Fixing Dinner Amid December's Rush

I think life is getting a little crazier the closer we get to Christmas. There's teaching four piano lessons in the late afternoon, immediately leaving from here to go to a child's viola recital, and quickly leaving there and dashing to a niece's wedding reception. Christmas shopping / wrapping / mailing anyone (I don't even want to hear it if you're done with this stuff)? Somewhere in there we gotta have food or the Under-Sixteen set (and okay, let's admit it, MOM) will get pretty grumpy. So I've trying a few new recipes that have come together quickly or that I can make enough ahead to have dinner ready right away. I've liked them enough to want to share a couple with you. Hope these help add some variety/speed/ease to the holiday meal planning. And if I can squeeze it in, I'll share a few others I have tried this past week.

Dinner #1

Salisbury Steak with Onion Gravy, Green Bean Casserole, Fresh Fruit, and Coconut Pie

I got the first and last recipe from an old Taste of Home magazine page I found amongst my many cookbooks in the pantry. The Green Bean Casserole recipe can be found on Campbell's website.

Here's the prep order:

Make the coconut pie and put it in the oven. Prepare the green bean casserole, and when the oven has 30 minutes left on the timer, add that to the oven. Make the salisbury steak patties and get them cooking. As the patties are being browned, start boiling water for the egg noodles. Everything should finish up pretty close to the same time!

Salisbury Steak with Onion Gravy

The Patties:

1 egg

1 can (10.5 oz) condensed French onion soup, undiluted, divided use

1/2 C bread crumbs (or a shredded slice of bread)

1/4 tsp salt

pinch pepper

1.5 lbs ground beef

The Gravy:

1 TBSP all-purpose flour

1/4 C water

1/4 C ketchup

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp prepared mustard (we call it "squirty mustard" in my house)

6 C hot cooked egg noodles

1. In a large bowl beat egg. Stir in 1/3 C of soup, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Add beef. Mix gently. Shape into 6 oval patties. Brown in skillet over medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove and set aside. Discard drippings.

2. In the skillet, combine flour and water until smooth. Add ketchup. Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and remaining soup. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes.

3. Return patties to skillet. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until meat is no longer pink. Serve patties and gravy over noodles. Garnish with parsley if desired.

Coconut Pie

This recipe seriously takes 30 seconds in a blender and it goes in the oven.

2 C milk

1 C sugar

4 eggs

1/2 C all-purpose flour

6 TBSP butter or margarine, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

1 C coconut

In a blender, combine everything but coconut. Cover and blend for 10 seconds. Scrape sides. Blend for another 10 seconds. Add coconut. Blend for 2 seconds (I did it for longer to chop up the coconut a little more finely). Pour into a greased 10-inch pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees F for 50-55 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve warm.

We thought this might be tasty with some chocolate syrup drizzled over the top, but it's wonderful as is.