As you plan your Christmas food, you order the turkey, goose or beef,? ham and a pork pie. Plan a nut roast for the vegetarians, cheese and crackers, ice cream, puddings, plenty of fruit and chocolate. The list gets longer and the cupboards start to fill.
You are busy ensuring you have enough for your guests ? the invited ones and the unexpected ones Sometimes it is difficult to gauge just how much you will need when you have guests, when you are not used to catering for many people. And the last thing you want to do is run out of food.
However when you get to the other side of Christmas you may realise you still have a lot of food in the fridge. Letting food go to waste is heartbreaking, not to mention hard on the wallet. When faced with leftover meat and vegetables, that may be looking past its best, it can be hard to visualise what to do with it – so here are a few suggestions from Penny’s Recipes that you can have ready. That way you don’t have to face avoid endless turkey sandwiches and turkey curry ?? or worse throwing food away.
Chicken / Turkey Risotto
This is a delicious way to use up some meat and you can chuck in some leftover vegetables as well . It is best made with risotto (arborio) rice so if you think this could be useful, add it to your shopping list before Christmas. Then use what you have to make up a lovely meal. Feel free to vary the ingredients to adapt to what you have left over.
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, peeled and sliced
1 pepper (green or red), de-seeded and diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
300g / 10oz arborio rice
About 300g /10 oz cooked chicken/turkey/beef/goose chopped into small pieces
100g / 3 oz frozen peas/ cooked vegetables/mushrooms
750ml / 1 1/4 pints stock (vegetable or chicken)
75g / 2 1/2 ozs hard Italian cheese (or similar), grated
Freshly ground black pepper
Heat the oil in a large, heavy frying pan or saucepan
Add the onion and cook for 3-4 minutes
Add the pepper, garlic and cook for a further 4 minutes, stirring frequently
Add the rice, stir and cook for a minute or two
Pour in about one quarter of the stock
Bring to the boil, turn the heat down and simmer gently until most of the stock is absorbed
Add the meat
Add about one third of the remaining stock, stir, bring to boil and simmer gently
Once most of the liquid is absorbed, add most of the remaining stock
Add the peas or other vegetables and stir
Bring back to simmering
Taste the rice ? when done it will be soft with a little bite
Add more stock if further cooking is required,
When cooked, stir in the grated Parmesan cheese
Season with salt and pepper
1. Decide on your budget
2. Make a menu plan for the festive season
3. Plan some tasty budget meals that people love as well as more festive fayre
4. Make a shopping list
5. Cost out your shopping using your local supermarket website ? if it blows your budget, plan again
6. Check out the comparative cost of vegetables and eggs at your local market or greengrocer
7. Try baking your own cakes, mince pies and biscuits ? have a fun baking day with friends
8. Ask each guest to bring some specific food or drink ? a dessert, or a starter – they will probably want to bring something and glad to know it is something you need.
9. Don’t assume large packets are always relatively cheaper than two small packets, check
10. Don’t always buy the biggest – consider buying a Turkey breast rather than a whole turkey
11. Ensure you have containers and freezer bags to put leftovers in for the fridge or freezer
12. Have some standby dry ingredients, such as pasta and rice, to make a last minute meal for the unexpected
Written by Gemma on December 23rd, 2011
Filed Under Budgeting | Trackback | Leave a Comment
Posted in: 
0 comments:
Post a Comment