Easy Christmas Dinner Menu and Recipes

I like to have Christmas dinner, but I am a terrible cook. I have found some ways to make the dinner a great success, and still not destroy anything in the process. I have for you a list of items you will need to purchase, and recipes and instructions to make the day a great one, no matter how bad of a cook you are.

Your menu is as follows:

Turkey, mashed potatoes, southern style green beans, cream corn, gravy, candied yams, cranberry sauce, corn bread stuffing, rolls, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and butter scotch cream pie.

Your grocery list will be as follows:

Turkey, 14 to 18 pounds for a medium sized gathering, a roasting bag, poultry seasoning, flour, instant potatoes, parsley flakes, onions with greens, margarine, 2 boxes of cornbread stuffing mix, 2 cans of jellied or whole cranberry sauce, milk, a bag of cabbage shredded with carrots, 2 cans of green beans, 2 cans of cream style corn, 2 cans of ready to heat turkey gravy, Miracle Whip salad dressing, 3 containers of cool whip, 1 can of sliced peaches, small package of pre cooked bacon, 1 large can of yams, 1 or 2 packages of brown and serve dinner rolls, brown sugar, mini marshmallows, 2 pumpkin pies that are already baked, 2 apple pies that are already baked, 2 pie crusts in foil pans, 4 packages of butter scotch pudding (not the instant), small bag of butter scotch flavored chips, salt and pepper.

You will need the following utensils to cook in or with:

2 crock pots, one large and one small, one glass casserole dishes 2 qt size, a roaster big enough for your turkey or an electric roaster, kettles and bowls to serve in, utensils.

First you want to start the day before by baking the butter scotch pies. You will bake the two empty frozen pie shells by the directions on the package. After baking, let cool. While they are cooling, mix the four regular sized boxes of pudding as directed on the box. Cook these carefully and stir constantly to keep the pudding from burning to the bottom. Pour the pudding into the pie shells. Put in refrigerator to let cool. When they are cool and set, spoon on the cool whip and using the back of the spoon, make peaks in the cool whip. Sprinkle the tops with butter scotch flavored chips. Cover and put back in the refrigerator.

Open the cans of cranberry sauce and put them in what you are serving them in. If you are serving the whole cranberry sauce, stir this so that it doesn't have the can shape and it will look much better on the table.

In a bowl large enough for the cabbage salad, you will need to put in the shredded cabbage, add to this just enough Miracle Whip salad dressing to make it smoother, add salt and pepper and stir well. Open the can of peaches and drain. Cut peaches up into bite sizes and stir into the cabbage mixture. Cover and refrigerate over night until you are ready to serve it.

Christmas Day, take your thawed turkey out, place in a clean sink, open the package, remove giblets and neck from the cavities. Drain out all of the blood. Check the bird for feathers that may still be on it, rinse inside and out. Let drain. Get your roaster and roasting bag ready. Pat dry the bird and rub a little butter onto the outside of the breast area. Sprinkle lightly with poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Place bird in bag following directions on the package for the roasting bag. Cook the bird following the directions on the bag. If you purchased one with a pop up timer, you will want to bake about half an hour more after the timer pops up to be sure you have it cooked thoroughly.

While the bird is in the oven, get out the crock pots. You will cook up the instant potatoes, add 1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes. Put them into the bigger crock pot and put it on low to keep them hot. When you serve them, cut up onion greens and sprinkle on the top for garnishing. They will look really nice this way.

You will do the same with the cornbread stuffing. You will make the stuffing the directions on the package with one exception. If you are going to have the stuffing in the crock pot for more than one hour, you will need to add 1/4 cup more water. When placed in a crock pot for more than an hour, it will start to dry out, and adding the extra water will help prevent this from happening.

You will want to open the yams, put them into the glass casserole dish. Add and stir in about two heaping tablespoons of brown sugar. Heat these in the microwave for about 8 minutes. They will be very hot. Let cool in the microwave for a while.

For the next step, you will get out the green beans and place them into a sauce pan. Chop up onions and put them in the pan. Break up 2 slices of pre cooked bacon and put it into the green beans. Salt and pepper. Start heating these just as you take the turkey out of the oven. The cream style corn and the gravy also needs to be put into a sauce pans and be ready to be heated through when the turkey is out of the oven.

After the turkey has sat in the oven the additional half an hour, take it out and let set to cool some while you put the apple and pumpkin pies in the oven. You will not need to bake them all the way, as they are already baked. You just want to warm them through. This helps with the flavor and the texture, and they taste better warmed. While you are baking the pies, you can also put the yams in the oven with them. Sprinkle a layer of mini marshmallows over these and heat until the marshmallows are melting and browned.

After you are done with the pies and yams, put the brown and serve rolls in foil and place them in the oven. These only take about ten minutes to brown. While these are browning, start heating the green beans, corn and gravy.

While you are waiting for the stuff in the oven, you can remove the turkey from the plastic and place on a platter to serve, or carve the turkey and put on the platter already carved. Set your table and don't forget to take the rolls out of the oven and the food that is in the refrigerator. Enjoy your Holiday Dinner.