The big xmas food shop

[Letitgoooo]

Ive managed to get a slot for late monday afternoon, ive ordered loads but im panicking that ive forgot stuff and im not going to realise until i go to get something out the fridge or cupboard! Ive got until sunday night to add items HELP!!

Frozen peas and tinned sweetcorn are also essentials in our house.

And a couple of tins of tuna, and a bag of grated mozzarella cheese.

We also like to have the pizza bases and sauce, so you can make up pizzas one night together - DD quite likes that.

ok break it down in to the 'high importance' meals and then snacks. So starting with the big one, christmas lunch:
turkey/meat
potatoes
carrots
parsnips
sprouts
panchetta
onions
brocolli or any other veg you normally serve
bacon
cocktail sausages
stock/gravy
wine
soft drinks
bread sauce
cranberry sauce
goose fat
foil/disposable cooking trays
stuffing
crackers
fancy christmas napkins
christmas pudding
custard
brandy butter
cheese
biscuits for cheese
grapes
figs
chutneys
coffee
after dinner mints
milk/cream
sugar/sweetener

then what do you normally serve in the evening/for breakfast? Work through those meals.

For general snacking:
Crisps
nuts
chocolate
lebkucken
christmas biscuits
pate
fruit juice
Panatone and/or christmas cake
mince pies

If you are hosting extra people, buy in extra toilet roll, kitchen roll, tea bags, eggs, milk, bread and squash/soft drinks more than normal (you can freeze bread and milk)

I also think it's nice to have lots of party food in, cold cooked cocktail sausages, pork pies/game pie, nice bread rolls, smoked salmon, the MN naice ham obviously. (If you are buying smoked salmon, buy lemons and dill!). Stock up on salad stuff as well.

Plan your meals for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, work out what you need.

Do you need stuff for doing mulled wine?

This is fantastic! Thanks everyone

oh and extras!

Pain killers
tissues (someone always gets a cold)
plasters
cleaning wipes/cleaning products (including toilet cleaner)
bin bags
batteries
selotape

My long list

Christmas eve (little family get together)

Nigella's ham cooked in coke.
Sandwich ingredients
Couple of vegetarian quiches
Chicken things and mini sausages
Fancy cheeses and biscuits and red onion marmalade/chutney
Veg crudites and dips
Crisps and twiglets
Mince pie ingredients (star top, crumble top, flaked almond top)
Gingerbread house kit
Christmas cake cutting bar
Brandy snaps and cream for my sister.
Trifle & a jam swiss roll to go in it.
Filter coffee
Orange juice and lemonade
Bucks fizz or asti spumante.
Ferrero Rocher, for spoiling us.

Christmas morning

Danish pastries/croissants
Lovely hot choc
Lurpak
Good strawberry jam

Christmas dinner:

Small turkey joint (only 5 of us eating and then going away next day)
Roasting bags
Pork & chestnut stuffing
Pigs in blankets
Carrots, peas, sprouts, chestnuts, parsnips
Goose fat, potatoes, fresh rosemary and garlic
Yorkshire puddings, won't have time or patience for homemade
Mint sauce for oh (yuck)
I will be doing BISTO gravy, as I am shit.

Christmas pudding, Choc sponge puddings for kids
Custard/cream
Christmas crackers
Sweeties to poke into Christmas crackers

Christmas teatime:

Sandwich stuff, leftovers from Christmas eve party.

We go away boxing day so we don't need anything else. But if I was staying I'd be making something in the slow cooker with dumplings for boxing day, and pancakes with maple syrup and bananas for breakfast.

Also need to make sure we have batteries for toys, binbags for bagging up toy packaging and wrapping paper, paper towels, Christmas scented candles/air freshener plug in, nappies, wipes, electric and gas, milk, bread, squash, cereal and fruit.

Have you a garage/shed with lock that you could keep things like booze/butter/milk etc in ? Save your fridge for meat and fish?

I've had the bird, pig, puddings and booze for weeks! I spread the cost and the hassle over time so I don't have the stress of a massive shop! All the veg will be done on Xmas eve, everywhere is still open, no need to panic!

Tampons/sanitary towels and painkillers if you need those too. Not having those in would be a blow if Aunt Flo chose to arrive while the shops are shut.

Also, remember to get prescriptions renewed before your GP shuts down for Christmas.

When my children were little, we always had Calpol in.

We just have normal stuff from our weekly shop and will go out (to M&S and Waitrose maybe on Monday first thing) and buy a turkey crown, pigs in blankets, Madagascan vanilla custard a christmas pud and a bottle of Asti.

It is one day... the shops are shut for one day...

Yes, they're shut for one day (and some of our local shops don't even do that) but I think it's perfectly understandable that people want to get organised for a few days of special, out of the ordinary holiday catering, often for large numbers of guests they don't see all that often at other times. If you buy at the last minute you might not be able to get something you really want, or you'd have to change other plans for that time to go round the shops - e.g. spending precious time off with the children or your guests.

Yes! Prescriptions, thank you! I'll phone the dispensary now else dp will run out of anti-d's and go all Bruce Banner on us come christmas day...

Agree with AllMimsy - yes the shops are only shut for one day, but Christmas eve last year the supermarkets were like hell on earth. I have 4 extra adults coming on Christmas day so want to spend any time I've got spare on christmas eve getting as much prepared and cleaned before the day, and do family stuff on Christmas eve too, I don't have time to spend a couple of hours at the shops. The whole point of booking an online order is surely so you can avoid having to go to the supermarket christmas week and just do much more interesting things instead? Plus if you don't plan it, you end up buying additional christmas crap that you end up eating when already full throwing out. Waste of money!

Also remember that shops do sell out of stuff.

I have had my eye on a lovely ham for weeks now in a supermarket, and decided to buy it this morning. Ditto for turkey. Although early christmas eve can be quiet, don't count on getting everything on your list.

Don't forget to include:
bin bags
foil
cling film
foil trays
freezer/food bags
matches
candles
tea bags
coffee
kitchen roll
washing powder
dish washing tabs
washing up liquid
sponges

Dishwasher tabs! Thank you Ms AspreyDiamonds - better go check our stock levels, dishwasher normally runs twice a day between 24th Dec and 1st Jan...

.

They are only closed for one day, but personally I don't want to go near a supermarket over Christmas and New Year, I've got my usual weekend on-line orders coming (20th and 28th) and an extra one on Christmas eve.

Thank you all, ive added calpol as im starting with a cold so no doubt dcs will get one. So far ive decided buffet for tea xmas eve, bacon and sausage sandwhiches for xmas day breakfast turkey roast and all the trimmings for dinner and a picky tea xmas day night. Boxing probs more of the same picky buffet grazing.

Top tip (for next year anyway) - in the weeks leading up to Christmas, when you need to stock up on everyday things - dishwasher tabs, shampoo, cereal, jam etc. - buy two (or double your normal number) so that you have plenty in stock by the time Christmas comes round.

That way, your final shop before Christmas is focussed on the meat, fish, fruit, veg and dairy produce you need for the next few days and you don't have to spend extra time in a hellacious supermarket buying air freshener or teabags.

It'll add a bit of expense in the short run, but you'll use all the items eventually, so you will save later.

Also, you can swap in the Christmassy loo cleaner and kitchen towels for the festive season and then go back to the normal stuff in the New Year!

I don't care if the shops are closed for only one day. I run myself ragged some years in the run up to Christmas, I plan, buy everything - all food and presents, do all the wrapping and all the decorations, (inc outside lights) cook for 10+ on the day, do a buffet for family on boxing day, in fact everything, single handedly with no help whatsoever. I have lists coming out of my ears!!!!

The day after boxing day onwards, is my time.... I chill and I don't plan on setting foot in a supermarket until at least the New year so make sure I am well stocked up.

The one thing i always do is plan what i am going to do with the leftover turkey, so whether that's a stew, curry, pie or whatever, make sure i have all the ingredients for that.
I forgot the curry sauce (too lazy to make my own) one year, could i get the makings of a curry after the big day itself???.....not on your life. Shelves were completely empty of Curry sauce!!!

brilliant lists thank you all so much!! so useful.

Its a shame they are shut for one day really .....I like this hunkering down surviing it what helps to make xmas spirit as well...I love my DP are still in that mode...from 70's when shops did actually shut ( did they?) .

However as other peeps said....run ragged anyway in lead up...

I guess we do Christmas differently.

run ragged, extra expense, list upon list, big Xmas food shop, military planning...

where's the fun.

We go with the flow - may run out of stuffed oujimiflobs, but it won't matter.

NotLonger - the point of making a list, doing an online shop is so you aren't run ragged and can avoid having to go to the shops, except a lot of people only think about what they need when they are reminded when they walk down that isle in the supermarket and see it - I certainly had forgotton dishwasher tabs until someone on here reminded me, I could 'go with the flow' - and spend an hour or so on Christmas day washing up, or I could spend all of 20 seconds adding it to my ocado order and not have too...

I have an order coming tomorrow, and an order coming on 23rd, between them I'm determined I won't have to set foot in a supermarket until 2015.

There will be extra expense compared to a normal week, but then we don't host lots of extended family on a normal week (got 4 extra adults on christmas day, 2 extra on boxing day, several on NYE, and we'll have others pop in between Christmas and New Year) and I'll need to feed them as well as us (allowing for things that we wouldn't normally buy for us, but need to get in to accomodate different dietary needs/allergies from extended family). Plus as it's Christmas, I'm buying more expensive versions of stuff compared to normal, and there'll be extra mess to be cleaned up, (as well as extra visitors, we are all at home rather than school and work) so extra cleaning products needed.

The 'fun' is from eating nice and fancy food that's easy to prepare (I'm buying a lot 'throw in the oven ready' - I do a Sunday roast each week and normally wouldn't dream of doing that), with family and friends around you, having time to enjoy the time the DCs and DH are at home doing fun family stuff, rather than just dragging them round the supermarket because we've nothing in for dinner on 23rd....

Half the fun is the big list, the extra food and the planning.

Who doesn't love a big list?

I have swung both ways NO Longer....

tried the no drama build up and there was no build up....

there has to be a queue somewhere a little big of struggle, panic - just a touch to get some drama into the proceedings...and especially a list got to have a list. Or it does seem to me to be just another day....

Gotta have some angst and drama