melted butter. Pour egg mixture over vegetables and cheese.
4.	Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until center has set.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2012 Allrecipes.com

Printed from Allrecipes.com 7/24/2012

homemade Pop tarts

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/05/30/recipe-whole-wheat-toaster-pastries-a-k-a-pop-tarts/

I have gotten almost all my recipes off this website! Sheesh! Sorry if you have seen these already...

So, these were SO good! They almost reminded me of lemon bars. So I liked them, but only because they tasted like a dessert. There is SOO much butter in these and we used Apricot homemade jam (which has a lot of sugar in it still). So I don't think they are nutritious, but way better then store bought and other recipes I looked at. So if you find another recipe like this that doesn't have so much butter let me know. Also mine did not look like the ones in the picture. Mine were runny, but they still worked. I didn't roll them out I just plopped them on the cooked sheet with tin foil underneath and folded them over.

So I would definitely make these again. I am going to reduce the butter on it on see if it turns out and maybe used honey? or Carob? or fresh fruit smashed?
Then I think I would feel better eating them.
You will LOVE them!

 http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/homemade-healthy-poptarts
HERE Is a Healthier version I found! I substituted unsweetened applesauce for some of the butter and used plain Greek yogurt. I mashed up some strawberries and used them as the filling (so no sugar added from jam. If you are planning on eating them soon I would do this and add some powdered sugar on top for some extra sweet (but not too much;)). If you are planning to freeze or keep them in the fridge for 2 or 3 days the real strawberries start to turn gooey, turns a dark color and soggy (just not apetizing if you look at it but still yummy). I would use jam if you want to freexe or keep in fridge. ENJOY!

Oven Baked Onion Rings

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/jeff-mauro/oven-fried-onion-rings-recipe/index.html

This recipe got 4 Stars! I had stale whole wheat bread that I had so I made a bunch of breadcrumbs and froze them. Instead of Panko Crumbs, use whole wheat ones! Also instead of buttermilk use regular milk.

I have heard that when you bread things add the oil AND bread crumbs in the same bowl and coat all at once, instead of dipping in the oil and then the breadcrumbs. They stay together a lot better. Use Wheat flour also ( I used white wheat flour). Seriously you will never want to go back to regular onion rings.

I eat these with black bean burgers and veggies burgers my favorite meals.

Beth's Omelet Recipe

I am so proud!! I made up my own omelet recipe and it was awesome! 

You will need:
3 1/2 c. chopped veggies and/or meat   (I had some frozen turkey sausage links I needed to use up so I used those along with mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers).
12 eggs
1/2 c. milk
1 t. salt
dash of pepper
1 1/4 c. cheese

Chop meat/veggies and set aside.  Beat eggs, milk, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.  Add meat/veggie mixture to bowl and stir.  Pour in a greased 8x8 pan and 12 greased muffin cups--fill only 2/3 full or pour it all in a greased 9x13 pan. I like to grease muffin cups so I can freeze individual little omelets to pull out for breakfast. Cook at 375. 40 min for 9x13, 20 min for muffin cups, or 30 min 8x8 pan.  You know when it's done if eggs in the middle are set when jiggling the pan.

Spinach Burgers

If you just thought "ew, Spinach burgers" then I wouldn't try this recipe. I really like veggie burgers so this reminded my of this. I would have veggie burgers at Shivers and they were so good! I thought they were a nice change, healthy and it cooked just like a burger. I liked them! I had Bethany's baked Fries with them!

 http://thevillagecook.com/spinach-burgers/http://thevillagecook.com/spinach-burgers/