It’s the final countdown…Christmas Week!
This can be a chaotic few days for some families, from last-minute shopping and gift wrapping to buying and preparing Christmas dinner. But don’t worry, we have the perfect meal planner to keep your Christmas week low-cost and organized – at least food-wise!
Presenting our MABS Christmas Planner.
Our delicious recipes have been inspired by SafeFood’s festive Christmas meals and the MABS 101 Square Meals cookbook. Safefood has more meal ideas, top tips on how to safely cook the perfect roast turkey and suggestions on what to do with those Christmas leftovers over on their YouTube Channel – SafeFoodTV.
| Date | Lunch | Dinner | Alternative |
| 25 Dec | Omelette (p11) with sourdough bread | Roast turkey and honey roast ham | Plant-based turkey steaks |
| 26 Dec | Chicken soup (p17) with brown bread (p106) | Leftover turkey curry | Use tofu in the curry if no turkey is left. |
| 27 Dec | Baked potato (p77) with baked beans and cheese | Beef stew | Lentil and vegetable stew (p72) |
| 28 Dec | Hot pasta salad (p95) | Curried chickpea and sweet potato burger | Spanish tortilla (p63) with a tossed green salad |
| 29 Dec | Sandwich on brown bread with tuna and sweetcorn | Chicken broccoli bake | Roasted vegetable lasagne |
| 30 Dec | Warm chicken noodle salad (p101) | Homemade burgers | Stir fry vegetables and rice (p65) |
| 31 Dec | Scrambled eggs on toast (p13) | Chicken casserole | Mexican bean burrito (p66) |
Top tip: Bake a few loaves of our yummy brown bread (page 106 in 101 Square Meals) ahead of time and freeze. It’s a great timesaving and pocket saving way of BOSS’ing Christmas.
Many food retailers have plant-based alternatives available for vegetarians, or those who would like to reduce their meat intake. Check the packaging, as some of these can be frozen, meaning that you could buy a few weeks ahead of Christmas week to spread the cost of Christmas.
Don’t forget to ‘shop your freezer’ early in December. This means that you are using up what is in your freezer, saving a little on food shopping throughout the month of December. It also means you are reducing the possibility of food spoiling and going to waste. An added bonus is that you are making room in your freezer for fresh goodies in preparation for the big week – BOSS’ing all around.
It’s all about planning
Making a list, planning what you need and adding some preparation will all help you BOSS Christmas. It is possible to make savings and reduce the risk of unplanned spending. We’ve pulled together some additional resources that will help you.
Our friends at SafeFood have a page dedicated to Christmas with a range of wonderful videos and resources to help you. We’ve picked out a few of our favourites. For example, did you know that you can purchase the turkey in advance and store it in the freezer? Of course, don’t forget to defrost in advance of the big day. SafeFood have you covered with a helpful video on defrosting your turkey safely and how to cook your turkey on Christmas day.
Have we missed something?
Do you have a tip or a tactic that you live by at this time of the year? We’d really like to hear from you. Visit our Facebook or Instagram pages and share.
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