Hey, my most beloved blog community! I TOTALLY LOVE THANKSGIVING WEEK. Anybody else? It’s big on celebration and gratitude and small on peripheral stress. (i.e. gift-hunting, buying, wrapping) I dearly love Christmas, too, because of God’s incomparable gift to us in Christ Jesus but, man oh man, do I ever have a ton to do before then. SO, let’s stick to right now. I thought it would be fun and easy to share our biggest crowd-pleaser dishes over the next 24-hours. I started to wait until tomorrow but, by then, it’s almost too late to go to the grocery store for the extra ingredients. Let’s try to stick to recipes on the simple side so that we can fit some in at the last minute.
For my family, next to cornbread dressing and mashed potatoes and gravy, their must-have-on-that-table-or-else dish is the retro (circa 70’s) version of broccoli rice casserole. It’s the one thing both my daughters will ask me about in advance because, if I’m not going to make it, they’ll need to prepare themselves so they don’t go into shock and awe in front of the relatives.
Here is the recipe which I have to double into a Moore-der. Of course, a lot of you already have it or have moved on away from it but we also have lots of young cooks among us here in our blog community. You guys might want to throw this together and watch it disappear. It’s not sophisticated or trendy, but, Girlfriends, it is comfort food at its finest.
Broccoli-Rice Casserole:
1/4 cup of butter
1 medium onion, chopped
10 ounces of chopped broccoli (I always get the frozen version)
1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup
8 ounces of Cheese Whiz
2 cups cooked white rice
1 8-ounce jar of sliced mushrooms, drained
1 8-ounce can of water chestnuts, drained and sliced (You’ll usually find this in the section for Asian foods in your grocery store)
Melt the butter in a saucepan then add the chopped onion and saute it. Add the broccoli and cook it until tender. Usually five minutes is sufficient if it’s chopped in small enough pieces. You don’t want small trees in this dish but you also don’t want the broccoli to totally disintegrate. Add soup and Cheese Whiz and stir until smooth then stir all of this into your cooked rice. Add the mushrooms and water chestnuts. Pour into a prepared (buttered or Pam-sprayed) casserole dish then bake at 350 degrees for half an hour or until it is heated through and through and bubbly on the edges.
And, for whatever insane reason, many years ago my sister, Gay, and I started eating it with a tablespoon of our mom’s homemade blue cheese dressing right to the side of it. That will put you right over the edge so don’t try it the first year. Grin.
Oh, mercy. Surely you guys know how much I love you. The wonderful thing about being a community of women is that our relationship has all sorts of dimensions to it. We’re committed to women’s ministry around here and let’s face it. There are holiday occasions when food is your family’s favorite ministry.
I am so thankful for you guys. I wouldn’t trade you for anything. Let’s have a little 1 Peter 4:9 this week, Sisters! Let’s show hospitality without complaining! And that means even to our husbands under our breath. No kitchen martyrs. Happy attitudes make for happy holidays. Let’s not get ourselves all prepared for offenses. Overlook them and choose joy. Maybe even hilarity.
Happy Thanksgiving, Darlings. I’ll try to hop on here later in the week.
Yum!! I wish I would have found your blog sooner! I have just recently finished your bible study of Esther & we are on our last week of Godly people doing unGodly things! I thought I’d share a recipe I love – though I guess now someone will have to try it for Christmas dinner….or I sometimes make this one & eat it all by itself! Yum.
My Grandma Menger’s spinach casserole:
1 small to medium onion, chopped
1/4 – 1/2 stick of unsalted butter
16 ounce bag of frozen spinach
2 cans of cream of celery soup
1 (or 2 cups) of shredded cheddar (I like sharp best)
1/2 bag of Pepperidge Farm herb-seasoned stuffing
Use a small amount of butter (1-2 tablespoons)& saute the onion. Save the rest of the butter…
Mix the onion, cream of celery soup, spinach, and shredded cheddar in a large bowl until well incorporated. Pour into a greased baking dish. (If you love cheese, you can add a little more shredded cheddar on top of this to be add a little cheesiness under the crumb topping.)
Melt about 2 tablespoons of butter & toss lightly with the stuffing. Sprinkle a generous layer of stuffing over the top of the casserole.
Bake @ 350 degrees until hot & bubbly! This is a favorite of mine – it’s the one I always asked my grandmother to make!
Miss Beth…Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours and all the wonderful people at “Living Proof”. Bless you all and know just how VERY grateful and thankful I am to God for you all!!
Our Thanksgiving was back in Oct. and it was quite…we didn’t even have turkey. Sacrilege
I know.
Anyhow, I am just sending this your way to tell you that the picture of you and Keith made me nostalgic. He’s wearing a JOHN DEERE cap. My late step-father — John — who worked at John Deere 🙂 always wore a John Deere cap. I miss him like crazy. Thanksgiving was always held at our house and his and Grandma Behr’s (my grandma) birthdays were two days apart right after thanksgiving so we celebrated it all together. They are both gone now — along with Grandpa Behr (imagine being so blessed as to have a “Grandpa and Grandma Behr 🙂 ) and we miss them something awful at Thanksgiving. But we are beyond thankful for all the wonderful thanksgivings we spent with them.
Bless ya, now.
Debbie