#Holiday meal planner printable how to#
#Holiday meal planner printable free#

Soup and sandwiches, breakfast for dinner, and quesadillas are all super easy ideas that aren’t time consuming. In anticipation of these additional holiday tasks I have throughout the week, I make a point of keeping the recipes for my regular weekly menu as simple as possible.

#Holiday meal planner printable free#

Dividing the tasks up into manageable portions so I’m not doing too much on any one day makes it a much more enjoyable and stress free process for me. I don’t want to get stuck staying up to 2:00 in the morning the night before trying to get everything done so I space the tasks out throughout the week prior. Once I have my recipes selected for the holiday meal I then sit down with my planner (below) and schedule the advance prep tasks in where I’m able to. (dough made in bread machine) Use a Holiday Menu Planner: Here are some suggestions for you:Ĭreamy Vegetable Casserole Oven-Roasted Asparagus Garlicky Green Beans Green & Yellow Beans with Mushrooms Almond Cranberry Squash Bake Bacon-Wrapped Green BeansĮven desserts can be made ahead of time and frozen: Most side dishes can be prepared a day or two before with only some last minute prep time needed. My husband’s fancy carving job as taught to him by my Executive Chef brother-in-law: The recipe looks really good and because you freeze the cooking juices along with the turkey I’m thinking it wouldn’t leave the turkey dry or tasting like leftovers (I’m hoping!). Just recently I came across this recipe for Make-Ahead Turkey & Gravy and will definitely be giving it a go this year. Both are really good recipes I’ve made many of times.

To cut down on last minute prep I also make use of my two slow cookers….one for Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes and one for Slow Cooked Old-Fashioned Dressing (I don’t cook my stuffing in the turkey due to my son’s gluten allergy). I pay particular attention to recipes that can be made ahead of time. This makes all the difference to pulling off a successful event. One week prior to any holiday meal that I’m hosting I sit down to do a little advance preparation. If I can do it, anyone can! Recipe Selection: My goal is to always have most of the work done ahead of time so that I can spend as much time as possible enjoying my guests and family on the big day. Let me walk you through how I plan and prep my holiday menu in advance while still managing to get dinner on the table all the days beforehand. Who doesn’t want a little less chaos in their lives? I’ve been using this method for a couple of years now and it is such a relief to have the menu preparations simplified and chaos free. It’s as simple as a printable (that I share below) and some really smart recipes that can be prepared in advanced.

#Holiday meal planner printable how to#

Today I’m going to talk about holiday menu planning and how to stay organized and on task. Staying organized over the holidays all comes down to keeping things simple and a little advanced planning.