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Tuesday, December 30, 2008

New Year's Feast

I remember reading a long time ago that eating lentils gives you good luck for the new year. Well, I don't believe in luck, but lentils are still pretty good! I try to make this meal every New Year's Eve.

What are some of your traditions, if any? I'd love to hear!

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Lentil Soup

3 or 4 chicken breasts -- I cook boneless breasts in a pressure cooker until the meat is quite tender, then shred it.

about 4 cups dried lentils

about 16 cups chicken broth, divided

1 1/2 cups chopped onions -- I cheat to use a frozen bag of chopped onions. You can saute these in olive oil if you want.

1-2 cans (11 oz each) condensed tomato soup

2-3 cans (15 oz each) diced tomatoes

16 oz fresh spinach, or 1 bag frozen chopped spinach (NOTE: use the fresh spinach if you can -- it's really good!)

*

Rinse lentils in collander, then in saucepan cover them with water or chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and let them simmer awhile until they're soft (1-2 hours). Add onions and simmer for awhile. Add broth as needed. Mix in chicken, tomato soup, and diced tomatoes. Lastly, add spinach, but don't cook for a long time with the spinach. You can serve this the same day, or let it go till tomorrow. BTW making soup is just throwing stuff in the pot, so if you have some nice-looking sweet potatoes or carrots or celery or whatever, just add 'em in! Season with salt, pepper, garlic, thyme, or whatever. This soup freezes well.

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Hot Biscuits

best served with butter and jam

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil
scant cup milk (or about 1/3 cup dried milk plus water)

Mix together, adding flour as needed to make thick dough. Knead until smooth, roll out, and cut. Reroll scraps and cut again -- you know the drill. Bake at 425F until lightly browned.

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Key Lime Pie

OK, it's not REALLY key lime, but this pie is reminiscent! Very easy and impressive.

Crust:
1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs or about 5-6 graham crackers, crushed
1/4 cup sugar
3/8 cup oil

Mix together and press into bottom of pie pan

Pie:

2 whole eggs
2 (14 oz) cans sweetened condensed milk (fat-free or regular)
4 oz lime juice
4 oz lemon juice
1 container Cool Whip, defrosted

Mix eggs, milk, and lemon/lime juice -- pour into prepared pan. Bake 350F about 15 minutes or until a light glaze forms. Cool in refrigerator for a few minutes, then spread Cool Whip on top. Store in refrigerator.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here, in the South, the tradition is that on New Year's you eat black-eyed peas for luck and collard greens for financial prosperity. My Dad's birthday is on January 1st and because he loves it, we have the traditional meal of ham, black-eyed peas, collard greens, corn bread, and sweet tea.

-- Sarah M. Salter

Anonymous said...

Color me lazy (I like to call it "efficient"), but I just tried Philly brand Key Lime Cheesecake filling at Christmas-time.

Reasonably priced, more than easy to use, and it was ready to eat even before I put it into my purchased graham cracker crust.

Yum! The family didn't even know I was gone to make it, it was that quick.

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah. I can do without the lentils, but the key lime pie sounds good **smile**

No traditions here, really. Unless you call watching movies, eating our favorite junk food, and drinking caffeine until I think I'm gonna burst a tradition... LOL

I'm so looking forward to 2009 and am excited to see what God's got in store for me and my sweet hubby.

Rosslyn Elliott said...

Our tradition is bizarre, and stems from my childhood. My parents would ask each of us which of our favorite foods we wanted on the table for our family New Year's Eve. As a result of those choices, our traditional foods ever since have been shrimp, Cheetos, and Oreos. :-)

Billy Coffey said...

I'm gonna have to try that key lime pie recipe. Copying it down...now.

Lydia said...

Lentils on New Year's eve? What a cool tradition! I make lentil soup every once in a while, and I've never seen a recipe like the one you posted. It looks very, very tasty. I'll have to try it--w/out the shredded chicken. Dh is a vegetarian. The biscuits look good & easy too.

Can't recall having or making any trad. NYE foods.

BTW, I just posted a review of your book on Amazon. It's being "processed" and should be up in a couple days. Many blessings!

KM Wilsher said...

Our tradition was much like Rosslyn's. We all picked out our favorite frozen item: pizza, shrimp, keish, potato skins. . .mmmm
Then we sat around and played Scrabble until midnight! Fun times and great memories.
Thanks for the post, Amy!