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A Lighter Holiday Dinner Party Menu

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Today is a special treat since I’m participating in Amy & Annes, #WeDo: The holidays. For this post I’ve put together an awesome Dinner Party Menu that is lower in calories than traditional menu’s tend to be. Also don’t forget to scroll down for the giveaway!

The holidays are always a time for extra celebrations and get-togethers. It’s also a time that many of us pack on the extra pounds due to all of the festivities. There are a million tips and tricks out there to help us keep of those extra pounds, but why not just serve healthier lower calorie food at your next soirée? Not only will it save your waistline, but your guests won’t need a nap after dinner to be festive. Try this simple holiday menu that is designed to be full of flavor as well as low in calories.

Appetizers:

Crudités with Lemon Parsley TahiniDip

and/or

Deviled Eggs with Smoked Salmon

Main Course:

RoastChicken with Pomegranate Glaze & Chopped Brussels Sprout Salad

QuickCoq au Vin with Egg Noodles, Rice or Couscous

MapleMustard Glazed Ham & Maple RoastedRoot Vegetables

Desert:

ChocolateMouse

WhiteChocolate Holiday Bark

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Halloween Themed Dinner Party, for Adults

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

A Halloween Themed Dinner Party, for Adults

Just because your over dressing up in a skimpy costume and don’t quite have kids yet to bring the magic back to Halloween doesn’t’ mean that you have to skip it altogether. There are still plenty of ways you can celebrate the holiday in a grow up, some-what classy style, I mean just because we are adults doesn’t mean that we can’t have eyeballs in our salad.

Here is an easy Halloween themed dinner party menu for you.

The Great White Pumpkin Cheese Ball Recipe

WhiteCheese Ball. This delicious concoction makes a perfect appetizer and can be made into any themed shape, such as a ghost and it can be made a day ahead.

Salad w/ Bloody deviled Eggs. Salad is always a safe bet for any dinner party, but the bloody deviled eggs add a certain hint of Halloween delight to this basic staple. For even more Halloween flare try a blood red salad dressing.

Individually Stuffed Pumpkins. People love anything individual, and pumpkins couldn’t be more perfect for this theme. This recipe is great to use for stuffing peppers or squash as well.

ChocolateMolten Cakes. Molten anything is good for any occasion. I suggest serving it
with a spoonful of maraschino cherries, to keep the blood red theme going.

For more dinner party Ideas:

How to Host a Dinner Party without Losing your Mind

10 of the Best Around the Table Dinner Party Games

Your First Week Back to School Meal Plan

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

I’m not in school any more, but I have some friends and
cousins whose kiddies are getting ready to pack themselves up and head back.
That first week can be stressful, everyone is trying to adjust to the new
schedule, and it’s hard, that part I remember.

I thought I could help those of you who are going to be
thrown head first into it by putting together a super easy 7 day dinner meal
plan. This post tells you what to cook and when, with links to all the recipes.. Everything can be cooked in under 30 minutes
and feeds a family of four.

I know it’s awesome.

I added some suggestions and tricks under each recipe so be
sure to read through those before you get started.

Sunday – One Pan Chicken Pot Pie

Swap out the Chive biscuits in this one for the premade kind
that you can just unwrap and place on top. Also you can swap the celery, and
carrot for frozen mixed vegetables that you can stir in when you add the frozen peas,
less chopping and lots of time saving.

Monday – Crock Pot Korean Beef w/ Rice

You can trade the individual sauce ingredients (soy, sesame,
etc.) for a premade sauce or marinade like hoisin sauce or teryiaki if you would like, but this one is already pretty easy. Also make some extra rice for Wednesday’s recipe.

Tuesday – South West Meatball Skillet

Don’t have all the necessary spices? Just grab a packet of Southwest
taco or fajita seasoning instead. Super easy.

Wednesday – Shrimp Fried Rice

To keep costs down make extra rice on Monday and use that
for this recipe, instead of the instant rice.

Thursday – Steak Salad w/ Dijon Vinaigrette
Cooking steak only takes a few minutes, and you can buy a couple bags of salad, and serve this with a baked potato or side of crusty bread for a complete meal, then serve the leftover bread on Friday with the soup.

Friday – Minestrone Soup w/ Bread
This recipe is super versatile so here you can use frozen vegetables instead of chopping the celery and carrot. Just add it in with the spinach and you are all set.

Saturday – Tomato Sausage & Bean Stew
There’s really no corners to cut with this one, it’s already so easy.

These are just some ideas I have had, but they are a lot of
work, so I don’t want to dive into them if you guys don’t find them useful.

My Yellow Table Gathering

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

First off I want to start this by saying CONGRATULATIONS! to Anna of The Yellow Table. Before she had accomplished the monumental goal of raising
over $50,000 to publish her first book she asked her followers to help her
out by throwing dinner parties using her recipes to generate conversation.

I have been following Anna’s entire journey from day 1 and I
now feel like one of those creepy stalker people, because I am so completely
invested in this thing. From writing the book in about 100 days to completing
a cross country road trip, and preparing several dinner parties along the way
she has done so much, so very much that I cannot comprehend how one person
could possibly do it all and remain so humble and thankful.

She’s already reached her goal (and surpassed it by over $10,000), but that wasn’t going to stop me
from throwing my dinner party, besides Chuck might murder me if I didn’t make
those dates I told him about.

I decided to go with the easy dinner party menu that she had
listed, as we had planned to go group ziplining earlier in the day, and I
wasn’t sure how ambitious we all would be. I of course had made a few
alterations, because that’s just how things are done around here and added a
recipe or two.

The Menu

Bacon Wrapped Dates with Cider Mustard Glaze (Recipe Below)

Apricot Dijon Roasted Chicken & Broccoli

Mimi’s Tomato Tart

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I decided to add the cider mustard glaze to the dates, because one
of our favorite restaurants has a similar appetizer with this kind of glaze,
and I’ve have been dying to figure it out. I also swapped the Roasted Carrots for the tomato tart because tomatoes are beginning to come in season here, and I
can’t resist them. Finally after all that, an adventurous day and the fact that
I don’t actually have any ramekins I decided to simply bake up some cast iron
cookies and serve them with vanilla ice cream instead of the Bittersweet Pudding Cakes, though some day I would really love to try out this recipe.

The night was I hope just what Anna had intended, light and fun
and full of casual chatter.

I know our home isn’t ideal for dinner parties (I mean check our awesome table) but I
really want to make more of an effort to invite people over and share food and
conversation. It’s so necessary in today’s day and age.

Bacon Wrapped Dates with Cider Mustard Glaze

1/2 lb bacon, cut into thirds

30 dates

30 almonds

½ cup apple cider vinegar (plus a splash)

½ cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground mustard

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut a slit into the side of
the date and slip an almond into the center. Wrap each date in 1/3 a slice of
bacon, and arrange with the open side down on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for
15-20 minutes until the bacon is crisp. Once cooked remove from the oven and
place on a paper towel to drain. Meanwhile combine the vinegar, both sugars and mustard in a
small sauce pan, and bring it to a boil. Immediately reduce to a simmer and
cook for 10 – 12 minutes until syrupy. Remove from the heat and finish it with
a splash more of cider to keep the flavor bright. Move the cooked dates to a
serving tray and drizzle with the glaze.

There is only one day left to pre-order The Yellow Table Cook Book. So if you are interested at all get to it!

Sunday Dinner: Asian Style

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

A few Sundays ago, if you follow me on instagram you know I made
a boat load of wontons. What you don’t know is that I made an entire Asian
inspired Sunday dinner that day. I meant to post it last week, but life got in
the way, it happens.

Regardless, I spent a peaceful afternoon watching New Girl and
folding these little babies. I used this recipe pretty much to a tee (Check this
girl out she knows what’s up), because let’s be honest I have no clue what I’m
doing here with most Asian flavors, aside from soy sauce. The one main difference
is that I followed the instructions on the back of the wontons package to
create the shape you see. These came out magnificent! I loved them! Like totally
completely loved them, and have big plans to make them again in the future,
maybe with a few more changes/additions. I did however get uber fancy and make
my own dipping sauce.

Wonton Dipping Sauce

¼ cup rice wine vinegar

¼ cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp sesame seeds for garnish

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl and serve.

In addition to these guys I made Korean Style Beef in the crockpot.
It was totally inspired by this recipe, also from Damn Delicious, she’s
totally my new food blog crush can you tell? Anyway I wanted to make something
that was clean, so I took her photos, and general idea and made it my own. It
came out AWESOME! I am seriously proud of this one. It’s super easy and healthy
what more can you ask for? It’s definitely going into the I-have-to-work-too-late-to-cook-anything
rotation.

Clean Crockpot Korean Style Beef

1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce

2 tbsp raw honey

1 tbsp sesame sauce

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

¼ tsp red pepper flakes

½ tsp ground ginger

2 lbs lean beef roast, trimmed of visible fat

10 mini sweet peppers, sliced thin

1 cup broccoli florets (optional)

Sesame seeds for garnish

In a small bowl combine soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, red
pepper flakes, and ginger. Place roast in slow cooker and pour the mixture over
the top. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Remove the
roast from the slow cooker and shred the beef before returning it to the pot
with its juices and mini peppers and broccoli florets. Cook on high for another
30 minutes. Stir well and serve immediately.

To round out this meal I also added a little side salad of
bagged Asian slaw, simply because I felt more vegetables were required, and
after making all of the wontons I knew I would be to fried to make something
else.

Hope you guys enjoy this as much as I did. I’m also wondering what your favorite kind of take out is. I would really like to come up with some more easy, and clean takes on traditional take out so please give me some ideas!!

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