Christmas Soup and some stress-free Christmas dinner tips

This Christmas the headcount for dinner is 20. That includes two vegetarians, three big guys who love meat, kids who want leftovers, and me with my food allergies. By Friday night my fridge will be holding two turkeys, a ham, and 14 dozen tamales.

I get smoked turkeys from Honeybaked Ham, and I get two because they are about 11 pounds each. Another reason I get those specific turkeys - stress-reducing tip #1 - is that they are already seasoned to perfection and completely cooked. They are frozen, so you do have to let them thaw in the refrigerator for a few days, but instead of worrying about how my turkeys are going to taste (either concocting a brine or rubbing excessive seasonings all over them and crossing my fingers), all I have to do is get them warm. I don't have to worry about serving undercooked turkeys to my guests, and I know they will be delicious.

I only get one ham because much of the family doesn't eat ham, but I love it and so do those meat-loving guys I mentioned before. Save the bone for soup!

Why so many tamales? One dozen each of the corn and beef tamales goes home with the grandparents, and another dozen of each goes home with one of the uncles, leaving 5 dozen beef and 5 dozen corn tamales to serve and possibly have some left over for ourselves.

Wondering where I cook two turkeys, a ham and tamales at the same time? One kind of meat (usually the ham) goes on the grill in a disposable roasting pan and is covered with foil for a makeshift aluminum oven. The other meat goes into the oven, and tamales get steamed on the stove top a few minutes before dinnertime. Disposable roasting pans are my stress-reducing tip #2. The meat gets transferred to a serving platter anyway, so who cares about the roasting pan! As we eat I start consolidating meats into one dish and just crumple up the used pans and toss them in the trash.

Several days before Christmas I have to make room for all of this Holiday food, but I still need to provide dinner for the family. The answer to all of this is what I call "Christmas Soup," and stress-reducing tip #3.  The days just before Christmas are crazy-busy for me. I do an extreme amount of baking to create gift sets of baked goods for each family member instead of purchased gifts, and I also operate a daycare in my home so I don't particularly have the freedom to cook and bake all day. About 15 minutes of chopping creates this soup that will feed everyone for at least two days, freeing up valuable prep-time for me.

Everyone has heard of refrigerator soup or something similar. Christmas Soup is basically that, but if I were to say "cook all of the vegetables you have in your fridge," who knows what would happen. So, here is what I put in my soup today to clear out the crisper drawers. I highly recommend this combination.. it is quite tasty! I pureed some of it for an 8 month old baby who gobbled it up until she just couldn't eat anymore.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb	kale
1/2	onion
2	cloves garlic
3	bell peppers
5	ribs celery
5	carrots
3	potatoes
1	bunch parsley
1/2 lb	cabbage
	broth or water
	salt and pepper to taste

This is what I had on hand today. I buy the big 1 lb bags of washed kale pieces to make kale chips, and I buy 1 lb ready-made coleslaw shreds (shredded cabbage and carrots) for my fruit and vegetable (shredded apple, cabbage and lettuce tossed with seasoned rice vinegar) nori rolls.

Peel and/or clean everything, and chop into small pieces. Warm a small amount of butter in the bottom of a soup pot so that the vegetable don't stick while you saute them.

Put everything into the pot and cook on low heat. My stove works in 1/2 increments between "low" and 9, with 5 being medium. I cooked the vegetables on 2. Put the lid on the pot and let the vegetables cook until they have all softened, stirring periodically to help achieve even heating. When everything is tender, add broth and/or water to cover, and then more depending on how much soup you want. I used two 14-oz cans of vegetable broth and 4 cans of water (56 oz).

Simmer the soup for a couple of hours to let the flavors develop. When you think it's almost done, add salt and pepper to taste. I had this without any added seasonings and it was delicious.

I intentionally left out tomatoes. Tomatoes are acidic, and in combination with the effects of cabbage on some our guts, I thought it best to keep the soup mild.

The finished soup is easy to adapt to my family's individual flavor preferences with garnishes. My husband likes hot sauce, cheese and bacon on his, and one of the boys

*For a comfort-food texture, use an immersion blender on its lowest speed (after the soup has cooled!!!) to puree the mixture just a bit.
*Instead of potatoes, add 1/4-1/2 cup lentils as a thickener and a protein contribution.
*Milk, condensed milk, or coconut milk added toward the end of the cooking time will add extra richness.
*Diced green onions or cooked and crumbled bacon made gorgeous and tasty garnishes, and shredded cheese on top of a serving adds another layer of heartiness.

Turkey Chili

I came up with this recipe this afternoon based on what I had on hand. It got a thumbs up from everyone, including my 4 year-old who normally won't eat meat! This is a lighter chili, and not thick like most. My husband complains that the thick chilis are heavy in his stomach so he really enjoyed this version.

Ingredients:

1 lb	ground turkey
1	onion, chopped
3	cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp	ground cumin
32 oz	chicken broth
15 oz can	pinto beans, drained
15 oz can	ranch style beans, drained
28 oz can	diced tomatoes with liquid
3	ancho chiles in adobe sauce, chopped
1 tsp 1 tsp	cinnamon oregano
1 tsp	chili powder
1 tsp	salt

Over medium heat, in enough oil to just cover the bottom of the pot, cook the onions until translucent and tender. Add garlic and cook another minute or two. Stir in the meat and cook thoroughly. The meat does not need to brown but it cannot be pink anywhere. When the meat is cooked, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer (you should see 1 - 2 bubbles popping at the surface) for an hour or more.

Read the labels on the beans, tomatoes, chiles, and the chicken broth carefully!

Dangerous Food Decorations

     One of our greatest challenges here in Tucson, is to teach young children about seasons. It is also extremely difficult to convince ourselves that winter is on its way. I operate a family childcare center, meaning I provide childcare to a small group of children in my home. My 2, 3 and 4 year old children take life day by day, not really grasping the concept of seasons, weather, and seasonal holidays. Last month, the best I could do was let them stain paper leaf shapes in Autumn colors to mimic Fall in our playroom. Local xeriscaping doesn't offer any hints to the time of year.
  
     Now that Thanksgiving has been accomplished, and Christmas is on its way, I am feeling inspired to enrich the children with all of the holiday clichés, beginning with gingerbread men. I whipped up a simple (not GF) recipe from Betty Crocker for the kids, and then we scrubbed our hands and got to cutting out and decorating a village of spicy people. I cannot eat wheat, so there was no tasting on my part, but I figured I could enjoy a few of the toppings. To my surprise, my two favorite decorations were off limits, one being dangerous for everyone.

     First, I found soy listed in two kinds of sprinkles: CakeMate Decors Snowflakes and Chocolate Accents by Xcell International.

     Second, those little silver balls, "Silver French Dragees" have actual silver in them and state "For Decoration Only, Do Not Eat." One website said "Silver French Dragees (pronounced Dra-jeys) are those little metallic balls that we all remember on holiday cookies.They are safe to eat, but should be removed before serving because of the real metal coating. (That means they won't hurt you if you eat them, they do have a sugar center, it's just that the FDA has recommended that they are for decorative use only, and they are technically not a food item). They do add a beautiful and elegant look to wedding cakes, birthday cakes and holiday items..."

     Please be careful this holiday season. Do not assume that sprinkles and other treat decorations are safe to ingest. Sprinkles make treats look so festive and delicious, but they can be a real danger to someone with food allergies.