Christmas Dinner Fundie Styl

[Lillian]

Ughh I can't believe this. They probably eat the lot on paper plates with a spork.

[Witsec5]

Kelya, Bionicmile, Sola, and VodouDoll:

Your dinners are loads better than the traditional Xmas meals anyway. I don't get mashed potatoes, a paste made out of starch flavored with another paste made out of fat drippings. I'll take goulash, roast potatoes and beef bourguinon (spelling) over that any day of the year. I left a recipe for turkey stock on the recipe thread if you want to use it Sola.

Ha Ha! paper plates with a spork!

[Sola]

Recipe for the dishwasher detergent please.

1/2 Tablespoon Borax

1/2 Tablespoon baking soda

1 Tablespoon of household soap

for the rinse agent, 2 Tablespoons of white vinegar.

Also works really well, minus the vinegar (except for glassware and stainless steel - then use the vinegar in the final rinse) as hand dishwashing detergent. Wear gloves unless you want hands like mine.

Sola (frugal as hell)

[Sola]

Kelya, Bionicmile, Sola, and VodouDoll:

Your dinners are loads better than the traditional Xmas meals anyway. I don't get mashed potatoes, a paste made out of starch flavored with another paste made out of fat drippings. I'll take goulash, roast potatoes and beef bourguinon (spelling) over that any day of the year. I left a recipe for turkey stock on the recipe thread if you want to use it Sola.

Ha Ha! paper plates with a spork!

Well turkey and the trimmings is the traditional Christmas dinner in the UK. Actually it used to be goose, but then turkey became more affordable and goose more expensive. It wouldn't seem right having anything other than turkey or goose here! I'll have a look at the recipe and see if it is gluten free convertible (both myself and my daughter are celiac). I usually use the giblets for stock, caramelise the veggie and meat dripping for browning, then thicken with gf flour. That's the main reason I do cook everything from scratch (yes I even have a sausage maker - I like kitchen porn, so sue me :D ), because my daughter and I are celiac plus she is allergic to bloody everything.

Edit: you're not the only one who hates mashed potatoes (or smashed potatoes according to Little Miss Sola - you smash them to bits so they are smashed potatoes). I think they are vile, I absolutely hate the texture of them, but everyone else loves them here. The only thing worse than smashed potatoes is instant, packet mashed potatoes. I draw the line at at making them on x-mas day; there is so much else to eat that the plates are piled high anyway.

[ladypuglover]

I used to make instant mashed potatos when I was preteen or very young teen for dinner. Sometimes my mom had to work late and it was a side that was safe for me to make without burning down the house or needing an ambulance. When I got old enough to pay attention to what the hell I was doin I started to make it from scratch.

Our christmas dinner is the roasted turkey and sides but on a toned down version of T-Day. Growing up it was a Mexican feast of all made from scratch Mexican foods.

[FundiesInMyFamily]

Food porn....

You have no idea how EASY this was... we sprinkled some salt, pepper, rosemary & Tyme on top and put it in the oven. That's it - less effort than taking frozen shit on a shingle out of the package. We spend about a week checking ads and calling stores to find the best price, and found a natural food store that had prime rib roasts on sale for $4.99 a pound. It was soooooooooooo good and right now my 4 legged baby is enjoying his christmas present - a couple of bones from the roast!

[Sweetpea1]

Food porn....

You have no idea how EASY this was... we sprinkled some salt, pepper, rosemary & Tyme on top and put it in the oven. That's it - less effort than taking frozen shit on a shingle out of the package. We spend about a week checking ads and calling stores to find the best price, and found a natural food store that had prime rib roasts on sale for $4.99 a pound. It was soooooooooooo good and right now my 4 legged baby is enjoying his christmas present - a couple of bones from the roast!

I'm cleaning drool off my computer. Beats the tomato soup I'm having (I'm lazy today .)

[Kelya]

Keyla, I would love a recipe for goulash, my man used to get it when he was stationed in Germany and I want to make it for him sometime. I do have the right kind of Paprika.

We had ham, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese , green beans and crescent rolls. We have ice cream for later. I don't consider that a complicated meal at ALL.

I grow my own potatoes ( 200 lbs this year) tomatoes (500 lbs, canned em all) onions, squash and sundry kitchen greens with varying degrees of success. I can and cook from scratch constantly to keep our grocery bills down. How the hell do these women even get off on calling themselves homakers? Salisbury steak SUCKS!

I just asked our hostel clerk and she recommended this recipe as being as good as you can make without being Hungarian! :lol:

http://hungarian-food.hungaryguide.info ... ecipe.html

She did say her mom uses more paprika and wasn't sure it was sweet paprika, but i think its just a translation thing going on. (Uhm, Hungarian is really hard and outside of the service sector English levels are low.)

[SunnyAndrsn]

That dinner is disgusting. Frozen Salisbury steak and instant mashed potatoes? I stopped eating crap like that when I was in college, once I realized how cheap and easy (and versatile--ask MckMama!) it is to use real potatoes.

We did a simple lettuce salad--$1 for enough lettuce for 5 of us, with a tomato, onion, a cucumber, croutons, and fresh mushrooms. Add another $2 total for those fresh veggies.

I made real mashed potatoes from yummy Yukon Gold variety potatoes. Cost? About $1.50 in spuds, a splash of milk, a few tbs of butter, and some salt.

I made popovers from scratch--2 eggs, a cup of milk, flour, and salt. Less than a $1.

Small 4 1/3 pound prime rib roast: $45. Yeah, it was expensive but SO worth it. It's once a year it tastes so freakin' good.

MIL brought a holiday family tradition--corn casserole. All totaled what is that? About $10 a person. I know they have a lot more people, srsly frozen foods for Christmas isn't even trying. I have a UTI and still managed to make a nice family dinner.

I made baklava for desert and MIL brought a cranberry cake. I only spent about 2 1/2 hours on cleaning and getting the food and table together.

[mnb357]

She seriously thinks this seems like a fancy meal? Ee gads.

Sadly, our rib roast has to be postponed until tomorrow due to a wind related power outage. We had to settle for Mexican food at the only place open in town. It was not good, but it was fun. Power is restored, but it's far too late, (and I've had far too many mimosas) to even consider cooking! But, tomorrow...rib roast, homemade mashed potatoes, green bean casserole made with home grown, home canned green beans, homemade, home canned applesauce, and homemade cheesecake...provided there's any left after tonight. Total hands on time, about 25 minutes, mostly in peeling the potatoes. My husband has decided that it's pretty nice to let the kids play with their stuff until they're hungry, rather than call them to the table, so we may make dinner on the 26th a tradition. We'll call it "Day of Delicious Decadence." Merry Christmas, everybody, and thanks for sharing your food stories!

[countressrascal]

Count and I worked today so that our Christian co-workers could have off, so our holiday dinner was in the Dr Lounge at the hospital, not bad. Roast Beef, green beans, mashed or baked potatoes, corn, green salad and ice cream. Tomorrow all the little counts will come over for our holiday dinner-smoked salmon stuffed with crab meat, greens, wild mushroom medley, roasted acron squash and cheesecake, plus wine and bloody mary's. By the way everything will be homemade.

I love the food porn pictures.

[onlyorganic]

I know you all are talking about nutrition and what you could "technically get" for the same amount and a little effort. But some people are really poor and hungry, not just lazy. The frozen salisbury steak could be from a donation they receive annually. It wouldn't surprise me.

[countressrascal]

I also forgot to say that Count and youngest count caught the salmon this summer and all the veggie except the mushrooms are grown in the backyard. It is just me and the count, I work fulltime and I can find time to garden so why can't these families with million kids can't?

[thoughtful]

Well turkey and the trimmings is the traditional Christmas dinner in the UK. Actually it used to be goose, but then turkey became more affordable and goose more expensive. It wouldn't seem right having anything other than turkey or goose here!

Tiny Tim agrees:

PXh4Z6GTx50

Kinky child.

[Witsec5]

I thought the same thing; the Salisbury steak must have been a donation. Who would pay for that in the store? I would have been more expensive than a turkey. I just have a hard time believing the Jeub's would accept donations--unless of course they say one thing in public and practice another in private. On the other hand, if this was a donation from a church, shame on the church! Christians talk about how their body should be their temple and then eat like this!

As for Sola's comment about gluten-free, I commend anyone who has managed to go gf during this holiday season. I really miss crusty breads, etc. I was gf for about six months but had to go even more restrictive in light of my digestive problems. For the last three weeks, I have been following SCD, which is also gf but also like low-carb without the low-carb junk food component (Different than the anti-candida diet in that honey, most fruits, and hard cheeses are allowed.) I managed to get through the holiday season and say no to all bad carbs and glutenous sauces.

All of which makes me think; what if a Jeub, a Bates, or a Duggar had a major issue with gluten or another digestive problem like Crohn's or even IBS which needed dietary management? It would get darned expensive! Packaged foods are out on SCD and most everything has to be fresh. Eliminating all starches costs a lot of money. I've been going to the produce market three times a week and using expensive oils like grapeseed oil, olive oil, and coconut oil for health and for calories. People should really think about these things before they start having a boatload of kids.

I suspect that Josie may have food allergy issues in the future which are being completely ignored. Tater-tot casserole could be making that baby really sick. I was a micro-preemie (although not as small as Josie) and I believe this is at the root of my life-long digestive issues. The Duggars and the Jeubs really need to be out there doing organic farming--that would at least help feed their broods properly.

Back to the food porn...I love pictures of handmade meals, or even wonderful restaurant meals so keep the roast pictures coming. Pictures of fast food meals make no sense to me at all.

[thoughtful]

I just asked our hostel clerk and she recommended this recipe as being as good as you can make without being Hungarian! :lol:

http://hungarian-food.hungaryguide.info ... ecipe.html

She did say her mom uses more paprika and wasn't sure it was sweet paprika, but i think its just a translation thing going on. (Uhm, Hungarian is really hard and outside of the service sector English levels are low.)

Goulash, paprika and Christmas made me think of S. Z. Sakall vs. Una O'Connor in Christmas in Connecticut:

[Jade]

If a frozen salisbury steak and mashed potatoes from a packet is fancy food what do they eat for everyday?

You guys are cracking me up with the prime rib pics and comments because our Christmas dinner was also prime rib bought at 4.99 a pound. For the meat and sides I think we paid 40 for 5 people. More then we would spend for a normal dinner but just fine for Christmas! Also not hard to cook at all!

[NurseNell]

I thought the same thing; the Salisbury steak must have been a donation. Who would pay for that in the store? I would have been more expensive than a turkey. I just have a hard time believing the Jeub's would accept donations--unless of course they say one thing in public and practice another in private. On the other hand, if this was a donation from a church, shame on the church! Christians talk about how their body should be their temple and then eat like this!

Once again, this is NOT the Jeubs eating this meal. It is someone who posted in the comment section of their blog. The poster's name is Jennifer Mull, it IS her family who had this dinner, NOT the Jeubs.

[clarinetpower]

If it's a donation, why brag about how "fancy" it sounds, but is so easy?

I doubt it. This is someone who is so sheltered, she equates Salisbury Steak with Beef Wellington, Oysters Rockafeller and Baked Alaska--fancy food in the 60's, passé now.

BTW, I made a ham with a brown sugar/mustard/peach preserves/Tallisker Scotch glaze (we were out of bourbon. Oops. I did that.), a potato-leek galette with 2 types of cheese (Martha's recipe--it's fab), steamed french green beans with butter, crusty french rolls, homemade cranberry orange sauce, homemade (today!) lefse with butter and sugar, and lots of booze. Kir Royale for apéritifs along with olives, 3 types of cheese, crackers, bread and 2 yummy spreads, then Sauvignon Blanc with dinner, followed by espresso and cupcakes/other assorted Christmas cookies, including homemade biscotti, spritz and chocolate covered potato chips.

My pants don't fit. :oops:

(BTW, Martha's recipe here: http://www.marthastewart.com/318956/lee ... to-galette. I used 2 cheeses today because I ran out of Swiss, so put in some mild white Cheddar, too, which was fine. Made this for Easter, too. Plate was licked clean then, so I doubled it tonight so I could have leftovers.)

[dirtyhippiegirl]

Um...I made crock pot pork ribs for my husband. Used the cheapest piece of meat that I could buy and then dumped an entire bottle of PRE-MADE BBQ sauce (Gates) on it with some chopped onions. He loves it.

Dinner for me was a pot of ramen noodles jazzed up with sauteed mushrooms, greens, soy sauce, and MSG which I actually own a bottle of.

/still waiting for the anti-food snob thread

[emilymea]

We had a low key Christmas dinner - lunch meat sandwiches on crustinis, potato chips and french onion dip.

We really do all our celebrating on Christmas Eve and my mom had to work the night shift tonight at the hospital (and it rained so we couldn't grill our usual Christmas dinner of steaks and baked potatoes) so we did something simple.

Sure, it's not as fancy as what a lot of you had, but the whole family was around the table together - that's all that matters.

[demgirl]

Um...I made crock pot pork ribs for my husband. Used the cheapest piece of meat that I could buy and then dumped an entire bottle of PRE-MADE BBQ sauce (Gates) on it with some chopped onions. He loves it.

Dinner for me was a pot of ramen noodles jazzed up with sauteed mushrooms, greens, soy sauce, and MSG which I actually own a bottle of.

/still waiting for the anti-food snob thread

Heh. Last night, for Christmas Eve? My mom, dad, sister and I went to the movies and had popcorn and diet coke for "dinner". Then we came home to a late night snack of sauteed mushrooms (I love 'em just like that), a pear, and then at 3 am when I woke up starving? A Jimmy Dean "Breakfast Bowl" I nuked. My sister had like a bowl of cereal, an apple, and some ice cream. My mom had wine and pretzels.

Then for breakfast, pretty much as fancy as we get on Christmas, we made eggs, bacon and chocolate chip pancakes (from Bisquick mix).

Food snobs, we are not.

[dirtyhippiegirl]

Sure, it's not as fancy as what a lot of you had, but the whole family was around the table together - that's all that matters.

I agree completely. :)

demgirl - what movie did you see?

[GatorGutCasserole]

/still waiting for the anti-food snob thread

The snob in meh would love to know what you watch on TV, what is your hairdo like, whatare your clothes like and what your apartment looks like. I would loooove to know that, too! :P

[dirtyhippiegirl]

The snob in meh would love to know what you watch on TV, what is your hairdo like, whatare your clothes like and what your apartment looks like. I would loooove to know that, too! :P

I have a house, actually. We bought our first in March. Why would you assume that I have an apartment?