Help Mum Get Through the Festivities 2024: Easy Meals for Kids & Dads

 

This cartoon sums up perfectly the dilemma for the Chief Christmas organiser/cook getting ready for the season.  Partners and young helpers can step into the breach.  

Getting the larders & freezers ready for Christmas is always a sweat, more so if family are clamouring for 'proper' meals.  

Courtesy of Pixaby; licensed for reuse 
under this Creative Commons Licence

This post focuses on meals which partners and younger helpers can get on the table without fuss.  They're all healthy and mostly wallet friendly.  More importantly, they are easy but satisfying, attractive and more-ish.

MAINS

Make Your Own Chow Mein Noodles: Easy: as good as the best Chinese take-away but healthier & cheaper

Make Your Own Pizzas, 3 Vegetarian Pizzas with carnivore options: Sausage & Grape, Mushroom & Cheese & Potato

Salmon Rice with Maple Garlic Sauce: healthy 1-pot sensation

One-pot Rice and Whole Chicken: gentle, comforting, flavoursome 

Sausages Braised in Grapes: super-simple, sensationally succulent & tasty 

Potato Frankfurter Salad: frugal treat for kid/ults; option for Vegan sausages

Simple Glazed Wings: super-easy, lower-fat (lots of wing recipes in the archives)

Giant Fish Fingers: easy, quick, wallet-friendly, low salt/preservatives

       

STIR FRIES

Beef & Courgette: lower-fat, no-carb option

Flash-fried Lamb with green beans & gravy: one of the most popular 2018 posts  

Turkey Drumstick with Cabbage & Corn: unusual but tasty combo


SIDES

The Easiest Cheese Muffins Ever? prepped in 5 minutes!! (egg-free).  Unbelievably light & beautifully flavoured; cholesterol-phobes should restrict portions. Dairy-free option.

Easy-peasy Homemade Bagels: 
prep takes minutes; no boil, 
no fat/yeast/sugar

Fluffy Instant Breakfast Biscuits: yeast & egg-free, wallet-friendly.  Leftover morph into tender baps.

Freeze Ahead kid/ult fancy sandwiches 

DESSERTS

Cherry Garcia Ice Cream (Vegan) the nicest, tastiest, healthiest ice cream; no cream - just bananas.

Kid's Delight ChocoMint 'Poke' Cake - deliriously delicious wonder cake with a novel use of supermarket custard; so easy the kids can make it; so glorious it'll be gone in a flash

PAST FAVOURITES

Cheats' Tantalising Tortilla Espagnol: the one occasion when chips from the chippie are encouraged, in a fabulous Spanish dinner omelette


Easy Rich Tomato Soup (2015): cooks itself; stunning flavour, you'll never go back to tinned 

Kids' Delight Egg & Toast Breakfasts: (2017) Easy & Prep Ahead; serve these for supper, too, with beans, tomatoes, mushrooms and conventional or turkey bacon 

Almost Instant Vegetable Noodle Soup (2017) with carnivore & vegan options - just soak Chinese noodles 5 min in boiling water

Recipes from Christmases past on NavBar: How to...  

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These recipes  have been developed or adapted by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises.  They may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.

FESTIVE CANAPES/STARTERS From the 67GOINGON50 ARCHIVE: many easy, low-fat &wallet-friendly

Delicious little bites are always welcome at festival gatherings and these canapes from the 67goingon50 Archive are pretty as well as tempting.

Two sub-sections, Simple Easy Canapes and Popular Blasts from the Early Years, follow at the bottom of the page

The Blogger's Favourites:

Luxury Double Smoked Salmon Canapes

Mini Sausage & Onion Yorkshires (vegetarian with carnivore opt)

Lamb & Tahini Bites, lower-fat, easy 

Moutabel: Carrot, Cashew & Date Pate
 extraordinary caprivating Middle Eastern dip 

Festive Lower-fat Sausage Palmiers
Something a little different; fruity, gorgeous, no soggy bits and healthier than the usual sausage rolls! Vegetarian, poultry option.  Option for dairy-free

Skinnier Spinach Pate  Delicious and unusual - in a fabulous way - meat-free pate. Emerald green mousse, wonderfully savoury, delights & impresses.  Make ahead. 

Skinnier Liver Pate, Guilt-free. Low-fat & cholesterol but BIG flavour.  

Perfect as a first course or on the festive buffet table. No-dairy option.

Beef Mini-Koftas: prep ahead; spicy, herby & meaty mini-koftas 
with exotic tahini sauce delights crowds

 Caponata, Sicilian Aubergine Dip - sweet, sour & sassy 

family-friendly dip doesn't need an oven; easy; 

low-cal; older kids will love to make themselves

SIMPLE Easy Canapes 

• Parmesan Crisps. Drop tablespoons of freshly grated parmesan on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper or a silicone mat, leaving a bit of room in between; level with clean fingers; bake at 180c/350f 7-10 mins. Rest a minute then carefully lift with a metal fish slice; place on cooling rack.  Broken ones will be fine served uin a small glass but not crumbs. 
• Cucumber & spiced sausage.  Slice cucumber 1/4in/1/2 cm thick; top with similar-sized slices of good salami or Polish sausage like kielbasa.  Scone cutters will make evenly shaped sausage slices.  

• French Bread Crispbreads: easy-peasy, frugal, VEGAN. Thinly slice French bread (1/4in/1cm); lightly spray with olive oil both sides; salt lightly; bake at 180c/350f  7-10 mins or until lightly golden, turning once.  (watch they don't burn).  Cool on a wire rack.  A good vehicle for cheese or smoked salmon on a slice of lettuce (anchor both with a dab of mayo) or pate or vegetarian dips.  Assemble at last minute to retain crispness.

• Parma ham Sticks. Roll strips of parma/serrano ham or pastrami around breadsticks or thin mango wedges or drained peach slices. (Fruit increases the healthy quotient.)

• Date & Walnut Yummies.  VEGAN opt.  An Indulgence.  Fresh Medjool dates are at their best at this time of year; slit tops, add cream cheese & top with (a) a dab of set honey or (b) a walnut half or (c) coarsely chopped walnuts 

• Baby tomato & mozzarella balls.  VEGAN. Alternate baby tomatoes & mozzarella on cocktail sticks.  Serve with a pesto dip.  

• Stuffed New Potatoes.  VEGAN opt.  Cook new or small potatoes until  slightly underdone; a sharp knife inserted into the centre should meet a little resistance (they keep cooking after being drained).  Take a thin slice off the bottom of cooled potatoes to keep them upright.  Use a tiny melon baller or sharp knife to make a depression in the top, stuff with dairy/plant sour cream or thick yoghurt; sprinkle with (a) chives or (b) strips of offcuts of smoked salmon or (c) salmon caviar 

Popular Blasts from the Early Years:

Artichoke & Spinach Dip, hot show-stopping dip served in a crusty bread bowl

Chive & Onion Dip - zingy low-cal dip made with cottage cheese

Crunchy 'Chicken' Gougons: VEGAN, kid/ults love them, easy, prep ahead, optional boozy sauce

Skinnier sausages with honey(maple syrup) & mustard: anyone need to know more?

Cheese & Chive crackers: You've never tasted a cheese cracker until you've tasted homemade; melt-in-the-mouth & light yet explosively tasty.  

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This recipe has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.

SOUP FOR THE FESTIVE SEASON from the 67 Archive: luxury & frugal

Celeriac & Apple Potage : (Blogger's No.1 fav of all time) Silky, delicate, heavenly, dairy-free 

Veloute of Smoked Haddock: (No. 2 favourite) special occasional indulgence; creamy with a little dairy (with option for dairy-free) rich thick & satisfying

 Silky Mushroom & Sherry Potage, sophisticated, no cream or potato; Vegetarian and kids' options 

 

Frugal: 

White Bean Soup, VEGAN, Dairy Free with Veggie Bacon Bits; lovely!

Frugal but Fabulous Spinach, White Bean & Rice Potage VEGAN strikingly delicious,  quick & substantial

Egg-Flower Pea Soup

Kids adore this vegetarian soup with vegan option; low-fat/cholesterol/salt 

These recipes has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.   

FESTIVE FREEZER COOKIES from the 67GOINGON50 ARCHIVE

A mixture of these cookies will look lovely on a platter or boxed up as festive  gifts.

But even if the Christmas budget is tight, just one recipe will provide an unforgettable delightful treat.

Two of the recipes are freezer cookies; the other is melt-in-the-mouth eat-me-now: 

Pfeffernusse, make ahead, freezes well, makes 100
Delightful German Christmas cookies: chocolate with nuts

Christmas Swirl Freezer Biscuits: delightful to look at; wonderful to eat
Easier to put together than you think

Spiced Festive Crescents, giant with half size option
Oh so celestial: richly textured; melt-in-the-mouth

 

Please leave a Comment in the box below

These recipes have been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.