I am not a person who comes up with good ideas very often. I am very good at STEALING good ideas from other people, but that is something different altogether. Last week I had a good idea and today I executed it. This is unusual enough of an occurrence to leave me feeling all good and glowing this afternoon.
We have a few visitors coming over Christmas time. My parents and my little sis will be here the middle of next week and will stay until the 26th. My in-laws and BIL will be here on the 27th until the 31st. First of all, isn't that wonderful that they are all coming to US? We are very spoiled indeed. Second of all, isn't that a lot of meals for me to plan for larger than normal groups? Yes, which brings me to my great idea.
I went on-line last week to this little place, and picked out 10 meals. These meals are plenty big enough for all these people, and only cost $22 a piece!!! Today I went and assembled them and so tonight my freezer is full of yummy meals all ready to go. All I need to buy for dinners are sides...if we even decide we want that. Here's my menu for my visitors:
Pan-Seared Pork Chops a-la-France (6 big thick pork chops with a saute of diced tomatoes, olives, white wine, and parsley)
Mexican Cornbread Pot Pie
Shrimp Alfredo on the Bayou (shrimp and sausage with cajun cream sauce served over pasta)
Zowie Pot Roast (your basic crock pot pot roast made with beer...yummo!)
Burgundy Beef (beef tips with mushrooms, bacon, pearl onions in a burgundy wine sauce served over egg noodles)
Winter Wonderland Chicken Chili (another crock pot meal with white beans, chicken and a sour cream sauce)
Fantasy Island Beef (another crock pot stew with beef, pineapple flavored Caribbean sauce, peppers, tomatoes, etc etc.)
Burritos Buenos (6 basic burritos...except totally stuffed to bursting)
Chicken Crepes (9 chicken and broccoli crepes with creamy chicken sauce)
Sports Widow Stew (another crock pot recipe with pork, sausage, veggies, sesame oil, etc etc.)
I know this menu is kind of void of vegetarian and chicken dishes. But the meals cost the same no matter what the ingredients, so I try to get the most for my money by getting beef and pork and seafood dishes. Mmmmm, the spices smelled so good as I assembled it this morning. I can't wait to pretend to be a good cook this Christmas!!! Is it really sad that I'm so proud of myself for doing this???
4 comments:
You inspired me to try Dream Dinners here in town-- on Friday I go and make 3 meals-- Tilapia, pork chops and chicken. We'll save one for Christmas Eve dinner. Yummo. I'm so tired of eating the same chili, tacos and pizza.
The year that I was pregnant with Katy and working full time, I went to a similar place on a monthly basis, so I pretended to be a good cook full time. Once the baby came and I quit working, we couldn't afford that anymore, but I LOVED it. Enjoy your yummy, ready-made dinners.
Yum, I can't wait to eat at your house!
I'm a little envious. A friend of mine had a "party" at one of those places and we all got to make a sample meal -- I love the idea. Unfortunately the ones by us, understandably, cannot guarantee (sp?) that anything is allergy safe. So no pre-prep meals for us. . . but I'm glad you did that -- it will make the holidays so much easier. My mom is freaking out about feeding the 8 of us (including them)who will be with them for a week after Christmas and can't take advantage of any of that stuff. Even carry-out is tricky with Harper!
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