running around in circles, screaming with my non-existent mouth.
Only seven days left before Christmas and I still have so much too. Not the least of which is planning my Christmas menu. So, internet, I am asking you for advice.
What do you make for Christmas that is 1) easy to prepare, 2) tasty, 3) can feed a small army, and 4) Did I mention easy?
Give me your ideas. Please.
I am making Baked Ziti…easy to make and can feed a lot of people. Just pair it with some garlic bread, vegetables, salad/soup, and you have a meal.
Comment by Melanie — December 19, 2007 @ 10:42 am
How about adding a spiral sliced ham to the baked ziti (or lasagna), fresh pineapple and Christmas salad (raw broccoli, cauliflower, red peppers, garlic & onions marinated with Italian dressing or just oil & vinegar).
Comment by Kathy from NJ — December 19, 2007 @ 12:25 pm
This turkey
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=364580
and these vegetables
http://www.recipezaar.com/148129
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_21405,00.html
Add a salad, a couple of sides and some rolls (sorry…) and you’re done.
Most can be prepped before hand and roast at the last minute. Well, not the turkey, but it roasts pretty fast since it has no stuffing.
Have a great time!
Comment by PollyS — December 19, 2007 @ 1:26 pm
Oh my goodness, my mouth is watering.
Comment by Chris — December 19, 2007 @ 9:08 pm
We’re having a ham with twice baked potatoes, homemade breadmaker bread (I LOVE my bread maker!), and um….That’s all I’ve got right now.
Comment by Brandi — December 19, 2007 @ 9:30 pm
My mother-in-law used to make some great scalloped potatoes to go with her ham.
Comment by Lilly — December 19, 2007 @ 9:46 pm
This site has some good holiday recipes, including mashed potatoes that can be made in advance.
http://thepioneerwomancooks.com/
Comment by Bri — December 19, 2007 @ 9:54 pm
and there’s also a hashbrown casserole that my aunt makes for every holiday that can be made the night before and just popped in the oven right before dinner. It’s amazingly good, cheesy and hot. I can’t find a recipe to link to, but if you’re interested, I can get the recipe direct from the source, just email me.
Comment by Bri — December 19, 2007 @ 10:06 pm
Baked macaroni and cheese, baked beans, tossed salad and coleslaw. All make ahead!
Comment by Sharon — December 19, 2007 @ 10:33 pm
Why not make Twice Baked Potatoes…you can even make those a few days before. Well wait, it already is a few days before…
Comment by Lisa — December 19, 2007 @ 10:52 pm
Garlic roasted brussels sprouts – http://www.centralmarket.com/cm/recipeCategoryListAction.do?recipeId=80822&categoryId=SIPV00
I’ve got a couple others, but don’t want to make this reply too long. I’ll be emailing you recipes for:
Taffy Apple Salad
Cashew Swiss Tossed Salad
Grandma’s Baked Beans (crock pot!)
Pioneer Woman had a make-ahead mashed potato recipe on her cooking site around Thanksgiving.
And don’t forget split pea soup made with the spiral ham bone and some of the meat after Christmas! (Makes me want to buy a spiral ham just to make the soup!!)
And how about Caramel Corn for dessert!
Comment by Jamie AZ — December 19, 2007 @ 10:54 pm
Any sort of taties are easy to make and very popular. I’d say scalloped if you have a cuisinart, mashed or roasted if you don’t.
Roasted veggies are easy and they can be cooked pretty much all day. You can chop ‘em up the day before (or better yet, have your older kids do it). If you add beets, all the veggies will look like pink jewels — very festive!
Comment by liz — December 19, 2007 @ 11:30 pm
I make a dish called “Yams-n-Apples.” The ingredients are fairly simple – yams and apples (well – marshmallows on top just to be sure the kids eat it). My kids eat it up, and if I ever have leftovers it freezes well. It does involve apple peeling and coring which if you have one of those gadgets that does them at the same time isn’t too hard. You can make as much of it as you are willing to peel. It can be made ahead of time (i.e. the day before) and then cooked the day of. Plus as an added bonus – no wheat. I’d be happy to send the recipe if you are interested.
Comment by Miriam — December 19, 2007 @ 11:32 pm
Miriam,
Yes, please! Even if I don’t make it for Christmas it sounds like a recipe my kids would like.
Comment by Chris — December 19, 2007 @ 11:37 pm
http://www.recipeland.com/recipe/27994/
This is a recipe for Cracker Barrel Hashbrown potatoes. It says to bake in a oven, but I have also made it in the crock pot. Set on low for 3 to 4 hours. Check about 45 minutes before serving, you might have to turn it up to high for the last hour or so. (I have two different crock pots. One did fine on low, the other needed kicked up to high.)
http://thepioneerwomancooks.com/2007/11/delicious_creamy_mashed_potatoes.html
This is a recipe for make-ahead mashed potatoes. I have not tried it, yet. It does look very good. I also have to say, I have tried four or five of this site’s recipes and all of them have been VERY good.
We are doing something different this Christmas. I am making potato soup and various snacky things. I am usually exhausted from staying up late getting things ready and waking up EARLY so the kids can open their presents. I spend most of the day in the kitchen. I decided I am not going to do that anymore. (OR at least not this year.) So it is food that we can graze on all day.
Have a Merry Christmas Chris!
Comment by Deputy's Wife — December 19, 2007 @ 11:48 pm
We’re having ham, sweet potato casserole with a pecan topping, easy green beans with greek seasoning, yeast rolls, and baked apples. It’s a lot but it’s all easy stuff. I’ll make the sweet potatoes the day before.
Comment by Kathy — December 19, 2007 @ 11:52 pm
If you’re interested in making two meats, a nice crock-pot beef roast is good, tender, delicious, and easy! Take one roast (any cut, but cheaper is better…more fat=more juicy!), one can of french onion soup, some worchestire sauce (sp?), cook low for 5-6 hours (turn a couple of times)…then plate and put juice on the side. OR…boneless beef ribs (crock-pot again!), tons of chili sauce, a little red wine if you want…done in 5-6 hours, low. OR…chicken breasts, your red Italian sauce…little shorter time. OR, boneless skinless chicken thighs, your barbeque sauce, again, shorter time (4-5 hours, low.) Can you tell that I love easy? (And crock pots?)
Mashed potatoes I never tried in the crock pot (I read your mention of this in the other blog) but I think if you quartered some potatoes (or smaller?), put a little broth (veggie, chicken, whatever), in the bottom for moisture, stirred a couple of times, then mashed towards the end with your ingredients (sour cream, cheese, turkey bacon, chives, to name a few) that might work. And keep the skins. BUT…I never tried it, so I can’t vouch for this one. And potatoes take a LONG time to cook in the slow cooker, so I’d add a bunch of time for that (but stir, stir every hour or so or some will burn to the sides.)
Hmmm…I’m looking for ideas, too. I’ll be back to see what else everyone has posted here.
Comment by Lesli — December 20, 2007 @ 12:16 am
My favorite thing to cook is green beans with bacon, tomatoes, and onions. Cut up the bacon into bite size pieces, fry it up with the onions (if you don’t have a bunch of picky eaters who hate onions like I do), dump in canned green beans and tomatoes. Let it cook for about an hour and they are so good you could eat them for desert.
Comment by Karly — December 20, 2007 @ 12:20 am
Mmm, Karly, that sounds tasty!
I was going to recommend Joshilyn Jackson’s (http://joshilynjackson.com/mt/) “fat potato fat fat” casserole, but I forgot THE ALLERGIES.
Comment by Brigitte — December 20, 2007 @ 6:46 am
I’m not a great cook, so I’m always looking for EASY things to make. I love both of these side dishes with ham!
PINEAPPLE SOUFFLE
The recipe below makes a thin souffle…I usually double it for a thicker batch. This seriously tastes like dessert and is great leftover…especially for breakfast the next day!
1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
8 slices stale bread (if you don’t have any stale, leave 8 slices out overnight)
4 eggs
1 lg. can crushed pineapples
Melt butter, mix in sugar, eggs, and pineapples (including juice) in a large bowl. Break up bread into small pieces and place in butter, sugar, eggs, and pineapples mixture. (Make sure you mix bread pieces in thoroughly.)
Place in souffle pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour (top will brown nicely).
COMPANY POTATOES
(My mom has made this potato recipe for many many years. It is delicious and easier than scalloped potatoes for sure!)
2 lbs. frozen hash browns, thawed
1 pt. sour cream
2 c. grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 c. melted butter
1/2 c. diced onions
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
Mix all ingredients and put in buttered 3 quart casserole dish.
Mix 1/4 cup melted butter and 2 cups corn flake crumbs. Sprinkle on top. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Uncover and brown lightly.
Comment by Kelly — December 20, 2007 @ 9:35 am
Cheesy potatoes. Recipe with frozen hash browns, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, butter, cheddar, topped with crushed corn flakes. We make this every year to go with our spiral ham – and we have about 20 people for dinner.
Comment by B — December 20, 2007 @ 9:36 am
I’d say scalloped potatoes will do better in the crock pot, but you’re going lactose free IIRC, so my next suggestion would be to do yams (with whatever enhancements you love… brown sugar, maple syrup, etc) in the crock pot. I just found the mashed potatoes didn’t have enough moisture content in the crock pot and the kinda burnt on the bottom while they were keeping “warm”. The yams fared better and scalloped potatoes were awsome.
It could also be that I don’t add a lot of liquid to my mashed potatoes. Maybe yours will be okay?
I second the votes for some kind of baked pasta dish for the addition to the spiral ham. That has gone over very well in our house.
Comment by wookie — December 20, 2007 @ 9:50 am
baked cheese grits go with ham
Comment by S — December 20, 2007 @ 9:56 am
I say make a couple of casseroles to go with it. One of my favorites is Corn Casserole by Paula Deen. Soooo good, simple, and always gets rave reviews. Recipe can be found here (http://tinyurl.com/9paxl). Another good one that is easy and would pair well with ham is pineapple casserole. Recipe can be found here (http://tinyurl.com/2txtsl). Add some steamed veggies and bread, and even a frozen stouffer’s macaroni and cheese and you’ve got a feast!
Comment by Jennifer — December 20, 2007 @ 10:36 am
I make my mashed potatoes the old fashioned way and then put in the crock pot for a few hours on low. Make them on the stiff side because they tend to loosen in the crock pot over time. Sometimes I leave them a little lumpy and re-whip right before serving. I’m even so festive as to serve directly from the crock pot. Oh yes, we do things fancy in PA.
I learned to do this because my grandmother has sort of lost all cleaning ability and most of her cooking ability in her old age. HOWEVER – she still insists on hosting family meals. So I’m the extra helpful grandaughter who brings over the potatoes. The turkey/ham she can’t really screw up, and I figure the temp. of the oven will kill any germs. I then clean a few pots and make the veggies and put the rolls in. I have also convinced her to switch to paper plates. While the “green” part of me cringes – the germ-a-phobe is happy.
Comment by Coleen — December 20, 2007 @ 10:43 am
Chris – I have an easy recipe for potatoes – you use frozen hash browns, basically mix sour cream & cream of chicken soup, cheddar cheese and can top w/cornflakes if you like & then bake. They are ALWAYS a hit. If you’d like the real recipe (vs my jibberish above), just email me!
Keri
Comment by Keri — December 20, 2007 @ 10:57 am
Try these. I just made them for 12 people (doubled the recipe, but probably could have tripled it because they all got eaten.) My grandma loved them, and she is very picky. The nice thing is you don’t have to make the mashed potatoes. I used the premade Country Crock ones that come in a tub.
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1673066
Comment by Heather — December 20, 2007 @ 11:37 am
http://www.cookingcache.com/crockpot/potatoeseuphoria.shtml
This site has all sorts of wonderful recipes.
Comment by Mary W — December 20, 2007 @ 12:11 pm
I have a wonderful sweet potato recipe (not Yam) that can be made several days ahead of time. I make it for Thanksgiving and Christmas with never any leftovers. I just made it for a Christmas pot luck last week and it was gone in a flash and I ended up giving out the recipe to several people. Let me know if you want it.
Comment by Heather — December 20, 2007 @ 12:22 pm
We’re doing an open house, so I need food that can be left out for pickin’ all day.
I’m making a brined turkey, mashed potatoes made ahead of time (and will totally reheat and keep warm in crockpot!), and baked mac n cheese. I was just given the recipe for it – it has gouda, fontina, mozz and smoked cheddar. Sounds decadent, no? Wait… I can’t remember, can you have cheese? If you want recipe, email me and I’ll be happy to share though I haven’t tried it yet myself.
Comment by Wicked Stepmom — December 20, 2007 @ 1:12 pm
We had an early Christmas with my husband’s side of the family and I also served a spiral ham. I found a recipe for Pineapple Casserole. I thought it sounded very strange, but was reassured it was perfect to serve with ham and would be a big hit. It actually was delicious with the ham, easy to make, and very much a hit with everyone.
2 (20 ounce) cans crushed pineapple
5 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups Ritz cracker crumbs (I used an organic brand of similar crackers to avoid hydrogenated oils)
1/2 cup butter, plus
1 teaspoon butter
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a 2-quart casserole dish with 1 T. butter.
3. Drain pineapple.
4. Place crushed pineapple evenly along the bottom of prepared casserole dish.
5. Mix together the flour, sugar and cheese.
6. Sprinkle evenly on top of pineapple.
7. Cover with Ritz cracker crumbs.
8. Melt butter and pour over the top of cracker crumbs.
9. Bake for 30 minutes in preheated oven.
Comment by Jennifer — December 20, 2007 @ 1:14 pm
Shrimp stuffed baked potatoes (it is a Paula Deen recipe, you can get it on foodnetwork.com. I made these one christmas (yes you can make them ahead). They were so good and filling, now that I think about it, I will have to add that to my list of things to make. I also do string beans with bacon, apple cider vinegar and sugar…so good and really easy.
Comment by Stacey — December 20, 2007 @ 8:27 pm
if it doesn’t have to be traditional, you could go with rice creole – that goes well with ham
Comment by Yvonne — December 21, 2007 @ 12:50 pm
We’re having beef stew (made in the crockpot), salad, and bread.
Comment by Michele — December 21, 2007 @ 3:18 pm
Hi Chris! Not sure if you’ve made up your mind (and not sure how willing you are to cook things you can’t eat!), but here is a recipe for Cranberry/Apple Casserole. It’s excellent with ham and can also be used for a brunch. Merry Christmas!
Cranberry Apple Casserole
3 cups peeled, chopped apples
2 cups fresh cranberries
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3 (1 1/2 oz) packages instant oatmeal with cinnamon and spice
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
Combine apples, 2 cups cranberries, and 2 tablespoons flour, tossing to coat; add 1 cup sugar, mixing well. Place in a 2 qt casserole.
Combine oatmeal, chopped pecans, 1/2 cup flour, and brown sugar; add butter, and stir well. Spoon over fruit mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Yield 6 to 8 servings.
Comment by AmyG — December 22, 2007 @ 4:33 pm