New Year's Eve Dinner

Here's the menu for this evening's feast:

• Roasted, home-raised chicken (celery inside and butter keep it moist for baking)
• Roasted butternut squash and apples drizzled in honey
• Creamed sweet potato casserole with brown sugar crisp topping- home grown sweet potatoes
• Yeast rolls
• Potato latkes (home grown onions- the potato patch needed a rest after a blight... maybe next year)

Happy New Year!

Loaded Grilled Cheese

Here's an idea for a veggie-boost in a grilled cheese day: 

• sweet potato quesadilla filling (shredded sweet potatoes, onion, cumin, chili powder, garlic sauteed until soft)
• shredded cheddar/jack cheese
• salsa

Make grilled cheese sandwhich, only with the addition of sweet potatoes!  My son loves this, and often dips it in some salsa to boot.  Quesadillas on whole wheat toast- the best of comfort food on a cold winter's day!

Fondant Fun

I'll admit it:  I can't resist a challenge, and I really REALLY can't resist trying to "one up" my big brother.  You see, he's become somewhat of a master cake cooker for his children when their birthdays roll around.  My children have birthdays as bookends to his, so we inevitably wind up making lots of cakes (and comparisons).  It's a fun game to see who will do what for their little angel come birthday time.

This year, I've decided to kick off the birthday bash with an elegant approach.  Little baby has no appreciation of cartoon characters just yet, so I made a double-chocolate layer cake with vanilla and chocolate filling, topped with a robin's egg blue fondant.

I honestly have no idea how it tastes yet, but it's pretty.   If the fondant winds up being even remotely edible, I'm imagining the creations I could make when it is Mufasa's birthday in May! (Aliens from Toy Story? We'll have to wait and see...) For baby and kids, there will be apple-spice cupcakes with a blue "dipped" frosting.  This makes the cupcakes look lovely- all smooth and shiny.

Making the fondant was truly entertaining.  I loved it!  It's like a gigantic silly-putty playtime for grownups.  I highly recommend making some, if only for some stress relief- play time that tastes yummy! Here's the link for the recipe, in case you're interested. Enjoy!

Winter Salad

I'm spoiled.  In the summertime, we have a beautiful garden on the family farm that provides more choices for vegetables than I know what to do with.  Salads can be a daily thing. They are fabulous.  So come winter, I'm less than enthusiastic about the grocery store selections of waxy, bland vegetables to make a salad from.

My latest discovery? Strawberry Poppy seed Vinaigrette.  Here's the new salad for a burst of winter-time vitamins:

Baby spinach
Mandarin oranges, drained
Dried blueberries or cranberries
Glazed walnut pieces
Strawberry Poppy Seed Vinaigrette

Mexi-Flavored Sweet Potato Casserole

1 large sweet potato, grated
1 medium onion (optional)
olive oil
frozen corn (1 cup or so)
1 can black beans
12 oz. diced tomatoes
cheese of desired flavor
tortillas
cumin, oregano, chili powder, cilantro to taste

Saute onion in olive oil. Add grated sweet potato.  Cook, covered, about 8 minutes, or until softened.  Add corn, beans, and tomatoes, along with seasonings to taste (1 tsp. of each, 1/4 tsp. chili powder is a mild mix). Simmer briefly.

Rip up tortillas- line bottom of greased square pan.  Add 1/2 sweet potato blend.  Top with cheese, more tortilla shreds.  Add rest of sweet potato blend, and top with cheese.  Bake @ 350 +/- 40 min, until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Throw-Together-Lasagna

I had an hour and a half until dinner, a box of lasagna noodles, and a freezer stuffed with goodies from the summer.  My boys needed a good dose of veggies after gluttony all weekend.  So......  I present Throw-together-lasagna.

Lasagna noodles, cooked.
+/- Quart of roasted tomato sauce
Mixed Italian cheeses, shredded (or whatever is on hand!)
2 cups green beans
2 cups spinach
1/2 cup cooked mild Italian sausage
1/2 - 1 cup ground meat
bread crumbs
2 eggs
seasoning to taste

While the noodles cook, puree the green veggies and meats, bread crumbs and 1/2 cup of cheese until smooth.

Spread sauce over the bottom of lasagna pan, to just cover. Lay down 3 noodles. Top with filling, some sauce, and a sprinkle of cheese.  Repeat layers, ending with sauce and cheese. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes.  Allow to set for 10 minutes before cutting.

Enjoy!

Chard-Stuffed Meatloaf (My New Favorite!)

The Joy of Gardening Cookbook by Janet Ballantyne

I don't have permission to reproduce this book for you... but I highly recommend it.  This is my new favorite meatloaf.  It is basically an Italian meatloaf stuffed with a filling of Ruby Chard and cheeses. Mmmmmm! Topped with the roasted tomato sauce from this summer, this was a big hit with the entire family.