Make it easy this Christmas with our top tips for getting the most out of your meals and not spending a fortune this Christmas!
It’s easy to go overboard with the food shop at Christmas and piling our trolleys high with lots sweet treats and goodies to enjoy. The shops are really only shut for one day so there is no reason to have a bigger shopping bill than normal unless you are catering for extra people who are coming to you at Christmas.
Planning is key when it comes to Christmas, if you are having people over for Christmas then plan the meals that you will have, think about any leftovers there might be and how you can use them for another meal, for example can you make a soup from the leftover Christmas lunch? Do you have left over pigs in blankets (there never is in our house!) could you use them for the sausage cobs the next morning?
How many days do you need to plan for? Are you having family over for Christmas or are you going to plan for the days that they are with you and then do another food shop afterwards?
Follow our handy checklist:
- How many people are you cooking for over Christmas?
- What meals are you going to have? If you are unsure, I suggest plan out the main ones for example.
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- Christmas Eve Dinner
- Christmas Breakfast (if you have a special breakfast on Christmas morning)
- Christmas Lunch
- Christmas Tea – Leftovers and some cheese & crackers always goes down well in our house!
- Boxing Day Breakfast
- Boxing Day Lunch
- By the 27th if you are anything like me you will have had enough of Christmas food and want some normality!
- Remember to include some healthy snacks or a healthy breakfast option to have instead
- Are you going elsewhere for Christmas Day or Boxing Day? So therefore, you only need to plan for one of the days and this can easily be incorporated into your weekly shop.
- Your freezer is your friend! I know that cooking up different meals from leftovers to freeze might be the last thing you want to do, but it is a great way to reduce food waste, use up the leftovers and means that you have easy lunches or dinners to hand throughout the Christmas week.
Unsure what to cook this Christmas, check out our sample meal plan:
- Christmas Eve Dinner: Homemade Fajitas & Sweet Potato Wedges
- Christmas Day Breakfast: healthy breakfast i.e., cereal, fruit, toast
- Christmas Day Lunch: Roast Turkey and all the trimmings
- Christmas Day Dinner: Leftovers, crackers, cheese & fruit
- Boxing Day Breakfast: Croissants, fruit, cereal
- Boxing Day Lunch: Soup with homemade bread
- Boxing Day Dinner: Gammon Joint with Cauliflower Cheese & Jacket Potatoes plus some other veggies
Now you have our handy planning guide, grab some paper and a pen and plan out your Christmas shopping list. Head over to our Secret Mums Facebook Group and let us know what you will be making this Christmas. If you are still struggling and would like any help with your meal planning then why not book a meal planning call with me? Email me at ruth@threebearscookeryclub.com for more information.
For more recipe inspiration head too our Facebook Group The Secret Mums Baking Club
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