Recipes for Easy Holiday Side Dishes

Side dishes are one of the most important things to a great holiday dinner. Sure the turkey and ham are the center pieces but the side dishes make the meal. Here are a few easy and some of the most common holiday side dishes.

Sweet potatoes make a yummy side dish. Especially when you mix them with things like marshmallows and orange juice. MMMMM!

Whipped Sweet Potato Casserole
2 pounds sweet potato, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons orange juice
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter, cubed
1 cup miniature marshmallows

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large saucepan cook sweet potatoes in salted water over medium-high heat for about 20 minutes, until done. Drain, and add orange juice, brown sugar, nutmeg and butter. Whip until smooth. Spread into a medium size casserole dish and top with marshmallows.
Bake in preheated oven for about 10 minutes, or until marshmallows are golden brown.

This recipe serves five. It has 348 calories, 5.2 grams of fat and 3.3 grams of fiber per serving.

One of the most common side dishes during the holiday season is the Green Bean Casserole. There are many different recipes out there but this is one of the easiest recipes to follow.

Green Bean Casserole
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
3/4 cup milk
2 (9 ounce) packages frozen green beans
1 1/3 cups French-fried onions
ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
In a 1-1/2 quart casserole mix soup, milk, and pepper. Stir in beans and 2/3 cup french fried onions.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes or until heated through, stir. Top with remaining 2/3 cup of french fried onions. Bake 5 minutes more or until the onions are golden.

This recipe serves six. It has 415 calories, 29.3 grams of fat and 2.3 grams of fiber per serving.

The holiday season seems to be a time for many foods that we don't usually eat during the rest of the year. Cranberry sauce seems to be one of those foods, at least here in my household. We never eat cranberry sauce except for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Here is an easy recipe to make your own Fresh Cranberry Sauce.

Fresh Cranberry Sauce
1 navel orange
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger root
4 cups fresh cranberries, sorted, rinsed, and drained
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans

DIRECTIONS:
Grate the peel from the orange, being careful not to grate any of the white part. Then juice the orange. Combine the orange peel, sugar, and ginger root in a heavy saucepan and stir with a whisk to blend. Add the orange juice and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar is dissolved (about 5-10 minutes).
Then add the fresh cranberries. Cook and stir until cranberries begin to pop (this should take about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in the toasted pecans. Cool sauce, stir to blend, then cover and store in refrigerator. Makes 3 cups of cranberry sauce.

Up next is a yummy and very easy glazed carrots recipe that you can make in your crockpot.

Crockpot Glazed Carrots
2 lb. bag baby carrots
1-1/2 cups water
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Combine the carrots and water into a 3-4 quart crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until carrots are tender when pierced with a fork. Drain carrots and return to crockpot. Stir in honey, butter, salt and pepper and mix well. Cover and cook on low 30 minutes until glazed. Makes 6-8 serving.

How about a few quick and easy holiday dessert recipes. With three kids I'm all about quick and easy and these desserts definitely fit the bill for quick and easy.

Easy No-Bake Pumpkin Pie
10 servings
1 package unflavored gelatin
1/3 cup water
1 15oz can pumpkin
1 14oz sweetened condense milk
1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 10 inch graham cracker pie crust
whipped cream (optional)

Directions:
Sprinkle gelatin over water in small saucepan; let stand 1 minute. Cook and stir over low heat until gelatin dissolves. Combine pumpkin, milk and pumpkin pie spice in large bowl with wire whisk until well blended. Stir in gelatin mixture. Let cool 10 minutes. Gently stir in 2 cups Reddi-wip until combined. Pour mixture into crust. Chill at least 3 hours, or until set. Cut pie into 10 slices. Top each slice with a serving of Reddi-wip, just before serving
A 9-inch pie crust may be substituted if desired. Crust will be very full though.

No Bake Cheesecake
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups thawed frozen whipped topping
1 prepared graham cracker crust (6 ounces)

DIRECTIONS:
Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer until well blended and smooth. Gently stir in whipped topping. Spoon into crust. Refrigerate 3 hours or until set. Garnish with fresh berries or other fruit just before serving, if desired. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

Kraft has recently come out with a new Philadelphia Ready-To-Eat Cheesecake Filling. You just have to pour it right into a prepared 9 inch graham cracker crust and you have a yummy cheesecake ready to go! You can even top or mix in chocolate chips, cherry, strawberry, apple pie filling or just anything you would like on your cheesecake. Easy as pie!

I hope that these recipes are helpful to you when trying to create the best holiday meal every. They are all easy holiday side dish recipes and should help shave off the amount of time spent in the kitchen and allow you to spend more time with your family.