MN foodies, help me please my incredibly awkward family on Christmas Eve, without breaking the bank!

[Greensleeves]

I need a dinner that's relatively easy and fuss-free, not expensive (because I've blown all our money on presents) a bit special (not spag bol or curry, we eat those too often) and will fulfil the following fussy preferences:

no chicken (my dad doesn't trust it)
no mince (ds1 finds it "bouncy")
no mushrooms, butternut squash, butter beans or spinach (ds2...sigh)
no white sauces (my dad will cry)
no fish (see above)
no sweetcorn (dh hates it)
no pizza or burgers (my dad will pull supercilious faces and sour the atmosphere)

I'm a relatively good cook, (when I'm not catering for people with irrational dislikes of perfectly delicious ingredients), but my brain has gone into overload I can't think of anything! Buffets and roasts are out, as we tend to alternate those from 24th to 30th December!

It needs to be served up and scoffed by about 7pm, as Christmas Eve is Snowman Night chez Greensleeves, so we have stuff to do in the evening before mince pie and carrot time!

Fajitas? With steak

Or a really nice beef casserole with mashed potatoes or crusty bread

Mince is too bouncy?! love it lol.

Apart from tell them all to shut up and get what they're given tempting, I can't be doing with my fussy eaters of the house either

• risotto with a side salad

• pasta bake

• sausage casserole

• pulled pork buns sloppy joe style

I'm vegetarian but maybe a proper cassoulet?

Beef stroganoff?

Maybe make a theme and pick a different country's Xmas type meal to do.

Personally, I'd be getting them all to download the JustEat app, but if you must, a nice beef or mutton stew or veggie chilli, with rice or mash and crusty bread, served buffet-style.

And if anybody has the temerity to screw their nose up at it, hand them a menu for the local Chinese takeaway and say that, as your cooking clearly doesn't suit their tastes, they can feed themselves on Christmas Day.

MN serves me up a daily helping of astonishment with regard to what some people are prepared to tolerate from their so-called 'loved-ones'.

So for meat, you are left with pork or lamb, do prawns count as fish? Probably as it is a fussy situation and not an allergy one. Can you get merguez? It's a north African souced lab sausage and v delicious. If you can, stuff your own pita with merguez, regular sausage, tzaziki, spinach, rocket, roasted red peppers, olives, ketchup, mustard, etc. Or if you want more of a regular dinner and not make your own, couscous with sausage selections and side salads

@SeaToSki, while I think your suggestions are delicious (veggie now, but I loved merguez sausages in my meat-eating days!), I doubt that a bunch of people who find chicken, mince and sweetcorn offensively inedible are likely to be the same sort of people who will happily eat such 'exotic' offerings as tzatiki, spinach or prawns...

Wow, some great ideas! Thank you

I love the idea of a beef casserole, I think everyone would like that. Also love the idea of finding a different country's Christmas cuisine, ds1 would enjoy helping me research that.

ThistleAmore, they're not as spoilt as I've made them sound, they do put up with things they're not keen on on an everyday basis (apart from my dad and the fish and white sauce, that's a deep-seated childhood revulsion). I just want the Christmas Eve dinner to be something that actually delights everyone rather than being OK.

You can shove a casserole in the oven or slow cooker all day and get on with other things too. Put it in a dish in the middle of the table, a load of slices of crusty bread with butter, a bowl of mash or chips, and let everyone dig in. Minimal effort.

I think beef stew deserves dumplings. Just saying...

I agree, it must have dumplings! They're the best bit

Do an NZ/Aussie xmas with Roast lambs, roast root veges and other trimmings?

Leg of lamb will be a bit pricey, but root veges cheap (onions, parsnip, spuds etc). Yorkshire puddings. French braised peas..

Do a pavlova for pud? just eggs, sugar, cream and some frozen berries?

Steak pie looks lovely all crispy and golden when brought to the table to cut! Easy and fairly cheap if you cook the filling the day before all you need is ready roll puff pastry and egg wash on the day so hassle free as well

I think Beef Casserole sounds lovely.

You could also do goulash, BBQ ribs, lamb tagine or pulled pork. A roast would work but I probably wouldn't do one right before Christmas Day!

Nigella’s Slow Cooked Lamb with Beans from Feast would be good here. Use shank, leg or shoulder. Use lamb, hogget or good mutton. It’s a good recipe but short on veggies, I think. I add loads of carrot, celery and swede. Use some of the veggies with the cooking liquid to whizz to a gravy. Cook ahead easily. It’s really yummy.

Beef tagine

We always have roast ham and jacket potatoes on Xmas eve.

Toad in the hole!

mince is bouncy lol that is so cute

spare ribs and rice or chips
pork chops and mash
turkey mince and pasta (like spag bol sauce)
garlic pasta

Sticky lamb - best dish ever invented and asked for every time we’ve something special on in our house
Shoulder of lamb - over cater here as it’s so yum you’ll need more than you think, Aldi do half lamb shoulders which are reasonable I’d do two for 5 people
Jar of mango chutney over the lamb fat side up
In the oven you go! Job done.
I usually do first hour on 160 fan then turn to 140 for as long as you like again I do 5 hours plus but check it after each 45 mins as the half shoulders cook quicker. Turn it over halfway through to stay moist and another tip is to save the jars of chutney give them a swill with water and throw that in for the last half an hour so it’s super juicy. It’s done when you can easily shred your lamb.
Sticky sweet tangy delicious. Pull the lamb apart and serve with flatbreads and salad.
Try it!

Lamb kebabs (in stick) with capsicum, onion mushroom (leave off for fussy eater)

Ooo a challenge.
Pork or beef stir fry
Lamb tagine
Greek - lamb koftas (unless lamb mince is also bouncy ), pitta bread, tatziki and Greek salad
Pasta with pesto, cream if you like, avocado, bacon and halloumi
Pasta with some form of tomato sauce and bacon, salad and garlic bread
Pasta with roast veg and feta
Roast veg, halloumi, and foccaccia
Risotto of some kind - veg and feta or halloumi maybe, garlic bread and salad

Lamb tagine with cous cous
A posh-ish fish pie
Beef carbonnade with dumplings
Spare ribs

I'd make meatballs & spaghetti, garlic bread & salad. Mince gets blitzed in a food processor so you will escape bouncy mince lol. I use John Torodes recipe for the meat balls. The sauce, fry garlic in a little olive oil, tomato purée then add passata, seasoning & a pinch of sugar.

Meatballs & sauce can be made now & frozen so easy as on the evening. Not expensive, the recipe makes a huge batch & definitely a crowd pleaser.

This, but double the wine and boil until reduced by half (I also add a tablespoon of anchovies to the scone dough but i note the 'no fish' requirement). You can also just do carrot and onion as the veg, just increase the quantities. Serve with green veg and a good red. <a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.bbc.com/food/recipes/beef_cobbler_with_79871/amp&ved=2ahUKEwiF_dvOtIXfAhUW5LwKHVJ9BOsQFjAKegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw2wE3Dqc83oMppqRgDx3bjl&ampcf=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.bbc.com/food/recipes/beef_cobbler_with_79871/amp&ved=2ahUKEwiF_dvOtIXfAhUW5LwKHVJ9BOsQFjAKegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw2wE3Dqc83oMppqRgDx3bjl&ampcf=1