Sunday, November 17, 2013

Welcome Guest Elizabeth Craig/Riley Adams


Easy Spinach Bake
From Elizabeth S. Craig, aka Riley Adams
Hi everyone!  I’m so glad to be back at Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen.   
This is my favorite blog to visit…especially around the holidays!  I lurked over here on Halloween week and am now excited that Thanksgiving and Christmas treats are on the way.
If you’re like my family, we usually have one person as the hostess for the holiday, and then the rest of us bring sides or desserts or appetizers to complement the meal.
I’ll admit that I’m usually the broccoli, or green bean, or sweet potato casserole volunteer.  In fact, we don’t traditionally eat spinach at our holiday gatherings. 
But this is about to change, because I’ve got a new favorite recipe for spinach.  There are a few things I really like about the recipe, but the biggest is that it’s so incredibly easy.  Y’all know how much I like simple recipes, but this one really takes the cake. 
That’s because it uses frozen spinach.  That’s right—none of that defrosting the spinach and getting your hands all green as you try to squeeze the excess liquid out (that was never a fun task to put me in the holiday spirit!)
Also—I really want to eat more green leafy vegetables and have my kids to eat more of them, too.  This is an easy way to encourage them to eat spinach.  To lighten this up, I’ve used light sour cream and substituted a smooth/buttery olive oil for some/all of the margarine.
I liked this recipe so much that it’s included in my next Southern Quilting mystery!  Quilt Trip (written as Elizabeth Craig) launches December 3rd. 

Easy Spinach Bake

1 6- oz. package corn muffin mix
2 eggs, beaten
8 oz. sour cream
2 10--oz. packages of frozen chopped spinach
½ cup melted margarine
½ cup grated cheddar or Monterrey Jack cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover a 9- by-13 casserole dish with cooking spray. Combine all the ingredients and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Now, this isn’t a gorgeous casserole, I’m afraid, but if you put it in a pretty container on your sideboard, I’m sure it’ll be dressed up nicely.
Hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving this year!
Elizabeth
 
Find Elizabeth’s contact information on her website. 
Preorder Quilt Trip here.



 

13 comments:

  1. This looks yummy and not too difficult! I think I'll put it on our menu for the holidays! I bet it would be great with a nice steak and baked potato.

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  2. Welcome back to the kitchen, Elizabeth! It's so great to see you here again. This is a Keeper recipe. And I'm with you on keeping things simple. I'll be baking this up for sure...and picking up Quilt Trip in December. Congrats on the new release in your wonderful Southern Quilting Mystery series. Have a delicious week--and come back to see again soon, okay?

    ~ Cleo

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  3. Peg--It's so, so easy. I think it would be perfect with a steak and potato, for sure!

    Cleo--Love being back and checking in with y'all! Keeping it simple is so important during the holidays, isn't it? Thanks for the kind words and congratulations to you, too! I'll be picking up Billionaire Blend in December. :) Looks like we share a release date!

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  4. Welcome home Elizabeth! I love spinach too, so this is right up my alley. Congrats on the new book--the cover is delicious:)

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  5. Hi Lucy! Spinach is terrific, isn't it? I like the cover, too. :) Think I'd like to hang out in front of that fireplace...

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  6. I'm not going to wait for Thanksgiving to make this dish. It will be so much easier than spinach pie. Thank you.

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  7. Elizabeth, it's always wonderful to see you here! Corn muffin mix? In a casserole? That never would have occurred to me. What a great idea! I have to admit that I have a major weakness for Stouffer's Spinach Souffle. I haven't eaten it in many years, but the mere thought of it is so tantalizing. I'll have to try this. Maybe it will be a good substitute!

    ~Krista

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  8. Elizabeth/Riley, congrats on the new release in a couple of weeks! This is supremely easy and I bet it goes over great with kids because of the cornbread addition. Is there ever a casserole that IS really pretty? Especially a green one? LOL What a fun recipe.

    Thanks for joining us today.

    Daryl / Avery

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  9. Nancy--Soooo much easier than spinach pie! And very tasty. I like the cornbread accent in this recipe.

    Krista--I know, right? But it's very tasty in there and such an easy addition. Stouffer's spinach was a staple for me in my early married years...we loved that stuff. This is a quick substitute. :)

    Daryl--Thanks! Yes, it really makes a difference--makes spinach more kid-friendly. Green casseroles are hard to "pretty-up," for sure! Thanks for hosting me today.

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  10. This looks delicious, Elizabeth. It's very nice to see you here again and I am looking forward to Quilt Trip. I love your books!

    XO

    MJ

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  11. Hi MJ! Love seeing you here again, too. And I'm looking forward to the next Victoria Abbott book! December 3 looks to be an exciting day!

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  12. Hi Elizabeth ~~ what a coincidence to find you here! I love spinach any ol' way and will definitely try out your easy-sounding recipe. I'm sure it'll be as big a hit with the family as your Peach Cobbler was the other day!

    Thanks so much! (back to Pinterest, lol, I mean writing...kidding, uh....)

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  13. Hi Elizabeth~~

    This is the second time I'm trying to comment here in the past 24 hours, late to the party, I know! (I'm also doing NaNo again and taking care of my folks. Busy, busy.)

    But great to see you here again! I love spinach any ol' way, so will definitely be trying your casserole ASAP. I'm sure it'll turn out as great as your Peach Cobbler we made the other night for the family and they devoured it & pronounced it excellent! (Y'all must try the one in Elizabeth/Riley's book FINGER LICKIN' DEAD, it's so easy and TDF!)

    Thanks for another delicious recipe to try. Will let you know how it turns out!
    Take care, and keep those books and recipes coming to entertain us! ;)

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