Holiday cooking tips to lessen the load

My approach to lessen the cooking load in December is to use tried and true recipes that my family likes. I often try one new recipe, usually a vegetable, for fun and variety, but staying with the family favorites, once you have a few years’ experience, is my recommendation.

I often make wild rice, and also popular at our family feasts is a vegetable marinated in salad dressing, like cooked asparagus. Here is my favorite wild rice recipe:

Wild Rice

1 cup wild rice
4 cups chicken broth (about 1 and ¾ cans)

Rinse rice with water and drain.
In large sauce pan bring rice and broth to boil.
Reduce heat to simmer; cover and cook, stir occasionally, until rice is cooked, about 45 minutes.
When cooked the rice kernels will be bursting open and tender.
Let cool and serve.
The chicken broth gives it a delicious flavor.
Some folks add soy sauce or butter.

Since my family likes waldorf salad, we enjoy a healthy version of that, with apples, pecans, grapes, celery and a combination of mayonnaise and yogurt.

Stick mainly with recipes that are easy to make and popular with your family for relaxing meals at Christmas time.

Don't forget to divide up the work; if someone offers to bring a dish, say yes. My husband is in charge of cooking the meat, whether it is lamb, roast beef, turkey, etc.

Leslie's Put-It-on-and-Forget-It Cooking Tip

December cooking tip

Get out your crock pot! Wintertime is perfect for putting on soups or stews in the morning and forgetting about them until the smell permeates your entire home. Once fixed, soups can be refrigerated for several days—or even frozen, if needed—allowing anyone to grab a quick bowl, along with a green salad and a piece of toast or some crackers.

Some of our favorites include clam chowder, chicken taco soup, ground beef taco soup, chili, white chili, and pot roast. Yum!

What’s your family’s favorite soup, stew or chowder?

Christmas Kitchen Tip - The Cookie Swap

By: Trish Berg

Yes, I know. I have swapping on my mind...all the time. As a supper swap mom for almost 6 years now, I know how supper swapping can save moms time, money and add deeper friendships to their lives. I love supper swapping so much I write The Great American Supper Swap so moms everywhere can become supper swap moms.

But swapping is not limited to suppers. Nope. Not at all.

In fact, one of the BEST swap I participate in is a Christmas cookie swap every December.

About 5 girlfriends and I each get together and decide on which type of cookies we will each make for the swap. Then each of us makes 6 dozen of that one type of cookie. You can make them ahead of time and freeze them as well, depending on your schedule.

We then choose a December day to meet for lunch at one of our homes to swap our cookies. We have a delicious lunch together, sit and visit, chat and laugh and eat way too much great food.

Then, when it is time to go home, we each leave with 6 dozen cookies - 6 different varieties - to share with our own families over the holiday time.

Swapping is an amazing way to simplify your life, maximize your labor, and yes, even save money and add deeper friendships to your life.

Over the years, I have swapped baby-sitting with friends, house cleaning, even participated in a clothing swap.

But around the holidays, I simply adore my Christmas Cookie Swap. It is so much simpler to make 6 dozen of the same cookies than 1 dozen each of a different kind of cookie. Grocery shopping for the ingredients is easier, and you can get it done in one afternoon.

And, my kids LOVE the variety of cookies that come home with me, from Snicker Doodles to cut out Christmas trees and nutmeg logs.

So grab a few girlfriends, decide on which type of cookie you each want to make, and GET SWAPPING!!!

To help you get started, here is the BEST cut out cookie recipeyou will ever taste. I am not kidding...

I can't take any credit for these awesome cookies, but I do guarantee they are the BEST Christmas cut out cookies you will ever make or eat. The recipe is my friend, Holly, and it has become a Berg family MUST HAVE every Christmas!

Holly's Christmas Cut Outs

1 c. real butter (USE REAL BUTTER)
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 c. sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
5 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
Powdered sugar

Directions:
1) In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar and eggs with a wooden spoon (do NOT beat!)2) Add sour cream and vanilla.
3) Add soda and salt.
4) Stir in flour , 1 cup at a time.
5) When you add the last cup of flour, mix with your hands.
6) Roll out on the counter, use powdered sugar instead of flour on that surface and your hands.
7) Use your favorite cut out shapes, and bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden.

Holly uses butter cream frosting from the can, which tastes great, and is much easier. But you can use any icing you like!

Until next week, happy swapping....

Trish Berg
www.TrishBerg.com