Category: Holidays

Sweet Potato Casserole

What would Thanksgiving be without Sweet Potato Casserole? In my family, I’m the one who always gets to bring it because I know the best sweet potato casserole recipe ever! My secret is the crunchy buttery topping with coconut, pecans and brown sugar. It’s so delicious and sweet that I usually eat it last, like a dessert. The fluffy mashed sweet potatoes spiced with pumpkin pie spices like cinnamon, ginger and all spice are just heavenly! So if you’re looking for the best sweet potato casserole recipe, take it from this southern girl, here’s the only one you need.

Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe – Cooking your sweet potatoes:

First of all, you have two options of how to cook your sweet potatoes. You can either bake them until they’re soft and scoop out the inside of the sweet potatoes and discard the skins, or you can peel the sweet potatoes, cube them and boil them in a pot of water until they are fork tender then drain them and mash with a potato masher. I’ve done it both ways and they both work equally well. I usually use about 5 or 6 medium sized sweet potatoes.

Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe

Ingredients:

Mashed cooked sweet potatoes
1 egg
1/3 cup milk or flavored liquid coffee creamer (hazelnut or vanilla)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Mix together the above ingredients with your mashed sweet potatoes. Spread them into a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish.

Sweet potato casserole recipe topping:

1/4 cup softened butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Mix together the topping ingredients and sprinkle over the casserole. Bake in a 350○F oven for 20 – 30 minutes. The topping should be bubbly and browned. The smell should be amazing and will summon you to the oven when it’s getting close to done. Serve this awesome comfort food at your next Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner and everyone will be begging you for your Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe.

Remember to return often to my blog for more great recipes.

Sharon Springfield

Tags casserole, sweet potato

Casseroles Corn Holidays Side Dishes Southern Vegetables Vegetarian

Southern Corn Casserole

This southern classic – Corn Casserole – is rich and buttery, sweet and creamy and a must have at our family gatherings for holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. This goes well as a side dish for spicy dishes like Chili, Cowboy Stew, and Cheesy Manwich Chicken Pasta.

1 cup self-rising cornmeal
3/4 cup self rising flour
1/4 cup sugar
dash of salt
1/3 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 can creamed corn
1 1/2 cup buttermilk

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add the next 4 ingredients and stir just until combined. Pour into a greased 2 quart casserole dish. Bake at 400° for approximately 30 minutes. The middle should not jiggle when pan is shaken around. If its not firm then bake longer.

Spoon it out to serve.

This is similar to the recipe using Jiffy corn muffin mix, but I like to avoid pre-packaged foods whenever possible. You could use a cornbread mix if you want and omit the cornmeal and flour. I hope you enjoy my recipe for Southern Corn Casserole. If so, share with your friends and Pin it on Pinterest.

Southern Corn Casserole

Sharon Springfield

Tags casserole, corn, corn casserole, southern food

Broccoli Casseroles Holidays Rice Side Dishes Vegetables

Low Fat Broccoli Rice Casserole

Post author By Sharon
Post date November 19, 2012
No Comments on Low Fat Broccoli Rice Casserole

Low Fat Broccoli Rice Casserole

Low Fat Broccoli Rice Casserole. This is a spin off of a recipe from my mother-in-law that used Minute Rice, frozen broccoli and Cheez Whiz. I’m more into fresh foods, the less processed the better, so I healthy-tized it. But it’s still creamy and cheesy and really great. Hope you’ll try it and love it too!

Low Fat Broccoli Rice Casserole Ingredients:

2 cups water
1 cup rice
2 cups fresh broccoli florets
1 package fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 can fat free cream of mushroom soup
1 can fat free cream of chicken soup
1 soup can low fat milk
2 cups shredded cheddar
salt & pepper

Low Fat Broccoli Rice Casserole Instructions:

In a medium saucepan, bring salted water to a boil, add rice, lower heat to a simmer and steam with lid on for 10 minutes. Add the broccoli and mushrooms and continue to cook until the rice and broccoli are tender, approximately another 10 minutes. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, reserving 1/2 cup of cheese. Spread into a buttered casserole dish and sprinkle reserved cheese on top. Bake at 350°F oven for 30 minutes.

This low fat broccoli rice casserole can be vegetarian friendly if you use 2 cans cream of mushroom soup and omit the cream of chicken soup. When I was a vegetarian, this was something I used to make frequently for dinner.

Give this Low Fat Broccoli Rice Casserole a try this Thanksgiving.

Don’t forget to check out the other posts in my blog. This week I’m featuring my favorite Thanksgiving dishes with you.

Low Fat Broccoli Rice Casserole

Sharon Springfield

Tags broccoli, casserole, Rice

Desserts Holidays Ice Cream

Ice Cream Flag Cake

2 containers (1.5 qt. ea.) chocolate or vanilla ice cream
4 cups assorted sliced fresh fruit
1 can (7 oz.) whipped cream or 2 cups whipped cream
50 fresh blueberries
2 pints raspberries or 1 quart strawberries, sliced

1. With scissors, cut cartons from ice cream. Arrange ice cream on its side, then cut each into 4 lengthwise slices.

2. In 13X9-in. baking dish, arrange 4 Ice Cream slices, pressing to form an even layer. Top with fruit, then remaining 4 ice cream slices, pressing to form an even layer. Cover and freeze at least 2 hrs.

3. Just before serving, top with whipped cream, smoothing with spatula. Arrange berries in flag pattern, with blueberries in upper left corner and 7 raspberry or strawberry “stripes.”

Serves 24

Tags desserts, holidays, Ice Cream, ice cream cake