How to have a frugal Christmas – Christmas Dinner….

The Frugal Family Christmas Day Menu

Starter

Figs with Parma Ham

Main Course

Turkey Breast and Slow Cooker Gammon served with Yorkshire Puddings,

Roast Potatoes, Mashed Potatoes, Honey Roasted Parsnips, Carrots, Broccoli and Pigs in Blankets.

Dessert

Nutella Mousse

What do you think of our Christmas Day menu then?

We don’t tend to go over the top with our Christmas dinner because to me, when it comes down to it, it’s just a glorified Sunday dinner and I’d much rather spend time with my family on Christmas Day than be running in and out of the kitchen doing a big all out dinner.  I try to balance our menu with things that can be prepared in advance and things that can be bought ready made so there really is minimal work to be done on the day itself.

Starter

Figs and Parma Ham

8 Figs – 2 packs for £3.00

Parma Ham – £2.00

Squeeze of Honey

Our starter this year is going to be Figs with Parma Ham as this is something we’ve just discovered that we can all enjoy – even the fussiest eater in the house, Master Frugal will have a little try.  Mine is a really simple version of the dish but if you Google figs and Parma Ham you’ll be spoilt for choice with both hot and cold versions of this.

The figs I used for this were a little over-ripe as I bought them and left them for a few days before I used them which meant although they still tasted lovely, they were a little mushy.  I’m going to buy my Christmas Day figs as close to the big day as possible – dare I leave it until Christmas Eve?  I really don’t fancy a fig hunt when I should be at home watching Christmas movies in my pyjamas….  I think I’ll have a bag of prawns in my freezer on standby so I can make prawn cocktail if all else fails

• Prepare the figs by cutting a cross in the top of each one to open it up a little.
• Arrange the figs on a large serving plate leaving a little space between each one.
• Wind the slices of Parma ham around the figs.
• Drizzle with a little honey and pop in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

Starter – £5.00

Main Course

Christmas Dinner

Frozen Turkey Breast Joint – £5.00

Unsmoked Gammon Joint – £3.64

Ready prepared chilled Honey Roast Parsnips – £1.79

Carrots – £1.00

Broccoli – £1.00

Ready prepared mash – £1.00

Ready prepared Pigs in Blankets – £2

Roast Potatoes – £1.00

Yorkshire Puddings – £1.00

(I completely forgot to add the carrots and broccoli before I took the picture – that’s what happens when I have more than one pan on the go at once)

• I cook the gammon in the slow cooker on Christmas Morning – all I do is add a cup of water to the slow cooker and then cook the joint on low for about five to six hours although you could cook it on Christmas Eve if you need it to be ready for an earlier lunch than we have.
• We don’t have a huge turkey as we’re not fans of all the leftovers so we just buy a small turkey breast joint that just needs to be put in the oven and cooked from frozen a couple of hours before dinner.
• Carrots and brocolli are just peeled, sliced and boiled in salted water.
• Roast potatoes are par boiled and I pour olive oil on them and finish them off in the oven at a high temperature.
• Ready prepared mash, parsnips and pigs in blankets speak for themselves.
• Yorkshire Puddings are home-made by Mr Frugal but we do sometimes cheat with Aunt Bessie at Christmas.

Main Course – £17.43

Dessert

Nutella Mousse

170g Total Greek Yoghurt – 79p

250g Nutella – £1.89

1 Milky Bar – 50p

I tend to add a little (or a lot) of Baileys to the mix for a more grown up version

Dessert – £3.18

Total Cost of our frugal Christmas Dinner – £25.61

We had a trial run last week (with crackers and everything) for Mr Frugal’s birthday as Tesco asked us to see if we could do a full three course Christmas Dinner with all the trimmings for under £40 and I think we did quite well.  In fact, I know we could have done it cheaper with some extra tweaking (like a more budget concious starter) and if I’d prepared more things myself but like I said before, Christmas is about spending time with your family so why not cut yourself some slack on Christmas Day and make life as simple as possible for yourself.

I’d love to know what’s on your Christmas menu if you’re happy to share….

Disclosure: Tesco paid for my Christmas Dinner shop so I could share my menu plan with you.  There’s also a selection of other lovely blogger’s Christmas menu’s on the Tesco blog here and you can find the winning one from the lovely Michelle over at Utterly Scrummy.