Christmas Eve food

[namechangedyetagain]

Looking for something yummy but not too expensive. Planning on eating at lunchtime as evenings get busy. In the past we've had things like fish pie but the cost is now prohibitive. Likewise a takeaway. 5 of us to feed. Any ideas please? We can afford to buy the Christmas day lunch but want to make Christmas eve special too.

Ham, egg and chips. Our Christmas Eve staple.

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/recipes/scrapbooks/christmas-eve-feast

Anything on her3 take your fancy?

Something veggie is almost certain to be cheaper - pastry makes things feel a bit more celebratory.

Or white fish (can get cheaply ok freezer section) with a provençale sauce - onion, garlic, Peppers, tomato, olives, anchovy, parsley

Cassoulet or Coq au Vin.

We always cook our Christmas Day meat on Christmas Eve, and then have cold meats, nibbles, selections of cheeses and party food

I always bake a camembert with bread/ham/pickles/olives etc.

We have a recipe from an old Waitrose magazine for Brussels Sprout Macaroni Cheese.

Baked camembert is a good shout! I was also going to say an onion or tomato tarte tatin. Maybe that with the camembert!

Maybe they would eat the mulled cider pulled pork if it could be done in the slow cooker instead of the oven? Some lovely recipes there.

Kids not a fan of cheese and pickles and stuff. We will be having ham egg and chips later in the week - best after Christmas meal 😋

I get so bored trying to meal plan to take everyone's tastes into consideration. Add in to that the fact that I'm not a brilliant cook (making a white sauce scares me for example) and I feel stuck.

Don't feel ready for Christmas and starting to feel a bit stressed!

I think with meal planning it's easy to fet caught up in treating it like a restaurant. You don't have to make something special that everyone would choose from a menu. Just something that won't make anyone ill/have an anaphylactic shock or an existential crisis, or spit the food out.

We like fish buffets. Fish fingers for the kids, scampi, smoked salmon, pickled herrings for the grown ups, salad and bread and butter. Something light and fresh as the day after will involve a lot of heavy food.

I always cook my Christmas ham on Christmas eve so we have ham, egg and chips for dinner.

Could you do make your own pizzas as a bit of a fun activity, but also akin to a takeaway? Dough from the supermarket, range of cheap veg toppings, then a bit of ham or salami or something. Or I'm seeing loads of party food in the yellow sticker section at the moment, keep an eye out for that this week and freeze it - buffet at a third of the price if you've got the freezer space.

I always do a chilli on Christmas Eve. I cook it all day and put extras in such as chorizo and pancetta. Put in a pot on the table with a bowl of rice, some mini wraps, cheese, lettuce, sour cream and guacamole. Not expensive and everyone likes it.

Usually a picnic tea here. I spread a festive table cloth on the carpet and just serve up a selection of the kids favourite bits mixed with a few nicer party packs from M&S or Sainsbury’s for the grown ups so everyone is happy.

Usually when they are finally asleep me and dh will have a cheese board or a baked Camembert with something nice to drink.

We do DIY pizzas. The Crosta & Mollica frozen bases with tomato sauce on are surprisingly good and make things stress-free.

Kedgeree here with a green salad

I'm doing homemade sausage rolls this year

We get a crispy duck from the supermarket and have it with spring rolls, prawn fried toast and stir fry veg

Always have a buffet on Xmas Eve, nothing special, sausage rolls, chicken bits, quiche, bread nuts cripsps etc bung it all in the oven/air fryer and shove it on the table 😀

Gammon can be quite cheap - it was almost half price with Nectar in Sainsburys this week. If you cook it in the slow cooker and do red cabbage (super cheap) and whatever potatoes your family like to eat (we like pommes dauphinois), it’s delicious and you’ll also have leftover cabbage and probably gammon as well.

Ah sorry, just saw you have gammon scheduled in! Pulled pork is definitely a good shout.

We always have middle-eastern mezze type foods (falafel, hummus, olives etc) which we call a Bethlehem supper on Christmas Eve. We aren’t religious but it’s nice to think of the Christmas story anyway.

We have our roast on Xmas eve, and an easy buffet lunch on Xmas day, as we busy with kids/ presents on Xmas day.

I think a pie makes a nice flourish!

I am planning this for a supper with veggies, with a lovely green salad:

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/harissa-roasted-squash-feta-pie

If you've got kiddos mine love having oven pizzas from the freezer and garlic bread/chicken nuggets put on the table buffet style. We then have a "disco" in the living room dancing around to Xmas music, followed by them having a relaxing bath and a hot chocolate before bed.
Sometimes doing the fun activities surrounding the meal make it special not the actual food itself.