I don't know where I got this recipe, but I've made it & it is really good. The apples and dried cranberries make a good flavor combination, and the cranberries are red for Christmas time. Assemble it the day before & then just put it in the oven on Christmas morning. It makes the house smell wonderful.Overnight Christmas French ToastIn a 13"x9" … [Read more...]
Freeze Ahead: Hot Pepper Cheese Ball or Log
This is a hugely popular cheese ball recipe & doesn't use any flavoring packets. The flavor comes from the hot pepper sauce, the Worcestershipre sauce, the minced garlic, and the fresh parsley. All in a cream cheese & cheddar cheese base, rolled in chopped pecans. No wonder it's so popular!You can freeze any cheese ball way ahead of time & have … [Read more...]
Potatoes au Gratin: Classy and Frugal Side Dish
These are easy to make the day before & then just reheat them. Don't freeze them, because potatoes get weird if they've been frozen. Rubbery. Not good.It's just easier to make these the day before your big meal than to make potatoes at the same time you are working on the rest of the meal. Click title for link at FrugalUpstate. These are very … [Read more...]
Great Holiday Side Dish: Spinach Rice Cheese Casserole
This is one of my favorite casseroles. How can you go wrong with spinach, rice, and cheese? It calls for brown rice, but you can use white rice if that's what you have. It calls for fresh spinach, but I use frozen sometimes. It's fine. This is a lovely side dish for a holiday meal where you have big eaters. It will fill them up and add good … [Read more...]
Mark Bittman’s top 12 Make Ahead dishes
Oh my goodness, this man can cook. The linked list is just a sample of his big list of make ahead foods. Ones that jump out at me are: cranberry truffles, roasted caramelized sweet potatoes, herbed buttermilk biscuits, potato gratin, roasted squash with stuffing, steamed edamame with soysauce, zucchini potato pancakes. Oh, mama.Cranberry … [Read more...]
Bananas and Cream Bundt Cake
This is a moist, tender cake thanks to the sour cream. You can add different fruits to the bananas for even more flavors. It's almost like a fruit bread, and you can freeze it to use later.One person used plain yogurt instead of sour cream. Another person added a package of dry instant pudding mix in the banana cream flavor. One person used half … [Read more...]
Spinach Pesto Lasagna for 65 Cents a Serving
Trent at the SimpleDollar has come up with a tasty lasagna for cheap. Usually lasagna is not that cheap to make. This one is meatless, which is a major way to keep costs down. He uses a homemade pesto from his garden which keeps costs low also. If you buy pesto that will increase costs a bit. Also he uses 12 lasagna noodles where I usually use … [Read more...]