Delicious Christmas Sides for Dinner

Whenever I'm invited over to friends' house for dinner I usually make one of these four dishes. I get plenty of compliments from each. They can be served during any time of season.

Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) package baby carrots

1/2 cup butter

3 tablespoons honey

1/2 cup brown sugar

Cookware:

2 Qt. pot

Directions:

-Place the carrots into pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for a minute or two.

-Return the pot to the stove; reduce the heat to medium-low. Melt the butter in the pot. Stir in the honey and brown sugar; add the carrots and stir until evenly coated; cook another 5 minutes.

I've been told that this probably takes out all the nutritional value of the carrot but it's delish!

Ingredients:

1 medium red apple, chopped

1 medium green apple, chopped

1 medium pear, chopped

1/2 cup red grapes

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup pecans, toasted (perfect to place in toaster oven or setting in oven under broil)

1 (6 ounce) container lemon or lemon cream pie yogurt

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons orange juice

2 teaspoons honey

1 bag of pecans (or almonds)

Mandarin oranges

*If you don’t like raisins cranberries are an awesome substitute.

Cookware:

Large bowl for mixing fruit items

Small bowl for combining yogurt, honey and juices

8 x 8 glass dish

Saran wrap or foil for covering

Directions:

-In a large bowl, combine the apples, pears, grapes, raisins, mandarin oranges and pecans. In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, lemon and orange juices and honey; pour over fruit mixture and stir to coat.

*For added texture and flavor, toasting pecans in the oven or a toaster oven can make it great.

Ingredients:

6 sweet potato -- cooked, peeled and mashed (sweet potatoes may take longer to cook than regular potatoes)

1/4 cup evaporated milk

1/4 cup orange juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Topping

1/3 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup chopped pecans

Marshmallows (optional)

Cookware:

Pot for boiling potatoes (find trick for peeling sweet potato after recipe)

Mixer or mash and stir in large bowl. (I normally peel potatoes and blend everything together with mixer)

Small bowl for stirring topping

9 x 13 glass dish

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease your glass dish and set aside.

-Blend together the sweet potatoes, evaporated milk, orange juice, vanilla, sugar, salt, 3 tablespoons butter, nutmeg and cinnamon. Taste to make sure it’s to your liking. Scoop into glass dish.

-Prepare the topping by mixing together the 1/3 cup butter, brown sugar, flour and pecans. Sprinkle and spread over casserole and bake for 45 minutes or until hot.

*Add marshmallows.

-Broil top 5-7 min. until topping is crisp. Watch for darkening of pecans.

*An easy way to peel a potato is to score the potato horizontally in the middle of the potato before boiling. Then fill a large enough bowl with ice water. After boiling the potato, roll potato in ice water a few times. Once rolled enough, pull back on ends of potato and peel should come right off!

Ingredients:

1 box spiral pasta (colorful is prettier)

1 cup of carrots

1 cup of grape tomatoes

2.5 oz of Parmesan shredded cheese

Sauce

1 cup sugar

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon celery seed

Cookware:

Large bowl for mixing and keeping pasta in.

Directions:

-Cook pasta according to directions on box.

-Mix all ingredients together. And you’re done!

*Try mixing in a cup of olives, broccoli, celery, onion, orange bell peppers, yellow bell peppers, green bell peppers and cauliflower for extra flavors, colors and textures.

*This dish can be served warm or cold.

These sides are very simple to make and very tasty. As with all recipes, the ingredients provided are just guidelines. Make sure you do a taste test for each one to see if the taste is to your liking. I normally add a pinch here and there of something on most of these. Unfortunately, the pictures I found are not my own but they come pretty close to what my sides look like when they are finished. Enjoy!

You also might like my hub for simple main course meals.

• Easy Meals for Living On Your Own
• Simple Crock Pot Delicious Dishes
• Zucchini Squash Pot Pie