Spinach Casserole

My mom found this recipe in the Dallas Morning News kids' section when I was in elementary school. I guess it was supposed to help kids like spinach. I didn't have any trouble with that beforehand, but this didn't hurt.

It's one of my favorite dishes. Ever. I've been known to eat some of the leftovers for breakfast.

It was one of the dishes we chose for our "traditional" family Christmas meal when my mom had us pick something, since we always got the turkey-and-fixins meal at a grandmother's (or two). Yum!

• 1 sm onion or 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3 pkgs. frozen spinach, 10 oz. each, thawed
• 8 oz. cream cheese
o or 7 Laughing Cow cheese triangles
• 1/4 C milk
• 1 1/2 C cheddar cheese, grated

1. Steam the chopped onion with a teaspoon of water in a small microwave-safe bowl covered with plastic wrap vented just a little to allow steam to escape for two minutes. (You can skip this step if you don't mind onions a little crunchy in the finished product. It's especially helpful for little kids with texture issues, though.)
2. Mix onion, cream cheese and milk with a mixer or by hand.
3. Squeeze excess water from spinach and spread into baking dish (3 qt. or 9x13).
4. Spread cream cheese mixture over spinach.
5. Top with cheese.
6. Bake at 350* for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Sweet Potato Casserole

This recipe is from a sweet older lady who was in our small group when we first got married. We had a LifeGroup Thanksgiving dinner before everyone headed off to their family celebrations, and she made this. It was delicious. ML absolutely loved it. I now bring it to all holiday meals. I think I would end up a single parent, if I didn't. :-P

• 3 lg sweet potatoes (or yams), cooked & mashed
o or 2 large/3 medium cans, drained
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1/2-1 t cinnamon
• 2 T margarine
• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1/2 C nuts, chopped
• 1/4 t nutmeg
• 1 bag marshmallows
o or 1 jar marshmallow cream

1. Add all but marshmallow to sweet potatoes & mix.
2. Spread into 9x13 baking dish.
3. Top with marshmallow.
4. Broil 1-2 mins.

Corn Pudding

One of our traditional holiday dishes. From The Four Ingredient Cookbook, a cookbook my mom gave me right around the time I got married. The ladies who wrote it (them, actually; there are several) are from my hometown, but it became kind of a national phenomenon. You may have seen it on an infomercial. :-) They're wonderful for cooks just starting out. And I need to go back through them soon for some inspiration, too.

Wow. I just looked up the cookbook to link it. It's gotten fancy. Mine is an old spiral-bound copy, and they're either hard-bound or at least bound paperback now. And looks like it's still selling well. Cool.

• 2 cans (16 oz. each) creamed corn
• 1 pkg (6 oz.) corn muffin mix
o or 1/2 C flour, 1/2 C cornmeal, 1 T sugar, 1 1/2 t baking powder, 1/4 t salt, mixed
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 C butter, melted

1. Mix all ingredients and pour into a greased 2 qt. casserole dish.
2. Bake 45 min. at 350*.

Simple, but yummy. A good compliment to a laden table.