Family Foodies

By Susanne Myers – The Hillbilly Housewife

Earlier this week we talked about planning ahead for holiday meals and one of the things I mentioned in that past was to make and freeze some dishes ahead of time.

I’ve been freezer cooking for years, but it took me a while to realize that I can apply the same principles to holiday cooking. Now I have a whole repertoire of dishes that I can make and freeze in the weeks before Thanksgiving and Christmas. Here are a few of my favorites.

We love cookies and pies, especially around the holidays. Thankfully I can make almost any pie and most cookies head of time and freeze. Give it a try with these sugar cookies that are always a big hit with the kids.

Freezer Sugar Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons margarine (1 stick), at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg

Cream the margarine and sugar in a large bowl until it is light and fluffy. I use my hand mixer. A kitchen-aid type mixer will work as well. If you are making this by hand, use a whisk and really work the sugar and margarine until all the sugar is dissolved. Add the milk and vanilla and continue stirring until it is incorporated into the mixture. Add the egg and mix again.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt and slowly work it into the margarine and egg mixture. Continue mixing at low just until all the flour is mixed in. Don’t overmix it or your cookies will be tough.

Shape the dough into a log that’s about one and a half inches thick, wrap it in plastic wrap and either refrigerate overnight or freeze.

When you’re ready to bake your cookies preheat your oven to 350F. Slice your cookies 1/4 inch thick, place them on a cookies sheet and bake them for about 12 minutes on the middle rack until they are golden brown.

Another favorite of mine are freezer casseroles. I don’t know about you, but it seems like I’m constantly asked to bring some sort of side dish for various parties, dinners and functions.

Mixed Vegetable and Walnut Bake

Ingredients:

2 lbs. total of fresh broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and zucchini
1 1/2 C prepared ranch dressing
1 t flour
1/3 C butter style bread crumbs
1/3 C walnuts, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Set the oven temperature to 400 degrees and allow it to heat while steaming the vegetables.
Fill a large pot 2/3 full of water.
Bring the water to a full boil over high heat.
Add the vegetables carefully to the boiling water.
Allow the vegetables to steam 12 minutes or until crisp tender.
Drain the vegetables well.
Layer the vegetables into the bottom of a large baking pan.
Pour the salad dressing into a small mixing bowl.
Whisk in the flour until smooth.
Pour the mixture over the top of the vegetables.
Place the bread crumbs in a bowl.
Add the walnuts and toss until combined.
Sprinkle the mixture over the top of the vegetables.
Bake 15 minutes or until heated through.

Makes 4 servings

To reheat place in a 400 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes or until completely heated through.

Ranch Style Oven Potatoes

Ingredients:

1 (1 oz.) pkg. ranch style dressing mix
1/2 C Parmesan cheese, grated
1/3 C butter, melted
4 white potatoes, sliced

Directions:

Allow the oven temperature to heat to 400 degrees.
Brush 2 cookie sheets with most of the melted butter.
Layer the potatoes in a single layer on the sheets.
Brush the top of the potatoes slices with the remaining butter.
Place the dressing mix into a small mixing bowl.
Add the Parmesan cheese and toss to combine.
Sprinkle the mixture over the top of the prepared potatoes.
Bake 20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.

Makes 6 servings

To reheat do not thaw.  Place in a preheated 400 degree oven for approximately 25 minutes or until heated through.

Cheese Topped Butternut Squash Casserole

Ingredients:

1 small butternut squash, peel, remove seeds and cube
1/2 C real mayonnaise
1/2 C onion, chopped very fine
1 egg, beaten
1 t sugar
1/4 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/4 C saltines, crushed
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tbsp butter, melted

Directions:

Place the squash in a saucepan and just cover it with water.
Place the saucepan over high heat and bring the water to a brisk boil.
Once boiling reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and cook 20 minutes or until the squash is very tender.
Drain the squash well and place it in a large mixing bowl.
Use a potato masher to mash the squash well.
In a separate bowl combine the mayonnaise and onion.
Add the egg and stir well to incorporate.
Sprinkle in the sugar, salt and pepper and blend them in to the mixture well.
Add the mashed squash and mix until well combined.
Set the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
Spray a 1 qt. casserole dish with a non stick cooking spray.
Spread the squash mixture into the prepared casserole.
Place the crushed crackers into a mixing bowl.
Sprinkle the cheese over the crackers.
Pour the melted butter over the crackers and toss to coat well.
Spread the cracker mixture over the top of the casserole.
Bake 45 minutes or until the top is a nice golden brown.

Makes 6 servings

To reheat place the frozen casserole in a 350 degree oven for approximately 25 minutes or until completely heated through.

Susanne Myers – The Hillbilly Housewife

Visit me at at HillbillyHousewife.com and take a moment to sign up for my free newsletter.

I also have a growing collection of ebooks on frugal homemaking and cooking topics. You can find the Hillbilly Housewife Ebooks here and please remember that 20% of my profits on these ebooks during the month of October will be donated to the Susan G. Komen foundation to further breast cancer research.

By Susanne Myers – The Hillbilly Housewife

Let me start off by saying that while I wish my pantry looked this way, it sure doesn’t, but I loved the image…

All this week we are talking about food, cooking and the upcoming holidays. Yesterday I shared some simple holiday crockpot recipes with you. Today we’re going to talk about how to organize your pantry for the holiday.

Start by going through your entire pantry and pulling everything out. I usually set everything on my kitchen table and the counters. As you pull things out of the pantry, keep a large trash bag close by and toss things that are either expired or you know you’re not going to eat or use.

If it is canned items or closed dry goods that you know you won’t eat (like that can of beets you bought a few months ago), set them aside in a different bag and donate them later.

Get out a rag and give your pantry a good cleaning while it’s empty. Last year when we did that, my husband ended up painting the walls of the pantry. It made a huge difference in the way it looks.

Once that’s done, it’s time to restock your pantry. Group things into like items. All baking mixes go in one section, all spices in another etc. This type of organization makes it easy to see at a glance if you have a particular item.

As you are going through your pantry items, keep a piece of paper and a pen close by and make a note of everything that you need to replace or stock up on. Many things will be obvious right away.

There are also certain ingredients that we only use around the holidays. There are certain spices, mixes and canned goods we don’t often buy. Now is a great time to see what you have on hand and replenish anything you know you will need in a few weeks.

A few years ago I didn’t do this. One of my holiday spices is sage. We use quite a bit of it in the cornbread dressing our family makes both Thanksgiving and Christmas. I didn’t realize that I was about out until the day before Thanksgiving. I ended up heading to three different stores before finding any dry sage, and then I ended up having to buy the most expensive brand. A little planning ahead can save you a lot of hassle and some money.

Susanne Myers – The Hillbilly Housewife

Visit me at at HillbillyHousewife.com and take a moment to sign up for my free newsletter.

I also have a growing collection of ebooks on frugal homemaking and cooking topics. You can find the Hillbilly Housewife Ebooks here and please remember that 20% of my profists on these ebooks during the month of October will be donated to the Susan G. Komen foundation to further breastcancer research.

Since we’re talking about holiday cooking this week, I thought I’d share another secret weapon of mine – the crockpot or slowcooker. It’s the perfect appliance this time of the year. I don’t know about you, but when I’m cooking a big Thanksgiving or Christmas meal, I end up running out of oven and stove time – in other words I have more dishes I’m trying to finish that I have time to cook on the stove top or in the oven. My crockpot comes to the rescue.

I also use it quite a bit when we’re invited to a holiday party at  a friend’s house and I’m asked to bring a side dish. I just carry the entire crockpot over there, plug it in and everything will be piping hot and delicious when we’re ready to eat.

By the way, using the crockpot goes hand in hand with the planning ahead for big holiday meals that we talked about yesterday. Be sure to include your favorite slow cooker in those meals.

Here’s how I use my crockpots around the holidays:

Snacks and Appetizers

Dig through your stack of potluck recipes for the crockpot and I’m sure you’ll come up with some yummy snack and appetizer ideas. I like to serve warm / hot dips in a small crockpot. The “keep warm setting” keeps it at the perfect temperature.

Here’s a tasty Sausage Hamburger Cheese Dip for the crockpot. You can also add some meatballs or small sausages to your slow cooker and cover them with barbecue sauce.

Main Dishes

Believe it or not you can cook a turkey breast in the crockpot. Crumble up some aluminum foil and put it in the bottom of your slow cooker. Season the turkey breast and set it on top of the foil balls. Cook on low for about 10 to 12 hours depending on size.

If you prefer ham, here’s a great crockpot honey glazed ham recipe for you.

Side Dishes

You can simmer all sorts of yummy bean and vegetable side dishes in a crockpot. Last year I brought some corn on the cob to a holiday party. I boiled the corn on the stove most of the way, then buttered it and transferred it to the crockpot. Once we got to our friend’s house, I set the crockpot on keep warm and we had hot corn with dinner.

There are also plenty of macaroni and cheese or various casseroles that are always a big hit around the holidays and are simple to make in a crockpot. A family favorite of ours is crock pot scalloped potatoes.

Dessert

There are recipes for anything from apple crisp to sweet potato casserole (with marshmallows of course) that make perfect holiday desserts that can be cooked in the crockpot. Here’s another recipe for you.

Pumpkin Custard For The Crockpot

• 1 can pumpkin
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Bisquick baking mix
• 2 eggs beaten
• 2 Tbsp butter or margarine melted
• 2-1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tsp vanilla

Spray your crockpot with non-stick cooking spray. Mix all ingredients and pour them into your slowcooker. Cook on low for 6 hours. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Susanne Myers – The Hillbilly Housewife

Visit me at at HillbillyHousewife.com for plenty of crockpot recipes.

P.S. If you’re interested in crock pot cooking, grab a copy of my Crockpot Cooking Made Simple Ebook.

P.P.S What are your favorite ways to use the crockpot around the holidays?

I’m Susanne Myers – better known as the Hillbilly Housewife. Kelly and the girls here at FamilyFoodies.com have invited me to share some thoughts on holiday cooking with you this week.

I’m excited that gladly became a part of my October Blog Tour – The Hillbilly Housewife On The Road. Each October I try to do a little something special to benefit Breast Cancer Research (my grandmother is  breast cancer survivor). This year I decided to blog on some wonderful blogs of my friends as well as donate 20% of all profits I make from Hillbilly Housewife Ebooks and the Hillbilly Housewife Club to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

How let’s talk about planning ahead for the big holiday meals. It seems hard to believe but we only have a few weeks until Thanksgiving (in the US) and from there it’s just a few more short weeks until Christmas with plenty of holiday entertaining in between.

I used to not do much planning ahead with holiday meals. We have some pretty standard traditional menus and I’d just buy what I needed a few days head of time and would then proceed to run around like a chicken with its head cut off the day before and the day off the holiday (or holiday party), stessing out and trying to do way to much in too little time. By the time guests arrived, I was exhausted and would preferred a nap over entertaining.

I was already pretty good at meal planning at this point for our regular dinners, but for some reason didn’t do much planning for holiday meals. The past few years I have and boy has it made a difference. Here’s a quick overview of what I do to plan ahead.

2 Weeks Before

Start by deciding what you will serve. If you are going to have friends or family members contribute, contact them and figure out what everyone will bring. This will give them plenty of time to plan their dishes.

Check and see if there’s anything else you will need as far as dishes, containers, serving plates or even chairs and table cloths go.

Make a list of everything you will need and then divide it into 3 different lists:

Non Perishables – this includes any non-food item as well as things that will not go bad in 2 weeks, like spices, or potatoes and dry rice for example.

In Between – this is stuff that will go bad eventually, but usually lasts for a few days. Most fruits and vegetables will fall into this category.

Very Perishables – This is stuff that you want to pick up the day before like ground beef for example.

Go ahead and start shopping for everything on your non-perishable list and don’t forget to look for sales on typical holiday fare. Certain spices and canned goods should go on sale around this time and this is the perfect time to buy them.

1 Week Before

Get the rest of your food done and start some prep work. Many dishes can be made ahead and frozen. We’ll talk about this in more detail later this week. Make and freeze as many dishes as possible. You’ll appreciate the extra free time on the holiday to enjoy your family and guests.

This is also  a good time to get your home in order. Divide up the various cleaning chores between all family members.

2 Days Before

Get serious about prep work and preparing anything that will still taste good (or better 2 days later). If you are going to use homemade cornbread for example in your dressing you can bake it that night and store it in an air tight container until you’re ready to make your stuffing or dressing.

The Day Before

Get all your chopping and dicing done today and prepare any dish that will make it in the fridge overnight. Most casseroles can be put together the day before. Cakes and desserts can also usually be made a day ahead. Don’t forget about things like potato and pasta salad as well. It usually tastes better the next day anyway.

Now is also a great time to go ahead and rearrange furniture as needed and set the table. This is particularly true if your guest are arriving for an early lunch.

At the end of the day, make yourself a checklist with everything you need to do the next day and in what order. I usually also come up with a time-line of what needs to be cooked when and for how long.

The Big Day

On the day of the celebration, just work through your list and don’t forget to plan for some time to freshen up and get dressed. After that sit back, relax and enjoy your holiday party and more importantly your loved ones.

Susanne Myers – The Hillbilly Housewife

Visit me at at HillbillyHousewife.com for plenty of frugal recipes and frugal tips.

P.S. If you’re interested in meal planning and would like to learn more, get a copy of Meal Planning Made Easy.