You Don’t Have to be a Scout to Be Prepared

Christmas is a week away, AAARRHH!  Are you ready?  I am not talking about the presents you still need to find and wrap, but what about the meals you need to make?  There are the big ones, Christmas Eve, Christmas Morning and Christmas night.  Like Thanksgiving we all have some sort of traditional foods people in the family will be expecting.

I am doing Christmas Eve at my house with some friends so I have been pouring over cookbooks and looking at websites trying to come up with an interesting menu that is different from the traditional.  One of my guests does not eat seafood, so no feast of the seven fishes and my husband said he did not want a giant hunk of meat, so no standing rib roast, I just cooked a pork loin for a Christmas luncheon so no crown roast.

I am considering duck since the inside of my oven is so dirty already.  But it is not the main meal that I am concerned with.  The big question is are you prepared for all the other meals everyone will actually need to eat?

Now is the time to make up a few soups, stews, casseroles, and pasta sauces etc. to put in the freezer to have available when the family who are normally at school, work or a few states away look at you and say, “What can I eat?’  Sometimes after making a giant occasion meal I want to say to people, “Didn’t I just feed you yesterday?”

This also means I need to have some healthy food prepared for me so I am not tempted by the leftover cheesy dish in the fridge or the fudge some enemy dropped by.  For me the best defense is to have some roasted pears, pan sautéed boneless skinless chicken thighs and caramelized onions.  I can make a myriad of dishes from those premade staples.

For me I can stick to my diet during the giant meals when there are a lot of people around to watch me eat.  It is the more quiet down time meals when I let my guard down if I have not pre-planned and prepared, prepared, prepared.

I am really only limited by the amount of space in my freezer and refrigerator.  With all the holiday inflatables available you would think that someone would invent an inflatable freezer that you could just blow-up and use around the holidays when the number of mouths you feed multiplies by 5.

So heed my warning and check your pantry now.  You always need more eggs or milk than you think you do.  Stock-up and cook ahead of time so you can actually enjoy the holiday.