Only 3 of us for xmas dinner...

[gemmummy]

Me, DH and our 2 yo DS. I still want to make it really special but don't want to buy loads of stuff that will go to waste. Any ideas?

what does the 2 year old eat?

I would take the easy option and not cook. I would have nibbly things from M & S...smoked salmon, granary bread, nice cheeses, nice wine etc etc. That way you can spend the day enjoying your ds opening & playing with his presents.

I think it depends what all of you think is "special" in the way of food. Plus of course whether you enjoy cooking, and whether you have time/energy for cooking.

If you love cooking, and wanted to, you could always do yourselves a roast - chicken rather than turkey - you don't need to buy in huge quantities of anything to do that.

Or get something ready-made and indulgent that you don't usually have.

Or have pizza and gorge on chocolates!

my ds eats most things, and i do enjoy to cook but it seems like a lot of effort to do a huge feast iyswim? But I still like a xmas dinner, but again don't want to spend a fortune.

How about doing a roast that is different from your usual one eg goose? Its enough like chicken for a toddler to eat it, but not as large as a turkey and still special. You can do all the veg in at once and do a quick honey glaze on them, and roll sausages in bacon (I don't know any toddlers that don't like that). Christmas pud also comes in smaller ones, or you could do a trifle or individual mince pies and let DS help you cut out the pastry, playdough-like, then spoon in the filling.

What about duck (a normal sized duck serves four so you'd have plenty left over for duck in pancakes the next day) or an organic/free range/really good quality chicken? We usually only have four or five at our Christmas lunch and like to make sure that what we buy is good quality but not enormous amounts that have to be eaten for days and days afterwards as left overs.

120cms, I really like your ideas thanks and lilymaid, thanks also, I've never done a duck before but I'm very tempted. Might have to do a practice run beforehand, again, thanks all for your advice and help.