Holiday Recipes

I think it would be fun to share favorite holiday recipes! Either favorite side dishes or goodies to deliver to people. :)

SUGAR-FREE CRANBERRY SALAD

1 can cranberry sauce (jelly type, chunky style)
1 med. can crushed pineapple with juice (no sugar)
2 (3 oz.) pkg. sugar-free lemon Jello
2 c. boiling water
1 c. diced apple, peeled
1 c. diced celery
1 c. chopped pecans

Mix Jello with hot water and stir until dissolved. Add other ingredients and blend to mix evenly. Place in refrigerator to set up. Serve on lettuce leaf. (FYI - I've never served on a lettuce leaf :)...just out of a bowl.)

Orange Rolls

I really enjoyed the recipes that were posted last month. We tried the Chicken Parm. last week and loved it, and I can't wait to try Shannon's recipe. I am a little disappointed that it was your idea MOM and you didn't even add a recipe. So anyway I think whoever picks first can decide what kind of recipe we should post for December.

We had these on Thanksgiving and Shannon wanted the recipe, but I forgot to give it to her, so I thought I would just post it here. It is another one of Doug's family favorites.

Refrigerator Orange Rolls
Dissolve 1 package of yeast in 1/4 c warm water.

Combine:
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup hot water
let cool

Combine:
1 eaten egg with 1/2 cup cold water

after cool add egg mixture and yeast. Add 3 cups flour. Beat well and cover. (This dough is very sticky) Refrigerate overnight. 2 1/2 hours before serving roll out dough into large rectangle. Spread with orange filling. Roll up and cut into 24 slices. Place slices in well greased muffin pans. Cover with dish towel and let rise. Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

ORANGE FILLING:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 grated orange peal + juice

Chicken Cordon Bleu

This is a super easy recipe and very yummy!

4 Chicken Breasts
4 slices of deli ham
4 slices of Swiss Cheese
1 C. Seasoned Stuffing, crushed (you can also use seasoned bread crumbs, but I think stuffing is the best!)
Salt & Pepper
8-12 Toothpicks
1lb. asparagus (optional)
1 packet Hollandaise Sauce (optional)
Wax paper (optional)


Place wax paper over the top of your chicken. Use a meat mallet to pound out your chicken. If you don't have a mallet, you could also use the bottom of a cup or a rolling pin. The wax paper is optional, it just prevents the chicken from sticking to your pounding apparatus.
Season your chicken with the Salt and Pepper on both sides. Place your ham and cheese on one side of the chicken. Put the asparagus in the middle. Starting with the small end of the chicken, roll it tightly up. Use the toothpicks to keep it closed.
Place your crushed stuffing onto a plate and roll the chicken around in it so that it's completely coated. Place your chicken in a greased pan and cover. Cook for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees or until the chicken is cooked all the way through. Top with Hollandaise sauce, if wanted. I've tried making Hollandaise sauce from scratch, but I like it out of the packets so much more! Not to mention, it's way easier!
Makes 4 Servings.

Chicken Parmesan - at least thats what I think it is :-)

This was one we posted on our blog, we've had it a couple times now and love it. Bon-appetite

Chicken Parm. on a bed of noodles (Serves 4)

First Bread 4 boneless chicken breasts using Italian seasoned bread crumps (just mix italian seasoning in with the bread crumbs) and egg whites (2) and fry them in a little extra virgin olive oil until browned and cooked through.

Sauce (start by lightly toasting the garlic in the olive oil (2 or 3 tsp of fresh chopped garlic)) Then,

- Add 2 cup of cherry tomatoes, cut in halves

-1 large yellow onion

- Salt and pepper to tase

-1/2 cup of olive oil

- a covering of oregano, 3 fingers of sage and thyme, and parsley

-a little bit of hot pepper seeds

- 1/3 jar of your favorite brand of mushroom spaghetti sauce (you can make it without this part but I like to thicken the sauce a little)

cook all of this until everything is nice and blended put a lid on it to keep it hot and moist.

while cooking the sauce start the noodles and turn the oven on to bake at 400 degrees.

also try to keep the chicken warm.

when the sauce is ready pore it over the breaded chicken in a glass cooking pan and sprinkle a cup of mozzarella cheese on top and put it in the oven for 10 or 15 minutes until you can see the cheese melt and the sauce start to boil. quickly remove and serve on top of a bed of noodles plated individually. The glass pan in the picture is larger than usual and there is more chicken for this size double the sauce recipe (9’’x 13’’).

It is imperative to time this all together so everything is hot, if you don’t it will still taste great but I recommend timing it just perfect. If you think the recipe could use some tweaking go for it, like I said we kind of winged it so let us know if there are any improvements we could make.

ORANGE CHICKEN

So my mom had this idea to have an assigned category every month and have everyone post a recipe during the month. It doesn't have to be anything fancy or exciting, it could even be something you cook every week. I would love some new recipes to try as I often feel that I am cooking the same things over and over again. So if everyone is interested then I thought this month we could make it easy and have everyone post a chicken recipe.

My recipe is one that Doug's family cooks a lot and so we have had it often since we have been married. They call it "Orange Chicken" but I think that is more because of the color then the flavor.

Orange Chicken

3 lbs chicken breasts (I usually just use enough for our family to eat and I cut it into smaller pieces)

garlic salt

black pepper

beaten eggs

flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup vinegar

1/2 cup chicken broth

3 1/2 tbsp ketchup

1 tbsp soy sauce

Sprinkle both sides of chicken with garlic salt and pepper. Let stand for 1 hour or more. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Dip chicken in beaten egg then flour. Brown in hot oil. Place in baking dish. Cover with the following sauce: Mix sugar, vinegar, chicken broth, ketchup, and soy sauce in sauce pan and heat. Pour over chicken. Bake uncovered for 1 hour. Turn chicken over once or twice while cooking.

Real Italian Calzones

I got this recipe from Allrecipes.com.
"This is real calzone, because there is no tomato sauce INSIDE of it! We eat it at least once a week. Have a bowl of tomato or spaghetti sauce on the table for people to top their calzone with, if desired."

INGREDIENTS:
1 package active dry yeast
1cup warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup diced pepperoni
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
1 egg beaten

DIRECTIONS:
1. To make dough: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the oil, sugar and salt; mix in 1 cup of the flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the rest of the flour until dough is smooth and workable. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes, or until it is elastic. Lay dough in a bowl containing 1 teaspoon olive oil, then flip the dough, cover and let rise for 40 minutes or until almost doubled.
2. To make filling: While dough is rising, combine the ricotta cheese, Cheddar cheese (we used mozzarella), pepperoni, mushrooms and basil leaves in a large bowl. Mix well, cover bowl and refrigerate to chill.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
4. When dough is ready, punch it down and separate it into 2 equal parts. Roll parts out into thin circles on a lightly floured surface. Fill each circle with 1/2 of the cheese/meat filling and fold over, securing edges by folding in and pressing with a fork. Brush the top of each calzone with egg and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve hot.