Holiday Kitchen 2014

I love to cook! And for the holidays I usually like to go with familiar, traditionally served dishes from my childhood. And sometimes I like to throw in something totally different!

This year we decided not to travel for the holidays. Instead, we are breaking bread with a few friends here! One meal is the traditional Christmas ham, and the other is a Mexican feast!

So today was MAJOR food prep day. Little baby had a great day, allowing me to get busy in the kitchen! She even took a 2 hour nap (not normal for my child!) so I could get a much needed rest on the couch! 

Here are all the recipes I used this year! Some are from my recipe book, and some are links to my Pinterest page where the recipes can be found.

White Chicken Enchiladas (a childhood favorite)

1 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
2 TBSP vegetable oil
2 cups cooked chopped chicken
1 1/2 cup shredded Colby-Jack Cheese
4 oz can chopped green chiles
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp ground corriander
1/4 tsp ground cumin
6 flour tortillas, burrito size
Preheat oven to 350. In large skillet, combine onion, pepper, and oil. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add chicken, 1/2 cup of cheese, and green chiles. Set aside. In medium saucepan, combine soup, sour cream, coriander, and cumin. Cook over low heat just until warm, stirring frequently. Stir half of sauce into the chicken mixture. Divide chicken mixture among tortillas. Roll up and place seam down in 9"x13" baking dish. Pour remaining sauce over tortillas and cover with remaining 1 cup of cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.

SHORTCUTS:
*This time I omitted the onions and pepper so I didn't have to dirty the large skillet.
*Poach boneless skinless chicken breasts or just use a rotisserie chicken.
*It's not really necessary to heat the sauce on the stove. Just stir it all together in a bowl. So much faster!
*Experiment with fillings! Add corn, beans, whatever! I just did chicken and cheese this time.

Cheesy Potato Hash (AKA Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole AKA Funeral Potatoes)

*I had never heard them called "Funeral Potatoes" before! It's just what they are called in the recipe I found. I had this a lot as a kid, too!

*I found potatoes O'Brien at the commissary, so I decided to use those! They have little bits of red and green pepper in them.

Cherry Cool Whip Salad (some sort of salad like this is standard for us German Lutherans!)

*I omitted the marshmallows. 

Grandma's Hot Wassail (to me it's not Christmas without this hot drink!)

2 quarts Apple Cider or Apple Juice (cider adds more flavor)
1 qt orange juice (pulp-free is best)
1 qt cranberry juice (not cocktail)
1 qt red wine (any will do)
2 cups sugar
1 TBSP whole allspice
1 TBSP whole cloves
4 sticks cinnamon
Put the spices in a refillable tea bag or use cheesecloth. Pour sugar and all liquids in a large pot (or crockpot) and add spices in the bag. Heat until hot. Discard spices. Ladle out and enjoy!

Christmas White Trash

*I used white chocolate chips, but I think white almond bark has better flavor. 

*I used Chex cereal.
*I added some peanuts.

*I didn't measure anything. I just dumped stuff in. That's how I roll!

Giada's Peanut Butter Espresso Brownies (so simple!)

*I actually watched the episode in which she made these. I was surprised that she used a boxed brownie mix!

*I couldn't find instant espresso powder, so I just used instant coffee powder. 

*I thought for sure that she used peanut butter, but she used peanut butter chips. Of course, I didn't have any, so I just used a few generous scoops of crunchy peanut butter.