M&S Christmas Food - Is It Worth It?

[AppleCobblerPie]

We’re planning to have Christmas in our own house this year (for first non-Covid, with toddler time!) so it’ll just be me, DH and DD (2). I picked up the M&S Christmas food catalogue and I’m now considering buying most/everything from there - but my important question is: is it actually worth it?

I’m a good cook so I could do (and have done) the Christmas cooking myself but I’d love to spend the day enjoying our daughter and making new family traditions rather than sweating over a cooker!

Any honest opinions, tips, advice would be very gratefully received.

Thanks

Oh I would really recommend it personally! There are some things I prefer to do myself just because we all prefer my version like the roasties & stuffing, but you can save yourself so much time and effort doing the bulk of it at M&S and the food (in my opinion anyway) is lovely. Like you say, you’d rather spend the day spending time with your child and 2 is such a lovely age to enjoy. Anything to keep the time hovering over the stove is a big fat yes for me on Christmas day! X

I would recommend it for a decent bang in the oven dinner. I’ve used them a few times to spend more time out of the kitchen but like a PP I do the roasties/mash and croquettes myself and a few other bits like another stuffing.

@AppleCobblerPie

I think that buying everything from M and S this year will be the perfect solution for you, OP!

You can always go back to doing more of the cooking yourself when she is older.

It will be lovely to spend most of your time with her, rather than in the kitchen.

To be honest, if the products you are interested in can be delivered to your door by Ocado, I would go for that too!

https://www.ocado.com/browse/m-s-at-ocado-294578?clkInTab=MandS%20at%20Ocado

I've always done it all myself but had a look and it is tempting. Sadly they don't have a gluten free ham...no idea what they have done to their hams that they have gluten in them.

We mix M&S and Cook for the big stuff - both very good. I generally make a few sides in advance that can be frozen as well so Christmas Day is literally a matter of heating stuff up.

No, absolutely not if comparing to good homemade food. But if you're looking for convenience it's much of a muchness between them and Tesco; think most of M and S food vastly overated.

If it's just yourselves and you like their food then I would treat ourselves. I'm not a fan of their food, they're extremely expensive where I live, I had a look at their catalogue for here and nearly fell off my seat at the prices.

Absolutely do it @AppleCobblerPie 😊 it’s just been me, DH and DS (almost 4) the last few years and that’s mainly what we’ve done. Fling bits in the oven/airfryer and job done 😊 I do our own veggies but other than that, it’s M&S 😂

Last year we did our own but I kept it super simple and prepped what I could in advance. I bought those big disposable roasting tins too to use those and save on washing up. DH is away this year so it’s just DS and I and I’ll be doing the same 👍🏻😊

I figure there’s not many years when they’re this small so I’d rather spend as much time out of the kitchen as possible 😊

Yes.
I get their starters, meat, stuffing, pigs in blankets and desserts, then just make the veg myself. I’m only in the kitchen for two hours usually as opposed to the whole day.

In your circumstances (first proper Chritmas with young kids) then definitely go for it and enjoy your time with the little ones. Personally I do think they're stuff is overrated and if you are a good cook then nothing really beats home cooking. When I got a promotion some years ago and money wasn't so tight I splurged on M&S Christmas food thinking it would be amazing. I was so excited. It was very nice but not as fabulous as I anticipated.

It is nowhere near as good as home cooked, but if you prefer the convenience then it's worth it in that sense. The only way to find out is to give it a go!

My solution was to move Christmas Day to Christmas Eve, foodwise. Big dinner on Christmas Eve, all the trimmings. Then you can give total focus to kids on Christmas Day for presents, play, some nice bubbles for you. Good wise on Christmas Day we've had cold meats, nibbles, afternoon tea, curry......whatever we fancy tbh. But it means I am not tied to the kitchen.

I love M&S but do struggle to justify their prices, we get a beef wellington every year, M&S cost is £80, Sainsburys (same size) is £40 and delicious. Always happy with Sainsburys food to order so opt for the instead.

@ArthurChristmas22 such a simple yet excellent idea!

It's not as good as my mum's. But nothing ever will be.

Goodness, I cant quite imagine what either? I mean it's a ham and unless its coated then what the heck....

@ThatsMyCheese

There isn't gluten in this one, as far as I can see.

Is this the kind of ham you had in mind?

https://christmasfood.marksandspencer.com/our-best-ever-heritage-gold-dry-cured-roasted-ham-on-the-bone-25-pieces-/p/fdp60713903#prevPage=plp

Yes, it looks fine. When I clicked the gluten free filter all the hams disappeared.

Me too - it works so well and let's us have a chilled day playing with the kiddos

I wouldn't because they seem to involve putting multiple dishes into the oven at different temperatures and different times!

I'd do a stripped down dinner myself, smaller joint, perhaps cheat and buy frozen roast potatoes, frozen cauliflower cheese is good then just prep a bit of veg, buy gravy

I am an M&S fan in general but their prices this year are obscene. We went with Sainsbury's last year as missed booking an M&S slot and found the food just as good, if not better, and for cheaper.

Sounds like some of the prepped stuff would be ideal, but maybe shop around too!

As someone pointed out £8 for red and yellow carrots. They cost around £1.60 a pound and then you need a glaze, basically butter and herbs.
The cheaper pack also has purple ones.

I saw a pie I really liked the sound of, it's turkey, stuffing and cranberry. However it cost £50 and it's basically leftovers for boxing day.

100% yes, definitely get the veg box. The dauphinoise potatoes are amazing and the sticky toffee trifle. The pine cones are lovely too. I’m so excited for Christmas now!!