Let me help you (save SO MUCH time on your holiday supper!)
Aside from coming to your house and doing your dishes, this is the biggest way I can help you make a BEAUTIFUL holiday meal without grains, gluten, unhealthy food or too much sweat and tears.
Get ready fellow hosts and hostesses, we are going to talk shop here. Kitchen-holiday-dinner-planning-shop.
Really, the only thing you need to focus on in order to make a super smooth holiday dinner is plan ahead.
Planning is not just for food prep days or weekly menu plans. Getting serious about your holiday menu plan will save you a lot of stress and help you avoid falling back on processed foods.
So, what are you making as an appetizer, soup, salad, main, side and dessert?
If you do not know, do not panic. I’ve got a really good solution to that problem which I will tell you about at the end of this blog.
Once you choose what you are making, sit down and decide what needs to be made on which day. Write everything down. Break down the day of your event into exact times for each task.
Include what to make and when, when to defrost it, when to heat it up. Plan for your turkey to be ready at least 1 hour before you want to eat. And include a reminder to put any desserts in the oven or ice cream maker after dinner... because your brain may actually be off by this time. I know, it has happened to me…many times.
Typically, soups and cranberry sauce are great to make up to two months in advance and freeze. Salad dressings, fresh herb infused oils (which are a great addition to soups) and specialty butters (like garlic or citrus) can be made about three days in advance and stored in the fridge.
I know that some of those items sound pretty decadent but trust me, they are so simple it’s ridiculous. And they add a really nice touch.
If you are making a grain free sausage stuffing, this tastes even better on day two so make it the day before. Appetizers like bacon wrapped dates can be made and partially cooked the day before. You just partially cook the bacon, stuff the dates with goat’s cheese and assemble and finish cooking about ten minutes before serving.
This way all you have left on the day of your holiday meal is to prepare fresh cut veggies for a veggie tray, cut up some vegetables to steam or mash, throw together a salad and of course, cook the turkey. The rest is all reheating.
Below is the list I shared last year with our nutrition consulting clients that goes along with our Holiday Recipe Package. My personal version included all of the specific times for everything but I left it blank for you to personalize.
1-3 months in advance:
- Make cranberry sauce and freeze
- Make a large batch of broth (seprate 4 cups and freeze)
- Make soup with broth and freeze
3 days in advance:
- Make citrus butter and store in an airtight container
2 days in advance:
- Defrost broth
- Make basil oil
1 day in advance:
- Defrost cranberry sauce
- Make sausage and apple stuffing and store in fridge
- Partially cook bacon for bacon wrapped dates (store separately from dates overnight)
- Fill dates with goat's cheese
The day of:
- Cook potatoes (stuff them but do not cook for the final 20 minutes)
- Cook meat with carrots, onions and potato for gravy reserve juices
- Make gravy when meat is finished (it reheats well)
- Take goat's cheese and butter out of hte fridge to soften
Just before your guests arrive:
- Prepare and cook bacon wrapped dates
- Warm apple cider in the slow cooker
- Make cucumbers with cranberry goat's cheese and dill
Just before your meal:
- 35 minutes before: reheat soup and cut out coconut milk and basil oil
- 30 minutes before: reheat sausage and apple stuffing
- 25 minutes before: heat potatoes for 20 minutes
- 20 minutes before: steam brussels sprouts and toss with citrus butter
- 15 minutes before: make holiday salad
One more nice touch on a holiday meal is to have hot apple cider in the slow cooker when your guests arrive. Just heat it on low and place the cups out beside it with a ladle or measuring cup. This really puts a smile on their faces and makes a great alternative to pop.
To download our complete Holiday Recipe Package including our famous Holiday Salad, our favorite “better option” dessert and all the recipes mentioned above click on this link right now! It is our gift to you.
Happy, happy holidays.