Stress Free Food Prep

Are you stressed about the holidays? There is a way you can have a stress free holiday season. This blog will help you be stress free in your food preparation. You can learn more at moneycrashers.

Food


While turkey is now the most common dish served during Christmas Day dinners around the world (replacing Tiny Tim’s roasted goose), fried chicken, ham, and fish remain popular. Our childhood memories of Christmases past often include aromatic, mouthwatering, belly-filling, belt-busting meals of savory meats, fresh vegetables, and sugary, meringue-topped desserts, but rarely the hours of exhaustive preparation, mounds of dirty pots and pans, and obligatory cleanup by those responsible for our repasts.


Try the following to save time in the kitchen this year:


Bake and Freeze in Advance. Rolls, coffee cakes, muffins, and breads can be made, shaped, placed in pans, and frozen up to six months before serving. Unbaked pies and cookies can be prepared up to two months before a meal. Appetizers and casseroles taste just as delicious even if they have been frozen for months. Spreading your food preparation over several weekends before the crunch of the season can help to keep you sane and rested.

Use Professionals. Many grocery stores and restaurants offer holiday specials where complete meals are delivered or can be picked up the day before Christmas, so your only duty is to pop them in the oven and serve. The ability to choose à la carte allows for a selection of not only different foods, but different caterers.

Share Cooking and Cleaning Duties. To spread the workload around, one member of the family can bring appetizers, another can supply a vegetable dish, and another can provide dessert, already agreed to beforehand to ensure everyone’s favorites will be available. Cleanup is also shared – those who eat but don’t cook must clean.