Planning/cooking ahead, food wise for Christmas

hi all,

I'm trying to make Christmas as fuss free as I can this year (we suffered a family bereavement in September).
Could anyone advise easy food that can be cooked or bought in advance & frozen, so that all we have to do is put it in the oven and wait? There will be lots of people around the house for a week or so and I dont want to spend all my time cooking or tidying up.

I am mainly looking for basic enough dinners, Irish food.

What I was wondering is if anyone knows who does the nicest/healthiest ready-to-go/ready to cook for the following:

Frozen roast potatoes
Lasagna (with least additives/preservatives)
Burgers
Christmas cake or pudding

I know that magazines often do 'top 5' lists this time of the year but I haven't seen any this year.
I can get to Aldi, Lidl, M&S, Tesco, Dunnes or Supervalu easily enough. Or I am in the Galway area if there is anywhere that goes good, reasonably priced home made food? Anyone have a web address for the KC Blakes pantry?

Thanks.

I find the Tesco's Finest range very good for convenience food. Their lasagne is very good and they also do a very good quality shephards pie that you just put straight in the oven, haven't tried their burgers but I believe they're also v tasty. IMO you can't beat M&S for things like cakes and puddings at Christmas, although they're not the cheapest!. They also do some great ready meals that have very little preservatives, very handy just to put in the freezer.

Hi Bluebean, sorry for your loss.

This year for various reasons I will be trying for a very easy christmas dinner ( and for stephens day and new years too). My local supermarket is offering to provide a cooked turkey and ham the day before christmas and I'd say many supermarkets and butchers would do similar. This is very handy since all I'll have to do is put on the veg and make some gravy. Desserts will be shop bought.

For stephens day we are having...turkey curry. Anyone who doesnt like it is free to cook their own! LOL.

For New years I will probably get a crown of duck or something similar from Tesco- I find the tesco finest range pretty good too.

I hope you have a good christmas despite your loss if that is possible.

A good curry made from chicken stock and pastes can be cooked the night before a dinner and/or frozen and defrosted when you want it.

Also, beef casseroles, coq au vin etc....easy dishes...lob the lot in the pot, let cook for few hours and then freeze..can send you on some recipes etc. if you're stuck.

Can be a difficult time for many people...do what leaves you comfortable and dont stress too much about it.

Thanks Newbie & Vanilla. This year will be very tough, but if we just take the approach of 'its just another day' then we will struggle through it.
I hadn't thought about shops/butchers who would have cooked meat, that would defintely be an idea for some of the days. I don't imagine that we will have much of an appetite, but we obviously have to eat something.
The sooner its over, the better if I'm honest.

I have heard that McCain's roast potatoes come out nice - anyone any experience?

Thanks again, I appreciate your suggestions.

Sorry for your loss!.

I totally agree, tesco finest range is wonderful. Perhaps on Christmas Day itself, get the crown of turkey and pop it in the oven, it cooks quickly and there is no minding in it. Boil your ham the night before and this can go in the oven to bake along with the turkey. In Tesco at the freezers, you can buy frozen roast potatoes, these are delicious, while your at the freezer, pick up a bag of frozen veg that will be ready for the steamer or microwave and still at the freezer, grab Tesco finest chocolate cake with orange sauce - Sorted.

For the next couple of days, it is worth buying the baked potatoes with Chedder Cheese (also Tesco) these can be served with some quiche of your choice.

Also, get in some Knorr Soupfuls, they are a meal in itself. Be sure to buy brown bread and freeze it, take it out the night before or even that morning for it to defrost. Delicious and easy.
Do a list of food for each day and try to stick with it, it will help you remember what needs to be done and help ease the stress for you.

Marks and Spencers and doing breaded chicken fillets in bags of 9, ready to be popped in the oven. Serve these with salad, green beans, mash potato, which can be bought in Marks and Spencers ready made and it just needs to be heated in the oven.

How about buying some breaded fish, again no nonsense, on to a baking tray with some oven chips and 25 minutes, ready to serve.

I realise you want to make sure people eat at this difficult time and you want food that is easy but tasty. I hope the above gives you an idea of what may suit you and I wish you well in getting through your grief over this sticky period. Good luck to you!

We're doing rack of lamb for Christmas day- last year's palaver with trying to cook a turkey whilst entertaining a baby is still a vivid memory. You can always pre-cook things like mashed potato, veg. etc a day or two beforehand. Keep them chilled in the fridge and warm up in the oven until piping hot. Most good butchers do nice handy options like stuffed pork chops, chicken etc which can be grilled or baked and don't require any "preparation". Alot of those ready foods are very rich in salt and fat so try and check out other options.

Superquinn do a great ready made Lasagna...they do a lot of other ready made meals but I hav'nt tried them yet

Best of Luck

I'd definitely recommend Tescos Finest "Matured Christmas Pudding" - the nearest thing to the best home cooked one that I've ever tasted. It's laced with sherry, brandy, rum and cognac which can be helped on with another lacing of dark rum pre-steaming or microwaving. Not to be confused with lots of other Puds they sell. And don't forget mince pies - preferably from a home bakery - not Tesco!

You have probably received enough good suggestions already but would a leg of lamb be worthwhile considering - just needs to be stuck in the oven - a change from turkey etc. as well as a nice gammon ham? They would feed a lot of people. What about good old rashers and sausages on one of the days? I believe there are good pork butchers in Galway. I find individual meals variable in taste and quality and they could be quite expensive for a crowd. Another idea is a chicken or vegetable risotto which could be precooked and frozen till needed.

It might be worthwhile checking out a local catering company to see if they would provide a prepared meal that you could serve yourself on one of the days.

This is a very hard time of the year to be bereaved but I hope it will be comforting to have your friends and family near.

Thanks so much to everyone, I got some ideas that I hadn't thought of myself.
Breaded fish, chicken fillets etc. would be good, as both adults and children will eat them. I think we are going to have beef for Christmas day, few of us are mad about turkey anyway. Homemade soup or soupfuls are another good plan. I can go with a cooked leg of lamb from butchers another day maybe and some of the tescos finest potatoes/veg etc.

Thanks again, my head couldn't think of simple things like rasher and sausages even, I was getting a bit overwhelmed at the thoughts of it all.

BB

Sorry about your sad loss during the year.

Donegal Catch Samon fillets are lovely - Just pop in a bit of tin foil, season with a little bk pepper and sea salt (and a sqeeze of lemon if you have it handy) and put in oven for about 20 mins.

I also often get chicken en-croute (chicken fillet & stiffing wrapped in pastry) in the butchers and I put wrap them loosly in a bit of grease proof paper (also makes the wash up easier) and cook for about 20 mins and then open back grease proof paper for another 10 mins to brown nicely. I always have a stock of them in the freezed and just defrost them the night before - delicious.

I often do chicken in pasta, basically buy a packet of sharwoods or the like Tuna Napolien and instead of the tuna I use chicken (or left over turkey) and I use cream instead of milk (ooh the waistline) fry off onion, garlic etc add sauce and simmer as instructions. Cook pasta and drain and lob it all into the one pot and stir well. Put it into a large serving bowl and place in the centre of the table, serve with crusty rolls (my 3yr old even likes it cold)

This thread is even giving everybody handy ideas for the days around the Christmas and New Year when every is tired and fed up and visitors decide to land upon us!

Most pubs and hotels that do carvery lunches also do take away lunches as well. Buy a stack of these, freeze them and use as necessary. Very reasonably priced, convenient and easily nuked in microwave when required. Full selection available and come in handy foil dishes with lids. Tip – write the dish on the lid before freezing – saves on lucky dip dinners. Most places also do take away desserts if you ask.

BB