Jump to content
IGNORED

Christmas Dinner Fundie Styl


NurseNell

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 116
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Food porn....

026-1.jpg

OMG--This is EXACTLY the main course my middle sister served us on Christmas Eve--and your kitchen and stove are virtually identical to hers! Maggie, is that you???

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't want to derail the slagging of the salibury steak or revelations of Christmas menus (moderator delete if off topic please) but I have got to say : unless you have a specific allergy or medical problem or issue with weight - I can not think of one reason why you can't eat ramen noodles. If you say that they have a lot of calories: I agree. If you say that you have celiac's and can't eat them : I agree. However I just can't agree with the statement :" young people can get away with ramen and be okay for a while (italics mine)". If eaten in moderation by someone without a specific medical problem : there is no proven medical harm in ramen AND they are delicious. I also have a problem with people insisting that somehow organic produce will solve all their medical problems. Please. There is very little good scientific evidence to back up the claims of organic food proponents (other than advising a moderate and common sense approach). I see people every day with nasty nasty diseases who exercise/eat right and do all the things you are "supposed to do". Sometimes illness is just bad luck and/or genetics.

I am going to stop ranting now as I am starting to froth at the mouth.

(please excuse spelling/grammar mistakes - have only had one cup of coffee so far)

I was begged by my 15-year-old son to go to the grocery store today, despite our having so many fab leftovers from Christmas in the fridge, because WE WERE OUT OF RAMEN NOODLES. He eats them three meals a day. I like them, but I do not like their sodium content, so I restrict my own consumption to once a week or less. Usually less, because my son just hoovers them up.

Like you, I lose patience with organic this and organic that. OTOH, at some point I did read some convincing evidence on why certain foods really are better for you if you get them organic. Apples and celery are the two that come to mind, because they were the only ones that I regularly buy. But no, I"m not going out and break the bank to put organic breakfast cereal on the table.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The chick Bea76 who posted in the comments section has a sad story (I can empathize) but I can't stand reading "should of", "could of" , " would of"....it's HAVE. Should HAVE. Could HAVE. Would HAVE.

Yes, this is something silly to complain about but it's really distracting to read.

-------------------

Now onto the food violence that is being committed in the (presumed) name of frugality. I've cooked multi-course meals (from scratch!) for family without breaking the bank.

Turkeys and roast chickens often go on sale for 99 cents a pound. You can get anywhere from a 6-7 pound bird to a 24-pound bird. No limits. We usually buy a few 6-pound chickens to keep in the freezer (it's a fast 2-hour jaunt in the oven for a NICE dinner for me and hubby, with leftovers). We've also bought roast beef on sale (though we eat less beef for various reasons - mostly my health reasons) and a 3-4 pound roast is a great meal plus days of leftovers.

This is how I have done holiday meals for 12-15 people:

- 20-25 pound bird at 99 cents (even butterball goes on sale and offers coupons!) - with a drizzle of olive oil on top with crushed rosemary, salt and pepper, with part of an onion, a stick of celery, a clove of garlic, or other herbs and spices you like - shoved into the belly of the bird - $25

- stick of butter for various uses $1

- a pound of green veggies (name your family's favorite) - you can do fresh for a few bucks or get out-of-seasons via a can or frozen (there isn't anything wrong with canned or frozen veggies although fresher might be the optimal way) - up to $5

- Corn niblets - not really a "real" veggie but a family favorite - 2 cans - $2

- 1 onion to add to: green beans, the inside of the turkey, chop up in the stuffing - $1

- a few stalks of celery for various uses (inside turkey, chopping in stuffing) - $1-2

- two different types of bread - dinner rolls and fresh loaf (the local grocery makes fresh bread daily) - $5 total

- Turkey Broth to assist basting and add to stuffing - $3

- sack of potatoes (3 or 5 pounds) - up to $5 - to make real mashed potatoes (use half a stick of butter to mix into potatoes, along with milk:

- 1/4 cup of milk (you should have some on hand) to add to the potatoes - $1

- a bag of pre-broken stuffing bread crumbs - $2-4 (will add celery, onion, broth, a few pats of butter, salt, pepper, parsley, etc.)

Subtotal - $49

Beverages - this often pot lucked but I added it into the general list

Soda - on sale - $1 a bottle - we usually get 3 different sodas

A gallon or two of Spring water - $2

A gallon of iced tea/lemonade/etc. - $2

Coffee/sugar/cream - on hand

subtotal - $7

My subtotal is about $57 for the dinner. I might pick up something like Christmas candy ($2-3 a bag at Target), which would bring me to a whopping $63 for 12-15 people. That's $4.20 per person. You can get individual ingredients on sale the month before, so it's not a big hit at once. And if people are willing to bring main/side dishes/beverages/dessert (if you're cooking for more than your immediate, live-in family), you can stretch your budget even further!!

Below shows the pot lucked items usually brought.

Of course, guests usually bring potluck items, so here there is an example below of what they might bring. If you're feeding a bunch of kids, you can probably pare down the number of different desserts and beverage choices - cookies, some gingerbread men, or even some cupcakes made from a box can be a great dessert, adding maybe $10 to the total. What is so bad (or difficult??) about mostly-homemeade dinner?

POTLUCKED ITEMS my family might bring (Brought by others)

Potluck homemade cheesecake - $12

Potluck homemade pie - $12

Potluck homemade Christmas cookies - $20

Potluck Wine - $10 bottle - 2 bottles - $20

Big Salad - $20

Lasagna or Stuffed Shells - $25 (mom always makes this no matter the holiday!!)

The point is NO ONE expects the host/ess to do it all, but it's generally accepted that the hostess make the main meal and most of the sides, unless people have favorite recipes they like to make. It all evens out because we rotate who hosts.

The other point is that our meal is about 75% homemade. I don't mention that to say I'm better, but homemade food often just tastes better, is more fun to cook (we all love to cook), fun to watch people enjoy, and there is always something for everyone to take home as leftovers. We determine to make it a special day, because it is.

Just my 63 bucks' worth. Heck, I'd send one of these families $60 with instructions on how to make a holiday dinner!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OMG--This is EXACTLY the main course my middle sister served us on Christmas Eve--and your kitchen and stove are virtually identical to hers! Maggie, is that you???

That's really funny... we were at my sister's house, it's her kitchen - she has a serious Pottery Barn habit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am drooling over all of the meal descriptions and the "food porn" pics..well except for the Jeubs' poor excuse of a meal of course. Didn't they mention a while back that they hunted? If that's the case, if they can take the time to hunt, they can take the time to make a better meal for the holidays than frozen Salsbury steak and instant potatoes.

As for me, last night I made a bunch of appetizers..nachos, buffalo chicken wing dip, crab rangoon dip, cheese and crackers, rye bread and dill dip, queso and chips, garlic chicken puffs, stuffed mushrooms, and pizza roll-ups, with sparkling grape juice to drink with the munchies, and wine for me and the boyfriend after my son went to bed.

ETA: What we had for breakfast yesterday morning with hot tea (my son had orange juice)..cinnamon pull-a-part bread! :D

100_2735.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ETA. I wouldn't feed that meal to people I hated even. Gross.

Seriously? It's not that bad of a meal if you work the night shift and come home late and you are exhausted. Just not "Hooray! It's Christmas, let's celebrate with decadence!" food. No, in fact I would make it a worse meal if I were to feed it to those I hate. The Hyperbole Police are coming for you, Barbie.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I googled for pictures, none. Googled for recipe, only cookbooks came up. Thhis food is meant to kill people, right? Like in the old days, in eastern europe they got rid of female toddlers and thinned out the number of kids by letting them suck on cucumber dipped into sweet milk. They died within 48 hours of dehydration. (by this i mean they puked and crapped the daylight out of themselves)

All I know is my DH LOVES it and cannot imagine why the thought of it makes me gag....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't read it or even heard of the movie. :oops: Am I missing anything worthwhile?

Yes, you are - the books are awesome (the second and third are netter than the first). The swedish movies are okay, but cut out a lot from the books. I have yet to see this newer incarnation, though!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We always have pretty much a traditional UK Christmas dinner in my family: roast turkey, stuffing (walnut and celery), gravy made from the turkey juices, homemade bread sauce, roast potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce, brussel sprouts, carrots and homemade apple sauce, with homemade Christmas pudding (served with flaming brandy poured over) with rum butter and single cream for pudding. Lovely. I can't remember if we usually have pigs in blankets, too (chipolata sausages wrapped in bacon), because I was at my boyfriend's parents' house for Christmas this year, but they are part of the traditional British Christmas dinner too. Apparently some families have Yorkshire puddings as part of the main course as well, and cheesy cauliflower/broccoli, but mine doesn't. Vanilla sauce and brandy butter are also common accompaniments for Christmas pudding.

I'm staggered that the Jeub blog commenter boasted about having Salisbury steak and instant mashed potato for dinner on Christmas Day. Surely on that day of all days you'd have something special for dinner, unless unable to for whatever reason? Rather than having something you'd have any day of the year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am drooling over all of the meal descriptions and the "food porn" pics..well except for the Jeubs' poor excuse of a meal of course. Didn't they mention a while back that they hunted? If that's the case, if they can take the time to hunt, they can take the time to make a better meal for the holidays than frozen Salsbury steak and instant potatoes.

As for me, last night I made a bunch of appetizers..nachos, buffalo chicken wing dip, crab rangoon dip, cheese and crackers, rye bread and dill dip, queso and chips, garlic chicken puffs, stuffed mushrooms, and pizza roll-ups, with sparkling grape juice to drink with the munchies, and wine for me and the boyfriend after my son went to bed.

ETA: What we had for breakfast yesterday morning with hot tea (my son had orange juice)..cinnamon pull-a-part bread! :D

100_2735.jpg

We called this type of bread "monkey bread" in our family. Does anyone else call it that? I have never baked it in a bundt pan though. (Bundt? Vot eez bundt? /mybigfatgreekwedding.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also, the salisbury steak dinner was from a commenter. What struck me about that comment was their extreme anality about gift-giving - each child got a certain category of gift and had to do some kind of performance before getting the gift - recite a verse or say something the parents wanted to hear. Spirit of true giving, you do not haz.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We called this type of bread "monkey bread" in our family. Does anyone else call it that? I have never baked it in a bundt pan though. (Bundt? Vot eez bundt? /mybigfatgreekwedding.)

We also call it Monkey bread, and I make it in a bundt pan because my tube pan is a 2 piece one and since I do it with caramel, it would make a mess.

It's my favorite. I make it Xmas morning and also as my birthday cake. Hey, I'm the baker, I make what I want. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I make or bake everything scratch or fresh.

Turkey, kielbasa, gravy, real mashed spuds with garlic, mashed sweet potato, roast carrots with rosemary, greenbeans with garlic, leeks and tomato, corn niblets, sage/celery/onion dressing, cranberries, red flannel slaw, waldorf salad, kutya (wheat with poppy seed, walnuts, honey), ambrosia, olives, gherkins, Neil Harbour rolls, Hummingbird Cake, gingersnaps, fruitcake, shortbread, apple cider, eggnog, coffee, tea.

Like someone mentioned upthread, by shopping specials and spread over a few weeks, this didn't cost a whole lot.

However, somehow meatloaf/hamburgers slithered in gravy sounds freeing. Maybe it's special to them for that reason.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.




×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.