4 Holiday Recipes with Just 3 Ingredients Each

There may or may not have been a Christmas when I came home with loads of groceries only to tell K-Hubs he couldn’t eat any of the food because it was for Christmas recipes to be shared at family gatherings. He reminded me we didn’t have any food to eat in our house in between these gatherings.  Oops.  Since then, I have been on a quest to find simple, quick, few-ingredient recipes.  I didn’t have to search far.  The Gram had me covered.

The Gram’s Seasoned Oyster Crackers

This one of The Gram’s is great if you just want people out of your hair. These crackers are addictive.  So you needn’t worry about someone asking when you’re going to get a real job or have a baby or finally get married or move closer to home.  You’re welcome.

Oh, and I’m cheating on this one.  I forgot to include the seasonings. We’ll combine them together and call it 3.5 ingredients.

Ingredients

• 1 cup oil
• ½ tsp onion salt
• ½ tsp garlic salt
• ½ tsp lemon pepper
• 1 package Hidden Valley Ranch dressing, dry mix
• 2 packages oyster crackers

Directions

1. Mix seasonings with oil.
2. Add Hidden Valley Ranch dressing.
3. Mix together.
4. Add oyster crackers.
5. Bake in oven at 200 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

The Gram’s Cheese Ball

It’s never a good start to a recipe to say, “Keep an open mind.” However, much like you can’t judge a book by its movie, you can’t judge this recipe by its photo.  To this day, I think this cheese ball looks horrendous.  But it is such a delicious guilty pleasure I rarely make it because I would eat nothing else.  While pregnant I stayed away from deli meats, which meant I stayed away from this recipe during the holidays, and it nearly killed me to do it.

K-Hubs is the resident slicer/dicer in our family.  He wasn’t in when I made this batch, so you’ll notice the meat and green onion are a bit chunky.  The recipe is better if you can slice and dice them finer than what I did.  Serve it with whatever crackers you like.  I have used Townhouse, Ritz, and Triscuits.  But I think just about anything will do. True confession, K-Hubs and I have run out of crackers before and just eaten this by itself.  It doesn’t present well but man is it good.

Ingredients

• 1 (8) oz. package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (2) oz. package thinly sliced beef (usually in the lunch-meat section)
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Dice beef into small sections and add to softened cream cheese.
2. Add green onion.
3. Shape into ball by hand.*

*The cheese ball is at its best when all the ingredients are mixed well together.  I’ve skimped on the kneading/blending by hand before, and it doesn’t turn out the same.  To reap the full yumminess, spend a few extra seconds mixing all three ingredients together.

Snackwiches

We’ll revisit 8th grade and check out this fun little finger food Mrs. Whosit called Snackwiches.  I made them for Mom’s bridge club one time, so proud of myself for broiling something.  I love this recipe when I don’t have a lot of time to prep or cook, and when I want the flexibility to make as many or as few as I want.

I experimented with this simple recipe and found that if you want them to look more presentable when they’re cooked, try a longer slice of cheese.  I figured tis little gem out after I took the photos.  Play around with it to see what you like best.  I also experimented with the type of cheese used.  The original recipe calls for Swiss cheese, which I didn’t have.  So I played around with sharp cheddar, provolone, and mozzarella.  Each tasted great, however if you prefer a more intense flavor, go with the cheddar or provolone.

Ingredients

• Triscuits
• Summer sausage, sliced approximately 1/4 inch thick and then cut into half circles
• Slices of cheese

Directions

1. Set oven to “broil.”
2. Place summer sausage on top of each cracker.
3. Place cheese on top of summer sausage.
4. Broil for 60-90 seconds while oven door is still slightly open.*

*These broil quickly, so Mrs. Whosit wasn’t joking when she said to keep the oven door ajar, and you’ll want to have oven mitts at the ready to pull them out.  I burned the first batch in the time it took to get my potholder out of the drawer.

The Gram’s Shrimp Dip

This is another great recipe if you’re short on time.  The Gram always served hers with Ruffles Potato Chips.  I made it one time and only had Tostitos Tortilla Chips in the house.  The combo tasted great.

And here’s a picture of my beloved blue bowl, part of the family of bowls that also includes the yellow bowl.

Ingredients

• 1 (8) oz. container toasted onion dip
• 1 can tiny shrimp (approximately 4 oz.), rinsed thoroughly
• Garlic powder, to taste

Directions

1. Pour toasted onion dip into small serving bowl.
2. Add rinsed shrimp.
3. Stir together.
4. Add garlic powder to taste.

NOTE:  Leftovers should be refrigerated quickly.  It loses consistency after sitting out for extended periods.

For those with a sweet tooth, tomorrow I’ll be sharing three saccharine recipes with just two ingredients each.

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