St. Patrick's Day Shephard's Pie

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Did y'all wear green today?  I made sure to!  I've always hated the tradition of pinching people.  I take no risks.

Ken loves the fact that St. Patrick's Day means he'll get a shephard's pie.  He adores shephard's pie.  Up until today I've always felt that my shepherd's pie has been missing something.  It never looked as pretty as all the pictures I've seen online.  I have found the perfect recipe though.  I guess I should say, I altered the perfect recipe.

Alton Brown never ceases to amaze me.  It is his recipe that I started out with.  I made very few alterations.  

Vegetarian Shephard's Pie with Green Mashed Potatoes
Adapted from:  Alton Brown's Shephard Pie
For the potatoes:
1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes
.25 cup skim milk
.25 cup fat free cream cheese 
2-3 cups chopped cooked broccoli (I used leftover.  You can either puree it in a food processor or chop it by hand)

Filling
2 medium onions, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 T minced garlic
1 bag of Boca Soy Crumbles
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons tomato paste
3 cup vegetable broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons freshly chopped rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon freshly chopped thyme leaves
.5 cup corn kernels
.5 cup peas


Directions

1. Peel and chop potatoes.
2. Place in a pot and cover with cold water
3. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes until soft.
4. Drain, put back into pot, add milk and cream cheese, and mash until smooth 
5. Mix in broccoli until combined evenly.  Set aside
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
7. Spray a large pan and heat over med-high.
8. Add onions and carrots and cook until slightly soft, adding a bit of water to keep them from sticking
9. Add Boca crumbles, tomato paste and flour. Evenly cover the crumbles and vegetables with flour
10. Add in broth, wocestershire, rosemary, thyme and stir together.
11. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to simmer.  Let it go for 10-12 minutes or until the sauce is thick
12. Add corn and peas and simmer for approximately 1-2 minutes
13. Grease an 11x7 baking dish and pour filling in.
14. Carefully top with mashed potatoes, spreading evenly.
15. Bake for 20 minutes.  
16. When you remove it from the oven make sure to let it sit and cool for a while.

What do you normally make for St. Patrick's Day?  Do you go with an Irish theme or a green theme?

Kitchen Sink Stew

Normally my family isn't very helpful when it comes to dinner.  When I ask what they would like they normally respond, "it doesn't matter", "whatever you want", "I don't know", or "I don't care."  So, when I actually get requests I love it.  The other night I recieved a request for stew.  Coincidentally enough I was already planning on doing stew the following nite.  We ended up getting into a conversation of what should be in the stew and the following recipe is what we came up with.  I actually added vegetarian sausage into it.  I didn't calculate it into the nutritional information but, I added a whole roll of it.  It shouldn't add very many extra calories but, it does up the protein and sodium some too.

To go with it I made some cornbread (one of Kaylee's favorite things.)  The recipe came from Happy Herbivore's new book Light & Lean.  It is really good.  I normally don't like cornbread and I found that I could tolerate this one.  Yet again, I didn't get a photo.  

These recipes were so go we all went back for seconds {and thirds and fourths...}   

Kitchen Sink Stew
Serves about 10
Calories: 153.7
Fat: 0.6 grams
Sodium: 325 grams
Protein: 6.4 grams
2 lbs Mushrooms, quatered
2 onions. diced
2 ribs celery, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 medium carrots, chopped
3 radishes, sliced
2 large sweet potatoes, cubed
1 package Lipton onion soup mix mixed with 4 cups water
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup frozen peas
2 T cornstarch mixed with 2 T water

Directions

1. In a large pot saute onions, radishes, celery and carrots until onions are translucent.
2. Add mushrooms and saute until they are soft. 
3. Add sweet potatoes, onion soup and broth.
4. Bring to a boil then reduce and simmer for 20 minutes
5. Add peas, bring back to a boil and simmer for another 10 minutes
6. Whisk in cornstarch mixture and boil until thickened (about 2 minutes)

Cornbread Muffins
Adapted from: Happy Herbivore Light & Lean

Ingredients
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 T baking powder
1 cup skim milk
.25 cup sugar free maple syrup

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Spray muffin tin (do NOT use cupcake liners or they will stick)
3. Mix the dry ingredients together
4. Add in wet ingredients
5. Bake 15 minutes

Is your family helpful when it comes to making decisions about what's for dinner?

Recipe Redux -- Have Snacks Will Travel

Recipe Redux time!!  This month's theme?  Travel snacks!  I love that it was set for after I got back from vacation.  I made 3 different travel snacks.  Granola bars, apple chips and squash chips.  All three were delicious.  I have a cavity I found out about right before the trip so, eating them was a bit painful at times but, it honestly didn't stop me.  

I rarely make apple chips anymore because I can eat 3 or 4 apples worth of chips in 1 day!  I'm addicted to them.  

Granola bars before they were cut

Granola Bar
Makes 8 or 16
Calories: 127 / 63
Fat: 0.8 / 0.4
Carbs: 29.8 / 14.9
Protein: 3.8 / 1.9

2 1/2 cup Quaker multigrain cereal
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 + 1/4 cup sugar free maple syrup
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cup dried mixed fruit
1 cup mashed banana
1 cup pumpkin puree {NOT PIE FILLING}

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees and spray an 8 x 8, or 9 x 9 pain with pan spray (choose which size depending on how thick you want them)
2. Stir together the cinnamon, syrup, vanilla., banana, pumpkin.
3. In a separate bowl combine the fruit and oatmeal.
4. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry and stir together until the cereal is completely coated
5. Bake for 35-45 minutes until the are slightly dry on top
6. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes then put them on a wire rack to finish cooling.  Cool completely, then cut. 

Apple Chips

For some reason I didn't get an AFTER shot of my apple chips
Ingredients
Apples

Directions

1. Core and slice apples.  {I used my mandolin}
2. Toss the apples in some lemon juice. {to keep them from browning}
3. Dehydrate for 12-18 hours
4. Cool before storing

Acorn Squash Chips

Before

After

These were a pain in the butt to slice!  So I only did a quarter of the squash and roasted the rest for my dinner the next nite.  They took about 4.5 hours in the dehydrator. They tasted kind of nutty.  Needed a bit of salt.  So, if you want to add a bit of flavor (and don't mind a bit of fat) I'd toss them with some olive oil and sprinkle with salt.


What kind of snacks do you enjoy when you travel?  Do you take store bought or home made?


   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Pie Burger

I love Next Food Network Star.  I've watched it religiously for the past 4 seasons.  This season the owner of a pie company, Dangerously Delicious Pies is on there.  Last nite's challenge was a Burger challenge.  He made a pie burger.  A burger sitting on top of a piece of pie dough.  It was so stupid.  As soon as he said his idea I started thinking about how I would do a pie burger.  My first thought was to wrap the burger in pie dough.  Ken agreed that my idea seemed like a logical one.  Since I can't make pie dough fat free I used a simple bread dough.  The dough was wrapped around some mushrooms and onions, seasoned with some garlic and worcestershire sauce {to help give it a "burger-y" taste}, and cheese.  It was really good.  I will definitely be adding this to my monthly rotation.

"Pie" Dough
Adapted from Whole Wheat Slider Bun Recipe from Fleischman's
Makes 10 (2 per person)
Calories: 230
Fat: 0.9 grams
Protein: 7.9 grams
Carbs: 46.5 grams


 1.75 -2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
5 t yeast
1/2 cup skim milk
1/4 cup water


Directions


Mix together flour, sugar and yeast

In a small saucepan combine milk and water.  Heat over medium until the temp reaches between 120 -130

Add milk mixture to the flour mixture.  Stir together and knead for 8-10 minutes

Let sit for 10 minutes.

Divide into 10 equal pieces and roll out.  Let rise for 30 minutes


"Burger" Mix

1.5 lbs of mushrooms (I used a mixture of button and baby bella), sliced
1.5 medium onions, diced
2 T garlic
1 T Worcestershire sauce

Directions

Heat a large skillet sprayed with a bit of nonstick spray

Add onions and mushrooms and garlic and saute until soft

Stir in Worcestershire sauce


Extras
Cheese
Jalepenos


To Put Together

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
 
After dough has risen place cheese on each 

Place 1/3 cup of mushroom mixture on top of cheese followed by any other toppings you'd like

Fold sides of dough up around fillings

Place it on a greased baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes until dough is golden brown



Now I need y'all's help.  I've been trying to think of things that I could add to the burger to amp it up.  I'm drawing a blank.  What would you do to bump it up?

Easter Menu Post

 
 Happy Easter!  Yesterday was the community Easter egg hunt and the girls had a blast!  They came away with a ton of candy!  Here are all my Easter recipes for today.  I was hoping to have these up before today so y'all  would have ideas.  But, due to school and kids being so time consuming I couldn't. 


Oven Poached Salmon
2 lb salmon 
2 cups water
any herbs and spices you like

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Grease baking dish
3. Place salmon in baking dish and season
4. Pour water around salmon
5. Poach for 12-15 minutes until done

Peas w/onions and mushrooms
16 oz bag of peas
1 bag pearl onions
16 oz mushrooms
1 medium onion
1 shallot
1 T minced garlic

Directions

1. Diced onions, and shallots
2. Slice mushrooms
3. Sautee mushrooms, onions, garlic and shallots until slightly brown
4. Boil peas and onions according to package directions, drain
5. Mix together peas, pearl onions, and your mushroom mixture

Asparagus
Directions

1. Steam for approximately 15 minutes until done to your liking

Banana Dream Mousse

2 envelopes Dream Whip
2.75 cups skim milk, divided
1 tsp vanilla
2 small packages Fat Free Sugar Free Banana Cream Jello Pudding mix  (you honestly can you whatever flavor jello you'd like.  I've made chocolate,vanilla, and cookies and cream before
2 bananas, sliced

Instructions

1. Beat together Dream Whip, 1 cup milk and vanilla until soft peaks form
2. Add remaining milk and pudding mixes.  Beat on low until combined then beat on high for about 2 minutes (make sure to scrape your bowl occasionally)
3. Pour filling ontop of bananas and refrigerate for 4 hours.

 And here's a link to last year's recipes:  Easter Recipes 2012

St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Yesterday I made green cupcakes, [the recipe is coming for you tomorrow] today I made potatoes, cabbage and corned beef.  

I love oven roasted food.  Partially because my stove looks like this:  

Yep, that's right.  I do all my cooking on one burner.  And it's been like this for a few years.  So, I love doing things in the oven because I can cook 2 or 3 things at once.  Plus, the oven is a "set-it-and-forget-it" way to cook. 

I found the recipe on Pinterest for the cabbage.  It comes from a blog called Green Lite Bites. 

Pardon the sad plate.  I was starving so I snapped a quick picture

Packet Oven Roasted Cabbage

Ingredients
1 head of cabbage
Pan Spray
herbs and spices of your choice

Directions

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees
2. Rinse the cabbage and remove the bad leaves
3. Quarter the cabbage (cut in half and then cut the halves in half, along the core)
4. Lay each quarter on a piece of aluminum foil
5. Wrap and bake for 20-30 minutes (if you like it softer then bake longer.  I actually baked mine for close to an hour)

Roasted Creamer Potatoes

Ingredients
Creamer potatoes (I didn't weigh mine)
Pan Spray 
Herbs and spices

Directions

1. Clean and scrub potatoes
2. Put them in a large pot and cover with water.
3. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to simmer for 10 minutes
4. Preheat oven to 425 while potatoes are boiling
5. Drain and put potatoes on a large baking sheet
6. Spray again with pan spray and then sprinkle on herbs and spices
7. Roast for 20-30 minutes until crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.

 I ate almost a whole head of cabbage I think.  Luckily cabbage is pretty low in calories.  What did you have for dinner?  The traditional corned beef and cabbage or something unique?  

Oh, and by the way, I'll have a cabbage soup coming for you....I made WAY too much cabbage tonite. 

Excited About Salad

[Forward before I start my ranting: Since I am participating in National Nutrition Month I have to say that I am proud of people for whatever healthy lifestyle changes they decide to make.  This post is aimed at a select few.  If a salad is your first step toward a total healthy life change then I back you 100% but, one salad does not make up for eating artery clogging junk the other 20 meals out of the week]

See these texts?  I get these texts quite often.  A Greek salad can have upwards of 600 calories.  So, half a Greek salad would have the same calories as a normal lunch.  These types of texts do not get the reaction from the that the senders are expecting.

You want to know a secret?  I rarely, [I mean like 2 times a year rarely], eat a salad for lunch.  I'm more likely to eat a sweet potato or a huge bowl of popcorn for lunch. 

People need to change their way of thinking.  A turkey sandwich on whole-grain bread with lettuce, tomato, onions, and mustard is a very healthy meal also.  (As a future R.D. I recognize the fact that properly prepared meat can be part of a healthy diet.)

One salad for lunch does not instantly make you healthy!  I also know that personally, a salad does not fill me up unless it's loaded with vegetables and some sort of protein.  A "healthy y" salad to most people is a small bowl.  A salad that size would fill me up for about about an hour.  

A salad for me is in addition  to my regular meal.  It contains:

1/2 a head of Romaine Lettuce, or 4 big handfuls of spinach
1/2 - 1 whole onion
4-7 mushrooms
2-3 baby carrots (I hate carrots!)
1/4 cup fat free feta/shredded cheese
1 whole cucumber
1/4 cup imitation crab
1/4 cup corn
a few bunches of green onions

Other people's lunch salads:
3-5 iceberg lettuce leaves
1/2 a cucumber
2 mushrooms
2 baby carrots
full fat cheese


If you want me to be proud of you then tell me you chose a salad over a greasy burger, or that you ordered a non-fat, no whip latte at Starbucks, or you skipped your daily Starbuck's completely!  But, PLEASE don't tell me you "had a salad" because I will not give you praise.  

What are your feelings on salads?

Look Everybody! I Made Gumbo...

and cheese-steak fries.
{Sorry for the shameless Princess and the Frog quote.  It's a favorite of the girls.  Okay, I can't lie, it's one of my faves too.} 

Gumbo!  Loaded with tomatoes, beans, onions and okra.  I served it over quinoa.  This dish was a protein and nutrient bomb (in a good way.)  This was another great recipe from Happy Herbivore.  It's on page 108 in the 30 minute cookbook.  (I'm not certain about copyright laws and all that so I'm not going to post the recipe).

I came up with this next recipe because I couldn't decide if I wanted cheese fries or cheese steaks for dinner.  Because I didn't want to decide and the kids were being no help, I combined the two.  Crispy, crunchy oven baked fries layered with mushrooms, onions roasted garlic and collard greens with some melted fat free cheese on top.  Sounds decadent right?  It only weighs in at about 320 calories and 1 gram of fat.  I also snuck in a couple carrots since cheese fries aren't exactly a "healthy" dinner.

Before Cheese

After Cheese

Super Veggie Cheese Steak Fries
1 large potato or sweet potato per person (I used a couple small ones instead of a large one)
2 carrots per person
1/2 lb of mushrooms per person, cut in half or quarters
1-2 onions sliced thin
1/4 - 1/2 cup of shredded fat free cheddar per person
1/2 - 1 cup of prepared collard greens or spinach per person (optional) {or any other veggie you want}

Directions

1. Boil potatoes/sweet potatoes in a large pot of water for about 5 minutes
2. Drain and cool
3. Peel carrots
4. Slice potatoes and carrots into fries (make sure they are all the same size)
5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray a baking sheet with pan spray
6. Lay the fries in a single layer and spray with more pan spray
7. Bake for 45 - 60 minutes, flipping every 10-15 minutes until crispy and brown.  During the last 20 minutes put the mushrooms on a separate baking sheet and put them in the oven
8. Divide the fries evenly between the plates and layer with mushrooms, onions and other vegetables
9. Sprinkle cheese on the top and put in the microwave on high for 30-60 seconds until the cheese melts.

How do you like to jazz up your cheese fries?

January's Seasonal Produce and How it Can Help Your Health

Fresh Veggies!

January is here. [DUH!] So that means that certain produce has come into season.  I've put together a list of the produce that's available and some of the health benefits.

January
Avocado
Passion Fruit


January-March
Bell Pepper  -- Carotenoids, Various vitamins, phytonutrients, fiber, folate, antioxidants, potential anti-cancer effects

Broccoli -- Cholesterol lowering, detox-regulating, various vitamins and minerals, folate, fiber, potassium, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-cancer nutrients, digestive support, eye health, skin support

Cabbage -- Cholesterol-lowering, cancer prevention, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, digestive tract support, cardiovascular health

Cauliflower -- Various vitamins, folate, potassium, fiber, digestive support, detox support, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, cardiovascular health

Celery -- Anti-inflammatory, antioxidants, various vitamins, folate, potassium, fiber, digestive health, cardiovascular health, cancer prevention

Eggplant -- Fiber, various vitamins, brain health, antioxidants, cardiovascular health, free radical protection

Grapefruit -- Various vitamins, lycopene, antioxidants, promotes optimal health, lowers cholesterol, prevents kidney stones, cancer protection, repairs DNA

Guava --  Antioxidants, lowers cancer risk, lowers diabetes risk, helps eyesight, folate, regulates blood pressure, helps thyroid, increases enzyme activation, relaxes muscles and nerves, brain health, skin health

Lettuce --  {Romaine} Various vitamins, Folic acid, folate, fiber, omega 3's, heart healthy

Mushrooms (Available year round) -- {Crimini} Selenium, vitamins, potassium, immune system support, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, cardiovascular health, anti-cancer

Oranges (Available every month but July & Aug) -- Various vitamins, fiber, lowers blood pressure, lowers cholesterol, antioxidants, immune system support, cardiovascular disease protection, promotes optimal health, prevents kidney stones, anti-cancer, prevents ulcers, lung protection, arthritis protection

Peanuts (Available every month but Dec) -- Folate, heart healthy, antioxidants, reduces the risk of stroke, anti-cancer, gallstone prevention, brain health, lowers risk of weight gain

Radishes -- Detoxifier for liver and stomach, urinary tract health, weight control, cancer prevention, helps skin, helps liver, reduces swelling, controls fever, respitory tract health, protects gallbladder

Snap Beans/Green Beans -- Vitamins, Fiber, antioxidants, folate, cardiovascular health, anti-inflammatory, diabetes prevention

Squash -- {Winter} Vitamins, fiber, potassium, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, promotes optimal health, regulates blood sugar, cardiovascular health

Strawberries -- Vitamins, Fiber, cardiovascular health, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, lowers blood sugar, anti-cancer, brain health, digestive health

Sweet Corn -- Fiber, Various vitamins, antioxidants, digestive health, blood sugar regulation, potentially anti-HIV

Tangerine -- 

Tomato -- Various vitamins, fiber, antioxidants, cardiovascular health, bone health, anti-cancer, lycopene


Most of the information found on this site was obtained from WHFoods
WikiNut

Christmas Recipes

Okay, here's a little known fact about my family.  Christmas dinner takes FOREVER to decide on in this house.  I have no clue why but it takes us about a week to figure out our menu.  Christmas Eve is a no-brainer.  We do a "munching spread".  But, Christmas dinner, we have serious sit downs to decide on what we're going to have.  We normally start talking a few days after my parents get here and finalize the menu a day or 2 before Christmas Eve. 

But, here it is.  My Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner menus

Christmas Eve

Jalapeno Poppers 

Fat free and my fave!!

(adapted from Cook This!  Not That!)

1 cup mushrooms, diced
1/2 onion, minced
1/2 cup of fat free shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup fat free cream cheese
12 jalapenos

1. Spray a skillet with pan spray.  Sautee onions and mushrooms until soft.
2. Heat oven to 400 degrees
3. In a separate bowl, combine the onions, mushrooms, cream cheese and cheese
4. Slice the jalapenos in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds (leave them in if you want it super spicy)
5. Fill each half of jalapeno with the cheese mixture. 
6. Place them on a baking sheet and bake for about 15-20 minutes until the peppers are soft and the cheese is brown and bubbly. 

Spinach Pie

(Adapted from SkinnyTaste)

(You can find the crust recipe HERE) 

Ingredients
10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
1 T dried dill
1 T parsley
1 cup fat free feta
2 T minced garlic
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup fat free milk
1/2 cup egg substitute (equal to 2 eggs)
 1/4 - 1/2 pizza dough recipe

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2.  Spray a pie pan with cooking spray
3. Roll out pizza dough to about 1/8" thick.  Cut it out so it's a bit bigger than your pie pan, lay it inside and crimp the edges
4. Mix together the spinach, green onions, dill, parsley and feta
5. In a seperate bowl mix together all the other ingredient.
6. Mix both mixtures together.
7. Spread in the crust
8. Bake for 28-33 minutes until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Let it rest for atleast 5 minutes before cutting it.

(If you use 1/4 of the pizza dough recipe it will add about 51 calories to each slice of pie)

Sliced Fruit
Strawberries
Grapes
Pineapple
Cantaloupe
Apples
Bananas

Sliced Veggies
Mushrooms
Carrots
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Celery
Radishes
Cucumber
Grape Tomatoes

For the fruits I use a yogurt dip:  

Ingredients
2 cups fat free vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup honey (more or less to taste)
1 tsp cinnamon (to taste) 

1. Mix it all together
2. Chill until ready to use

For the veggies I use a simple  

Ranch Dip 

(I found it on the back of the ranch powder container):

Ingredients
3 T ranch dressing powder
16 oz sour cream

1. Stir it all together, cover and refridgerate

Per Mo's request we are having  

PIGS IN A BLANKET

Ingredients
1 package Hillshire Farms Lit'l Smokies
1/2 batch of pizza dough

1. Roll out pizza dough and slice into long strips about 1" wide
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
3. Drain the liquid from the packages of sausages and dry them off
4. Wrap dough around sausages  
5.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown

ON TO CHRISTMAS DINNER!!

Gramma's Christmas Cake
This cake has been a Christmas tradition for many, many, many years.  I can't imagine Christmas without this cake.  When I got sick I had to doctor the recipe to make sure I could eat it.  This cake is my mom's Christmas version of a Jello Poke Cake.

White cake  

(taken from CalorieCount.About)

2 c all purpose flour
1 1/3 c sugar
2/3 c cornstarch
4 tsp baking powder
4 egg whites
1 1/3 c skim milk
2/3 c Karo syrup
2 tsp vanilla

1. Grease 2 9inch cake pans
2. Preheat oven to 350
3. Mix together dry ingredients
4. In a separate bowl whisk the liquid ingredients together
5. Add wet ingredients into the dry and mix well
6. Pour into greased pans
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes
8. Remove from pan and cool (Keep the pans though, you'll need them for the next step)

Ingredients to put the cake together
1 box cherry gelatin
1 box lime geletin
2 C boiling water
8 oz whipped topping (Cool Whip, Dream Whip or fresh whipped cream)
  

1. Place the cooled cakes back in the pans.  Poke holes into each cake using a chopstick, skewer or knife.
2. Dissolve cherry gelatin in 1 cup of boiling water, do the same with the lime.
3. Slowly pour the cherry over one layer of cake and the lime over the other cake.
4. Place the pans in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours to set.
5. Take the cakes out of the pans and  use the whipped topping to frost the cakes.
6. Dig in!

Honestly the rest of my Christmas menu is quite simple

Salmon

Ham

Potatoes, Green Beans and Onions

Ingredients

Petite Red Potatoes (or creamer potatoes)

Frozen or Fresh Green Beans

FROZEN Pearl Onions (Mr. Amazing made the mistake of getting me fresh pearl onions for Thanksgiving, they are a pain in the neck to peel!  But, if you can't find frozen, fresh will do)

Directions

1. Clean your potatoes and green beans 
2. If you're using fresh green beans then trim the ends
3. Put potatoes in a pot and fill with water.  
4. Bring the potatoes to a boil and let boil for 15 minutes
5. Add the green beans and onions, bring back to a boil, and boil for approximately 5 minutes.  
6. When everything is done, drain
7.  Serve

 

Rolls

You can either make your own or, if you're lazy like me, you can purchase them.  The only company that makes fat free rolls is Alexia.  Their French Rolls are fat free and very delicious.  

  

Corn 

We're just going to do frozen corn on the cob.  Nice and simple.

Squash with Wilted Spinach 
(The same one from Thanksgiving, ditch the dressing, I'm using butternut and acorn squash and sweet potatoes, and roast some garlic with the potatoes, after you put it on the plate, throw some feta on top)       

Well, there it is, my Christmas dinner and Christmas Eve spread.  Hopefully I've given you some ideas.  If you try any of my recipes please leave me a comment and tell me what you think!