Fridge Food Boxes

I’m quite excited about these Pyrex dishes https://www.target.com/p/pyrex-10pc-glass-meal-prep-set/-/A-79764899 that fit so perfectly in my side-by-side fridge. (Not gonna lie that I’m totally inspired by the fridges filled with neatly-packed side dishes in Korean dramas.) These Pyrex containers don’t have a tight seal so they’re just for at-home use or for foods that aren’t runny. I've found that fresh produce takes up a lot less space in your fridge if you chop and store it in these containers, and even more significant, I'm much more likely to use it if it's already chopped and ready to eat. I’m working hard at counting calories and I have a big week coming up, so my gift to myself was to spend a chunk of the day preparing foods for this shelf. Some are just for me and some can also be eaten by my son who’s on a special diet. Here's this week's inventory:

-Takeout chicken parmesan

-Takeout lemon chicken

-Seasoned taco meat

-Shredded lettuce

-Roasted cauliflower

-Roasted zucchini

-Roasted bok choy

-Cantaloupe chunks

-Broccoli salad

-Marinated cucumbers

-Spinach artichoke dip

-Chap Chae

Hot Artichoke Spinach Dip

With extra emotional stressors this Christmas season, about a week ago my friend and I gave each other a Christmas challenge to do something festive for ourselves each day and also to make a note of the tender mercies from God. It was a pretty amazing week considering seven days ago we both wanted to boycott Christmas. Each day we reported to each other with photos of what we had done. She put decorations on the mantel and front door of her unfinished house, and fed grateful guests there while sitting around a propane heater. I collected roadside red berries and greens and hung lights. I sent a wooden nativity to my grandkids and FaceTimed them while they opened it and we sang Silent Night together. I bought a second wooden nativity for myself and set it up with greens and lights in my kitchen. I’ve also been making festive party foods for myself. These are childhood comfort foods that I’m the only one in the house who likes. Yesterday I made smoked salmon dip and today I’m making spinach artichoke dip. There are lots of recipes for this in my church cookbook collection but I developed my own that has a lot more vegetables in it.

1 lb. chopped frozen spinach

15 oz. marinated artichoke hearts, drained

4 oz. cream cheese

4 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese

4 oz. shredded Parmesan cheese

Fresh black pepper

Salt

Garlic powder

Onion powder

1/2 cup Vegenaise or mayonnaise

1/4 cup Pamela’s gf flour (to absorb any excess liquid)

Chop the artichoke hearts and smoosh everything together with a gloved hand. Bake uncovered in a small casserole dish at 350 for about 30 minutes. I ate it on top of toasted buttered French bread. If I do say so myself, this turned out absolutely fantastic on the very first try!! There was plenty of flavor and cheesiness and it wasn't watery even though I used frozen spinach that I didn't defrost or drain.

Tea Time Tassies

This Recipe is from Jason’s fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Brown, in Lori’s handwriting. I made these for the first time ever this weekend, December 9, 2023, and used pepitas instead of pecans and they were so good. The internet says a tassie is a Scottish tartlet filled with whatever you want. My daughter, son-in-law, and baby grandson visited Lori with me at Christmastime in 2017 and she served us Tea Time Tassies and other yummy Christmas cookies.