Hello and Merry Christmas everyone! Thank you for your grace last week when I was so sick. I’m all better now thank goodness, yay! So I’m back with a big post today because not only do I have my entire gluten-free Christmas menu to share with you but I also wanted to tell you a little bit about my party last week. So hang on because I have a ton of excellent recipe links to share with you.
But first, just in case you have just stumbled upon this blog post and think I love being in the kitchen, that isn’t exactly correct. I really don’t like it at all. Mostly because things usually go very wrong for me in there. However my family still needs to eat so I keep making them food, aren’t I so nice? Ha! Thankfully I have a husband who never complains about my cooking. He’s a smart man 🙂 The biggest thing I’ve learned is to stick with easy recipes. Here’s my recipe criteria if you are interested. I know myself well enough by now to keep it simple in the kitchen and not pretend to be something I’m not. I get in and get out as fast as I can most days and usually that way nobody gets hurt (too badly). Oh and one more disclaimer when it comes to big holiday meals, my husband is in charge of the turkey…turkeys stress me out (they take too long!) so if my husband wants turkey he’s got to do it. Thankfully it doesn’t stress him out in the least. He’s a good man, I think I’ll keep him 🙂
Dinner Club Party:
When I mentioned it was my turn to host this month’s dinner club, many of you asked me what a dinner club was. For us it’s simply a group of ladies that get together one evening a month, the host picks a theme and then each person then brings a dish based on that theme. We also bring along copies of our recipes to share. We are encouraged to try a new recipe and maybe go outside of our cooking comfort zones a bit which totally isn’t a stretch for me considering it’s all out of my comfort zone 🙂 It’s so much fun!
So my theme this month was red, white and green to go along with Christmas. Guests could bring any dish as long as it was in one of those colors. I decided to make three dips…a red one (chipotle salsa), a green one (guacamole) and a white one (baked potato dip) and I have to say they were all amazing! Even though they were just dips, I was so proud of myself that they all turned out almost on the first try. The Chipotle Salsa (from the Pioneer Woman’s new cookbook) I ended doing twice because the first time I thought it was too runny. Second time was much better.
I also made White Chocolate Cranberry Fudge and it was amazing!
This simple Merry Christmas Banner is a free printable I found at Chickabug.
And now it’s time for Christmas. I’ve pulled out my Holiday Menu Planner and Baking List to help me keep everything organized and away we go. Deep breath. Have a fantastic Christmas everyone and all the best to you in 2014!!
My Christmas Edition Menu Plan:
Monday: Pepperoni Pizza Panini (I’ll use homemade corn tortillas for mine)
Tuesday: Rudolph Pancakes using this gluten-free recipe.
Wednesday: Christmas!
Turkey with Bacon-Infused Gravy
Slow Cooker Gluten-Free Stuffing
Rosemary Focaccia Bread in the Bread Machine (using my gluten-free flour blend)
Candy Cane Cheesecake (not gf)
Thursday: Homemade Turkey Soup
Friday: Cheesy Turkey Pesto Pasta
Saturday: Sloppy Joes
Sunday: YOYO (you’re on your own)
WHAT’S ON YOUR MENU PLAN THIS WEEK? JOIN US!
Menu Plan Guidelines, banner selections and recipe helpers are here.
More family favorite recipes here.
Don’t forget to join the growing Menu Plan Monday Facebook Page!!
One of my favorite menu planning resources:
Janet says
Merry Christmas!
Miz Helen says
Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and thanks for the awesome parties in 2013!
Miz Helen
SnoWhite @ Finding Joy in My Kitchen says
Merry Christmas, Laura! Enjoy the turkey and the celebration!
Heather says
Love the Red, White, and Green theme. Thanks for sharing all the recipe links. I see a lot of good ones to try. Hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday and a Merry Christmas!
Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious says
Thank you for sharing the Pepperoni Pizza Panini from my site. I like your idea of doing it in corn tortillas! Great collection of recipe suggestions here.
Merry Christmas!
Heather - Chickabug says
Thanks for including my Christmas banner printable! : )
Sonja says
Thanks so much for featuring my Crock-pot Mashed Potatoes! God bless you this Christmas!
Victoria Ross says
Did I just read that right? CANDY CANE CHEESECAKE?! I’m in heaven. Looks like I found a project for today. Thanks so much.
Happy Holidays!
Ice says
The whole presentation is marvelous, but what got me is the white chocolate fudge! I love white chocolate. Thank you so much for posting the link with recipe. I know what I’m baking tonight.
Anna says
Hi Laura,
I love your website and your app. I was wondering if you will be updating the app and including the menu plan. It currently still says ‘coming soon’. Thanks for all you do to help us stay inspired and organized. Best wishes for a healthy and happy 2014.