Christmas dinner £1.50 per head for 11 people

kittenpea

Hi all I have decided to set a £1.50 per head 3 courses limit on christmas dinner this year and I have just been looking at receipes on the old style board I was thinking of making samon pate for starters with melda toast or red pepper and pumkin (or butternut squash) soup with crusty rolls and for afters say the skinny cheesecake on cook your self slim with lots of fruit. My problem may be fitting into the budget meat most will probably want beef or lamb or turkey of some description so can I get cheap cuts and make them look good on the plate? also veggies can I get fresh and freeze with the pate and the soup wanted to make these early and freeze is this possible and are there any mince pie reciepes can I freeze those i want it to be special but not dear as im not working at the moment and we only have one income coming in.

Lillibet_2

I think this is possible as long as you are up for a challange!

I buy my Xmas veggies as I see them in the reduced section, blanch & cool them straight away then freeze. On the day I roast them in the oven for about 40 mins in olive oil & garlic & herbs, they taste delish plus it means nothing on the hob to be tended to.

Re meat, instead of a roast how about something like a beef burgenion (sp?) that way you could use shin of beef which is very cheap & lovely & tender when slow casseroled. You can pad it out with (frozen) veggies in the casserole when it is about half done. You could even do it in a slow cooker if you have one. To make it luxurious add a dash of single cream just before serving.

If you really really must have a roast then don't Iceland do freezer-to-oven roasts at £5? I have never tried them so no idea what they taste like but you could get a couple. You might have to pad the meal out well with cheaper stuff like roast spuds & yorkshires & bread sauce to make the meat go far enough. Also carve & plate it up in the kitchen, don't let people help themselves, that way you get to control the portion sizes!

HTH & good luck;)

Waxy_Bean

In my house we have lots of veggies, roast tatties, yorkshire pudding (yes - even with Turkey) and HM stuffing balls (made with sausagemeat) to fill people up, and keep them from eating too much meat!!!!

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there

Lidl do a stuffed turkey joint...one i think is sage n onion, the other cranberry i think.... my mum has them during the year too.... as waxy bean mentions, you can soon pad the meat out with all the trimmings-which i prefer to the meat anyway ..
I always make the stuffing balls in advance -putting a couple of sausages in the mix makes them even better....sausages wrapped in streaky bacon.... again, you can pick up the bacon/sausages when they are whoopsed wrap the bacon round the sausage and freeze...

You can freeze your mince pies....making mincemeat is really easy and so is making xmas pudding and they are made in advance too

Are any of your guests helping out with the costs?? perhaps one could provide a pud, one some mince pies etc.....