CHRISTMAS RECIPES 2016


easy christmas dinner recipes marie calendar's pies green bean casserole recipe healthy snacks Santa pancakes gluten free gingerbread men cookies

Christmas dinner was perfect!

We decided to do a Christmas eve dinner and it was my first time cooking for Christmas since we’ve been married…actually it was my first time cooking Christmas dinner ever!  Of course I would help my mom, or make a dish or two whenever we’d go to others’ houses, but this was the first time I did everything.  I got to choose all the dishes, make all the dishes and leave out the ones we don’t like.
There was no way I was going to tackle a turkey for our little family of 3 and one nursing baby.  I made ham-because I’ve been craving it lately-with  my mom’s spicy honey & mustard glaze (with a few alterations of my own), green bean casserole, savory yams, pie and homemade cranberry sauce.  I’m one of those weird people who look forward to the cranberry sauce lol.  Then of course Kylie and I made cookies throughout the month and we ate tons of Christmasy snacks.  Today I’ll share recipes/where I got certain items that I shared on my Insta feed.  Maybe in another post I’ll share how I made everything in Christmas dinner (because the ham and glaze actually turned out incredible!)

SAVORY YAMS

3 sweet potatoes peeled and washed
slice about 1/4 inch thick
place in glass 8 x 8 casserole dish with approx 3 Tbls olive oil (just enough to lightly coat majority of potatoes
bake at 375-400 degrees F (depending on how hot your oven gets) for 45-55 min.  We like the edges to turn slightly brown (they turn sweet and crispy).  sprinkle on garlic salt and slap ya mama seasoning.

GINGERBREAD MEN & ALMOND NOG

Cookies: Sprouts Farmer’s Market
Almond Nog: Silk brand any grocery store

SANTA PANCAKES (gluten free)

6 strawberries sliced in half
1 banana
whip cream
2 choc chips
gluten free pancake mix (we like this one)

Slice the strawberries-you may need to just cut the sides off and leave the middle out if the strawberries are very big and thick-slice banana.  Use the banana slices for the beard, strawberries for the hat.  The tip of one strawberry for Santa’s nose.  Choc chips for the eyes, and place the whip cream where desired for mustache, hat trim and pom pom etc.  It’s prob easier to look at the pic and copy 😀

CINNAMON APPLE SLICES

One large apple (we like Galas)
Sprinkle with cinnamon

GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE
(make one 8 x 8 pan)

3 cans green beans
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1/4 c cheese
lots of fried onion crisps
salt and pepper to taste

combine all ingredients in large bowl (leave some onion crisps to sprinkle on top later) and mix until all is combined.  Pour into casserole dish and bake at 350 for 45-60 min.  Sprinkle remaining onion crisps on top for last 10 min.

PIE

Marie Calendar’s frozen pies (lol) They’re our favorite, so why bother baking something when one I love already exists pre-made right 🙂

“If you only look forward to tomorrow there will be no yesterday to remember and no tomorrow to enjoy.  Let’s learn to enjoy now