Need Christmas Main Meat and Sides That Are Not a Repeat of Thanksgiving Dinner

Have you thought about duck or goose. I cooked goose one year and it was really very good. One big goose can go a very long way

I have put together some wonderful Christmas party menu ideas. My main dish is a Ham which I see you don't want so why not try something unique and simple, yet decadent but should not cost an arm and a leg. Easy Lobster Paella. I served this for family and they just raved over it! Plus it was simple to prepare!

Christmas Menu Ideas
http://www.ittakesavillagedallas.com/It_takes_a_village/M...

Easy Lobster Paella
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/easy-lobste...

Happy Holidays!
VillageMom

Pulled pork, cant go wrong with it. Use rootbeer, orange juice, lemon/lime juice, salt , pepper, any other seasonings to soak and roast in crockpot or oven. I yet to have a complainer about my pulled pork. Oh but add the BBQ for the side.

You aren't going to make everyone happy!

You could do a variation on "surf and turf" which is classic and easy. I would do a little bit of lots of things and do a buffet!
Options for "surf":
- Large shrimp boiled or grilled
- lobster tails
- scallops
- steamed muscles in white wine sauce
- clams
Options for turf:
- grilled flank steak or London Broil (both cheap cuts, so marinade overnight)
- chicken skewers with varied dipping sauces
- pork loin (cheap and really delicious with fresh rosemary and salt)
- grilled lamb chops
Sides:
- corn on the cob
- oven roasted potatoes
- green beans

Beef tenderloin for sure. I like these MUCH better than Prime Rib. Costcos are amazing and will cost about $80 for a big one. This goes wonderful with twice baked potatoes which you can make ahead. Do an ice house salad (iceburg wedge with blue cheese dressing/bacon) and green beans. This is my go to meal for holidays.

i make a veal dish.. but use chicken... make chicken marsala or chicken francaise.. its easy.. look up on allrecipes.com everyone mostly likes chicken.. then you can make shrimp scampi as a side dish... and veggies or potatoes go with the chicken.. twice baked potatoes are really nice.. you can bake the day before... let cool... cut potatoe open, scoop out insides.. put in big bowl.. i mix with some butter, sour cream a 1/4 cup milk.. this is for 10 potatoes.. which makes 20 halves... i then add (buy some powder veggie soup mix) i add one tablespoon of that, a little pepper.. a little salt... and then i add some shredded cheese(pre packaged... like cheddar or taco mix... or italian mix.. then mix really good... put back in shells.. the next day.. you put them on cookie sheet... and cook at 350 or 375 for about 20 minutes or so.. until hot.. really good..

We did clam chowder one year, in a bread bowl. It was actually leftovers from xmas eve, and we were too lazy to do the rest! :) It was great though, and we didn't need sides.

We do a non traditional Christmas dinner at my house. I don't want to spend my entire Christmas day in the kitchen- I want to hang out with my family.Plus after Thanksgiving dinner nobody is in the mood for a huge dinner. So we do ribs. I throw them in the crock pot with some homemade BBQ sauce (made a couple of days before) and some greens on the stove and then mac and cheese in the oven (assembled the day before) along with a sweet potato/ cranberry casserole (also assembled the day before). Just before everything is done I whip up some Jiffy cornbread and we are good to go. My family LOVES ribs and it's easy and yummy and less clean up afterward.

A kid friendly option is baked mastaciolli (spelling) but you get the mastaciolli noodles and cook them, add spaghetti sauce (sausage if the kids are not too picky) and mozzarella cheese on top bake for 30 @350 and DONE!
Adults a Beef stew might not be a bad idea ... stew meet is often found for a good deal at Sams/Costco type places and really a bag or two of potatoes, carrots, onions not too much ... add some fresh veggie sides, steamed broccoli, cabbage salad (1 head of green 1/2 of red shredded, add 'Good Seasons' packaged dressing follow instructions some Seasoned Pepper and Seasoned Salt), green salad, corn (kids) and garlic bread and rolls all for about 300 bucks depending on how you shop it!
Or a hearty home made Chili ... mmmmmmm.

We usually will have a ham and some pasta and some other misc side items. That seems to go well.

Oops - Sorry, I just saw that you had ham for Thanksgiving :(

We do our main dinner on Christmas Eve and it's traditional; but we do a non-traditional Christmas day. I make 2 - 3 different kinds of chili (in the crockpots) and we buy local tamales - then everybody just munches on those all day long.

I second the beef tenderloin from Costo. we did it last year and plan to do it again this year.

My mom is English. On christmas we always have a nice roast beef andyourkshire pudding. Super yummy! Hurry up christmas!!

Brisket is always a favorite in our home. Rather than mashed potatos, do some roasted ones, with onions and mushrooms in olive oil and garlic. A cheddar beer bread goes great with this meal, or any bread you like.

My mom makes a dish called "Company Chicken" for Christmas. It is super easy and feeds many, on top of being delicious! I don't have the exact measurements on me, but to sum it up...

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts- however many you need. You line the pan with dried ham ( it's in a jar at my local store) and wrap the chicken in turkey bacon. The sauce consists of cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup,cream cheese and sour cream. Pour over the chicken and bake for 3 hours. She serves it with Uncle Ben's wild rice, green bean almondine and a cranberry salad. And of course, your favorite roll!! Let me know if you want the exact measurements!

We do turkey for Thanksgiving and ham for Christmas, since you did both for Thansgiving my idea is not very helpful. But, I LOVE ham so this is my Christmas meal: Ham, Dressing (cause I love that too), Potatoe Salad, Augratin Potatoes, and at least one vegetable. I usually also do mashed potatoes because my kids aren't fond of Augratin.

I make meat lasagnas (ground beef and sausage), pork roasts (so easy to make) a big salad and two veggies. Plus bread, cranberries and appetizers (shrimp, hot apps and cheese).

This year I am going to do a zucchini casserole - layers of zucchini, shredded mozzarella (or mixed shreadded Italian) cheese and breadcrumbs. Just layer the bottom of the dish with zucchini, add mozz cheese and bread crumbs (just sprinkle generously) then zucchini/cheese and breadcrumbs and a final layer of zucchini with a sprinkle of parm cheese. So easy.

We are having roast beef and swedish meatballs cooked by my loving husband. YUM, I can't wait. Where is that gosh darn fast forward button? ;-)

i always do turkey thanksgiving and ham for christmas

I planned to suggest prime rib.....

How about a filet mignon roast with demi glace sauce? FIlet is pretty pricey as well, especially if you get the prime cuts from a good butcher.

So poultry is out? We did cornish hens a couple times and they were very good.

We usually do steaks. Sometimes my mom makes some chicken strips and we have sandwiches but she cooks a huge breakfast.

My parents always roast 2 ducks and 2 chickens for Christmas dinner, along with spiced red cabbage, noodles, and many of the sides you would find at Thanksgiving (cranberries, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes). My mother-in-law comes from an Italian family, so Christmas dinner is always her famous lasagna with Italian sausage AND meatballs on the side along with extra sauce -- salad, vegetable, garlic bread. Both wonderful meals!

We always do beef for Christmas. But I understand - a rib roast for 20 is very pricey. My mom and MIL always used to offer to help with the cost when they were yougner and the family gathering was larger.

What about a regular roast beef? If seasoned and cooked properly a top round roast is just delicious. And the nice thing is that potates can be baked (less work) and you can even roast some veggies in with the roast in the pan for the last hour in the oven - carrots, onions, turnips, etc. If one of yours or your hsband's realtives ask if they can bring something ask if they really want to - would they bring shrimp? You can serve shrimp cocktail as the appetizer - be sure to credit the one who brought it.

We try to do simple for Christmas since we just got past the food orgy of Thanksgiving - and there's presents for Christmas too. Enjoy!

You could do a lasagna or enchiladas. It is super easy - serve a salad on the side.

This year for our big family get together, I talked them into just doing a bunch of appetizers and desserts. We always fill up on the appetizers anyways, and run out of room to actually eat a meal. I think it will go well! You might consider doing something like that too!

What about preparing two options? I love the buffet idea below but also know it would require a lot of work. Maybe select a couple from that great list. That way, people can choose. You could also just do one meat and then offer a non-traditional choice like spaghetti with homemade spaghetti sauce (which you could prepare in advance and just reheat Christmas day).

We have a long standing tradition of a buffet style Christmas eve get together...we have a large crock pot of bbq meatballs, we have trays of sliced salami and other cold cuts, cheeses, crackers and rolls. We have a large 13x9 casserole dish of green rice ( it is yummy, its chopped broccoli, white rice, a can of cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup and shredded cheddar mixed together, I am sure if you google green rice you can find a recipe!) we do cut up veggies and dips and jello salads. It is a great way to do pot luck too.
We have also done Lasagna and manicotti and salad and bread sticks instead of a traditional fare.

Growing up we always had fondue for Christmas dinner. We would have things like meatballs, chicken wings, lil smokies, sliced ham, etc for meat and all kinds of breads and vegetables. Before the fondue we would have plenty of appetizers. It doesn't sound super filling but for us it was.
As we got older we did a buffet style "make your own tacos/burritos" dinner. Simple, easy, and you can prepare a lot of it the day before (chopping the vegetables).