For various reasons, that I won't get into to try and keep this short, we host a Christmas breakfast (every year) and a Christmas dinner (every other year). In the past we have made a big breakfast with eggs, bacon, sausage, goetta (a Cincinnati thing if you aren't familiar with it), potatoes, fruit, biscuits, muffins, etc. for about 12-15 people. Then we would start on a traditional Christmas dinner of turkey, potatoes, dressing, green bean casserole, cranberry salad, rolls, etc. for about 14-18 people. Needless to say it is a lot of work and my husband and I don't have as much time to visit as we would like. I am looking for ideas to make this easier and allow us more time to socialize. I was kind of thinking about a breakfast casserole and fruit for breakfast and a beef stew (crockpot) for dinner. Do you have any other ideas or suggestions? Do you have a favorite recipe to share?
Thanks!
p.s. Our guests do usually offer to bring something and we do take them up on that, but usually they bring drinks, appetizers, desserts, etc, occasionally I will ask for them to bring a side dish of whatever.
Thanks for all of the wonderful ideas! This year we have decided to do a breakfast casserole and fruit for breakfast and lasagna and salad for dinner. I will keep your other suggestions in mind for the next time. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!
This is one of the most fantastic things I have ever made. It's a breakfast casserole that you do the night before. We actually had it for dinner with sausage & bacon. Yumm-o!!
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Overnight-Blueberry-French-T...
You can also a lasagna for dinner make a head and throw in the oven. Have others bring salad and bread. For breakfast you can also make a few quiches and muffins and freeze them and just warm in the am. Have a good holiday.
Breakfast, easy to do and can be before hand. Sausage Balls : 1 pound ground sausage,2 cups bisquick,1 egg,2 cups cheese. Mix together in large bowl with hands or masher. roll into small balls place on cookie sheet bake 15 mins or longer if needed at 350.
Fruit,cheese and meat platter with rolls, suprisingly it makes for a great breakfast and if anyone wants eggs they can cook some up quickly. When I lived in Germany fruit,meat and cheese were usually on the menu at places I stayed. Looked like lunch time for breakfast.
Home made doughnuts: "http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/Plain-Cake-Doughnuts/Detail...;
Dinner: I do pulled porkin crock pot. Let me tell ya first, negate the water and use rootbeer, orange juice, lemon/lime juice garlic,salt , pepper and any other seasonings such as BBQ sauce to make it lively. , it's always yummy and just add some veggies for the sides. Dont forget some buns some people like theirs like sandwiches. KC masterpiece Sweet and Tangy BBQ sause is amazing on pulled pork. If you have Bronco Bob's raspberry Chipotle sauce in you stores us it on pork or pour over cream cheese blocks for nice appetizer with crackers. Goes well with Red Wine ;)
Hope this gives ya some ideas to lessen the load ;)
We've always had Chicken Divan on Christmas. It's a really easy casserole you can make ahead of time and refrigerate until it's time to pop it in the oven.
I don't know exact measurements because I haven't used a recipe in years...don't even know if I ever had one, to tell the truth, lol!
1. ~6 chicken breasts, boiled and cut into bite sized pieces.
2. mix in equal parts cream of chicken soup and mayo (or miracle whip if you prefer, if making two, I usually do one of each so everybody's happy)
3. add curry powder to taste (I think about 1-1.5 teaspoons?)
4. add frozen broccoli (about a small bag)
5. put mixture in greased casserole dish.
6. top with shredded cheddar cheese
7. Top with crushed Wheat Ritz crackers (or whatever is your preferred crumb topping)
8. Drizzle melted butter on top
(refrigerate)
9. bake 40-60 min, until crumb topping is golden brown.
cool and serve with rolls/bread
For breakfast...sorry, I've got nothing :( we never have people over and usually have cinnamon rolls
Baked French Toast (you can find lots of recipes for it on Allrecipes.com) and quiche (both of which can be made ahead) with fruit salad for breakfast. Chicken pot pie (I do one with veggies and potatoes all in the same dish, so no side dish needed! again, check out Allrecipes.com) and salad for dinner. It is a lot for you to do - I feel your pain lol - I do Christmas Eve dinner and then Christmas day brunch every year for 15 -20 people :) I use all paper plates and utensils, and get appetizers for the dinner from Trader Joe's. I agree, I would rather spend time with my family than in the kitchen at the holidays!
Our BREAKFAST is a breakfast casserole:
In a large baking dish lay down approx 6 pieces of bread. In a skillet prepare sausage or bacon (i chop the bacon before frying - so much easier). Prepare 12 - 14 eggs - scrambled w/ milk added.
Pour the eggs mixture over the bread - sprinkle the sausage or bacon over the top - sprinkle cheese (i use co-jack) over the top. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour. You can get about 12 peices out of this.
DINNER:
Make hamburger patties and cook them to about 90% complete. Throw them into a crock pot with some jar brown gravy (I use Heinz) and let them simmer. Add some premade mashed potatos or rice and a greenbean casserole. Make sure you have rolls or buns on there incase someone wants a sandwich. I have also saute'd some onions to put into the crock pot for added flavor.
Good Luck and Merry Christmas!
I think a fun and easy breakfast would be Belgian waffles. Maybe if you have a waffle baker or can borrow one. Then get all the fixings for it. (You can search Belgian waffle topping ideas)
For dinner, I love the lasagna idea. You could even do garlic bread with it.
I have a coworker that makes a big thing of fililng for breakfast burritos. That is something you could make ahead of time, or she even makes the full burritos and freezes them, either would allow you to visit, and they can do a burrito bar.
I love clam chowder for Christmas Eve. You could do this for dinner, and again, make ahead. It actually tastes better the next day.
Hi! I already made a froze my lasagna for Christmas Eve - you could do that for Christmas day but I know that's not what your family is used to. If nothing else, you can make a lot the day before and warm it up (potatoes) or at least assemble the day before (stuffing, green beans). Fruit salad would probably even improve after spending a day mixed together in the fridge. If you are making hash browns, you could cook the potatoes once ahead of time then cut up and brown on Christmas morning.
We like to have strata on Christmas morning - you can google lots of recipes. It's a casserole of eggs, bread, cheese, sausage, veggies, etc. or you can make a sweet version with raisin bread and cream cheese. Baked French toast is awesome. Trader Joe's does have great appetizers and sides if you don't mind not having everything homemade.
I agree with Melissa J on the Breakfast Casserole...I have done that for a few years in a row for the family staying at our house and there were NEVER leftovers! Also last year I make homemade Monkey Bread. I pre-maid it the night before and just popped it in the oven in the morning. We have also done breakfast tacos buffet style
Get some deli sliced roast beef and put it in the crockpot with beef brothand some sauteed thinly sliced onions and mushrooms/or peppers if you like . Heat through and serve on crusty rolls with grated mozzarella cheese if you wish.
Have a nice salad on the side or roasted potatoes or both, for a hearty Christmas dinner.
There are plenty of egg casseroles that are easy to prepare the day before and bake on Christms morning....serve with fruit and maybe some sweet rolls or coffee cake etc. and you should be good to go....I like goetta too but give yourself a break so you can enjoy the day.
I make sausage gravy and biscuits and eggs for those that want them, the guests clean up afterward and this year I've decided to make lasagna for dinner instead of 'traditional' dinner. I figured I would do a spinach lasagna, 2 'regular' lasagnas w/no ricotta/cottage, and a vege lasagna.
We've done roast and ham too. Most people offer to bring something, so I designate a side dish to each one that asks... That helps a TON!
my dad makes a real big dinner and breakfast every yr. he prepares a lot of things (like the stuffing) the day before or even a week before. like we have biscuits and sausage gravy as part of breakfast and he makes and freezes the gravy a week a head of time. also he makes quiches for breakfast that are relativly easy but look really impressive (he makes christmas trees and bells on top with red and green peppers) I dont have the recipe but you may be able to find this online..its a homemade cheese danish made from pilsbury cresent rolls dough
What about chicken & noodles? They are YUMMY and can cook in the stock pot all day. Love it! :)
