Our Holiday Meal Plan

Hey, hey gals! Can you believe it’s almost Christmas Eve?! I have been a day off in my head and definitely woke up thinking today was the 22nd. Yikes, I have a lot to do today. I will be headed out to grab all of our holiday meals and thought I would share with you! If you are part of my emails and enjoy The Cake for Dinner… I promise it’s returning. I took a break during the holiday season because we have zero consistency and eat out so much more than usual. I will share more about out holiday season soon, but I have just been trying to be completely present! Thanks for understanding. I can’t wait to kick off the new year with healthy meals for your family, though. It’s going to be a blast to start the new year together in good spirits and health.

Christmas Eve: 

I grew up eating a special lasagna meal served on my mom’s fancy china on Christmas Eve. It was tradition to go to the candle light service at church followed by our meal together at the table by candle light with my mom’s red table cloth and lace linens. It always felt so special. Then, all my siblings and I would get into our Christmas jammies and sleep in our sleeping bags on the floor of one of our rooms. My parents would come in and film us on the big Camcorder, asking us what we thought Santa was bringing us as we would sleepily recite all of our hopes and dreams for Christmas morning. I can still remember those nights with my siblings on the floor, giggling and falling asleep to the sounds of the hum of our space heaters. I have carried this meal on in my own family, served on my great grandma’s special china that I inherited.

Momma’s Lasagna Recipe

Christmas Morning:

We ate my mom’s easy breakfast casserole every single Christmas morning after opening gifts. By breakfast, my grandparents had made it over to the house and we would all eat together. We are from San Antonio, so topping this dish with salsa is a must. Then, when Paul and I got married, we were so broke that our first Christmas at our apartment had no presents. We only were able to buy some special food to make. So, I decided to make the breakfast casserole and added to our traditions with this amazing French Toast Casserole. It’s seriously become famous among my friends, and they now make it for their own Christmas morning breakfasts and brunch parties. There are always leftovers, and that is our lunch as well as we prepare for dinner.

Momma’s Breakfast Casserole

French Toast Casserole 

Christmas Dinner: 

Our first Christmas I made rosemary lamb and risotto. It was fantastic. However, some of our family doesn’t do lamb, so we save that dish for other special occasions now. Instead, we do a traditional ham, corn casserole, and sweet potato casserole. Of course served with mulled wine (easy recipe found here).

I have made a slew of different Sweet Potato Casseroles over the years, trying different recipes out. And, y’all. I found the best one. I made it for Thanksgiving and it was such a hit. I found it on Holly Furtick’s Instagram and decided to give it a shot… and wow. I MEAN. This is officially my family’s sweet potato casserole dish.

Casserole:

3 Cups Mashed Sweet Potato (I used 6 massive sweet potatoes… I am not sure if it was 3 cups, but it was the perfect amount IMO)

1/2 c. brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c. milk (we use Almond to make DF)

1/2 c. melted butter (we use Earth Balance to make DF)

Topping:

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. flour (we use Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose 1-1 Gluten Free)

1/3 c. melted butter

1 c. chopped pecans

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 350, prepare a 9×13 baking dish for casserole
2. In a large bowl, combine mashed sweet potatoes with brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk, and 1/2 c. of melted butter. Blend and spoon the mixture into a greased baking dish.
3. In separate bowl, combine the topping mixture together, blending all ingredients well. Sprinkle the mixture over the casserole.
4. Bake for 40 minutes until the filling is hot and topping is golden brown.