Cooking in advance for christmas .. any tips please ?

[Ijustreallyoveogs]

We have guests for over a week at c mas .
last year we did
takeaway c mas eve
christmas dinner on c mas day with buffet later
boxing day.. left over s with chutneys . Buffet.
after that the rest of the week , i had to start cooking early aft as so much chopping etc ( made a lasagne one day the next) and so on .. dh was at work .
i ran out of steam .

This uear i wd like to cook in advance .
anyone know of any tasty treat like things i can cook in advance please.
need to be veggie ( we have one meat eater who just wants plain chicken or bacon and can do separate.

thanks !

Do you have a freezer with room in it? Things like lasagne can be frozen. Get you guests to help out too, things like veg prep can be done sitting down in front of the telly

Yes i have room .
i have adhd and i just cant meal prep when people are there talking to me .. it goes badly wrong 😂

Roast parsnip soup
This sprout and chestnut gratin is delicious. It says it’s a side dish, but it also works well as a main dish with a jacket potato or crusty bread.
I’m also planning on doing this goat’s cheese tart and getting it in the freezer.
Winter vegetable crumble

I would revert back to more ‘normal’ food. Would curries, chilli or shepherds pie work? A mushroom casserole/stew type dish. Make a tomato sauce to have with ‘meatballs’ and pasta and add some garlic bread. Pizza night.

I used to make a jerk after Christmas with pea rice. Husband would have leftover chicken and i would use either quorn when I was a veggie or tofu as a vegan. The sauce could be made and frozen and add the meat or substitute when heating through. Pea rice takes little effort to do on the day. Check out Nigella’s recipe.

Soup with crusty bread or a proper veggie soup with dumplings could work for at least lunches or as an evening meal if you are going to have a pudding as well.

The supermarkets will have veggie Christmas options which you could buy and freeze, so only need to heat up and then prepare some veg to go with it. You could always buy ready prepared veg if necessary.

Have you got, or can you get, a copy of Nigel Slater's Christmas Chronicles? A lot of his recipes are vegetarian.

Lasagne in advance and freeze.
Big batch of bean chilli and freeze, then on the day put jacket potatoes in oven and serve with chilli.
Soup and crusty bread.
Mushroom Wellington. You can freeze the finished thing but personally I'd just do the filling in advance, then assemble and bake on the day.
Spanish omelette - never made this in advance but it's quick and great for using up leftover veg
Dahl or curry.

takealettermsjones

Would you please share your mushroom Wellington?

I find red cabbage will freeze well and go a long way.

Well in advance you can do the following:

make the meat filling for lasagne - both meat and a veggie option.
make the cheese sauce for the lasagnes.
make a chilli
make meat filling for a meat and potato pie / filling for a cheese and onion pie.

freeze all the above flat in bags so they don’t take up loads of room in the freezer.

buy frozen ready made ready rolled pastry for the pies.
buy fresh lasagne sheets (they have a decent shelf life but can also be frozen.
either buy ready grated cheese for the lasagnes or grate your own and freeze.

Then it’s just a case of putting together all the components to make the lasagne / pie / chilli on the day

www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/vegetarian-wellington-recipe

I made the Jamie Oliver Christmas gravy in advance one year and bloody hell it was delicious and so worth it.

Also part boil spuds and refrigerate.

Look up the batch lady recipes on line and fill the freezer they are often quite basic if you like more complex tastes but may suit

takealettermsjones

Thank you, the pine nuts sound nice and crunchy.

Thank you all ! Great ideas!
i will do the wellington for sure ! And all the others sound great.
one of our guests cant do ‘ textures’ like mushrooms or food mixed together , so i need to also bulk buy plain chicken and freeze as thats what he lives on .
thanks again !!!

Love the sound of the jerk food .. wd it be possible to share recipe please ?