Each time you go to the grocery store pick up one thing that you know you will need for your holiday dinners. Now you may be thinking, I don’t even know what I’m going to cook tomorrow much less in a couple of months but really, don’t we all cook the same dishes every holiday? If this is the first time you are cooking a holiday dinner then you really need to start getting ready!!
Hint: Gather all of your recipes that you use for the holidays, old ones new ones that you’ve been thinking about trying, and put them all in one place. I keep mine in a small holiday binder and that way I just need to pull that out every holiday season and make my shopping list. If you don’t have any recipes, ask family members to share some with you or search online. There are millions out there so don’t get overwhelmed. I suggest making a list of what you would like to have at your dinner and search for a recipe that fits each one.
Once you have your recipes together it’s time to make your shopping list. Don’t spend any longer than 15 minutes on this and try hard not to get distracted. I sort my list by perishable and non-perishable items.
Today I noticed that they’ve started to put the baking items on sale so I picked up a bag of sugar. Flour, brown sugar, and butter were also on sale. You don’t need to get everything all at once but what you do need to do is when you get home, find a box and label it “Holiday Food DO NOT TOUCH”. Not that most of our families would ever make anything for themselves, lol, but you never know. Store it in your pantry or on a shelf in your closet and then each week put what you bought at the grocery store in it.
By the time your first holiday meal rolls around you won’t need to buy anywhere near as much as you normally do. Plus you won’t be stressing because you already have your list made so you know exactly the items that you still need to pick up.
Just Freeze It
Now there are some items that can be frozen and then thawed as it gets closer to the holiday. I freeze butter, shredded cheese, turkey broth, and bread. I have heard that you can also freeze milk and heavy cream in ice cube trays successfully. I also freeze mushrooms and onions to use in my homemade stuffing. They tend to be cheaper this time of year than in the winter months.
Confession: I have to be honest with you there’s not much that I won’t try to freeze because I hate to waste food. The only thing I remember that did not freeze successfully so far is cantaloupe, although I have read that it can be done.
Recipe Swap
If anyone would like to swap some favorite holiday recipes I would love to do that too! I have some great ones. Oh and if anyone has a good biscuit recipe I would love to also have that, lol. I can’t make a good biscuit to save my life.
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