What to make for Christmas Dinner?

[snoopy5386]

This year will be the first year that we will not be traveling on Christmas Day. DH, DD and I will be having Christmas Dinner here and then leaving to visit family on the 26th. I want to make something that will either have no leftovers or leftovers I can just pop in the freezer since we'll be leaving for a week the day after Christmas. I'm going to do fondue for dessert but having trouble coming up with something yummy, fun and special for dinner and also needs to please the palate of a 3 yo. Any ideas?
The only thing I can come up with is homemade mac and cheese.

 

[mebbradley]

I don't know if your three-year old likes ham or chicken?

When I was growing up, for Christmas Dinner we always had chicken salad or ham because we had a huge dinner Christmas eve with my dad's side and had a huge dinner the day after. and my mom never wanted to be in the kitchen other than for our breakfast.

not sure if that helps at all!

 

[scrapquitler]

How about lasagna, salad and garlic bread?

 

[thegreggersmom]

Why not do all fondue since you are doing it for dessert? ANYTHING tastes good when it's dipped in cheese so maybe some meat/veggie and bread chunks!

 

[laughinplace199]

We host Christmas Eve at our house every year and I always have ham. It freezes easily so there's no issue with leftovers.

 

[Mathfailure]

We travel after dinner on Christmas to our relatives so I do this every year.

We have a normal breakfast, maybe if we can get the children to eat! And I serve shrimp scampi over spaghetti with salad, and broccoli. It is all eaten, as I know the amount we would use, and no freezing no waste.

Now, your family might not eat this, but there must be a meal that you know would be eaten with no leftovers. Mac and cheese if that is a favorite, could become a tradition! More normal traditional foods will probably be eaten elsewhere, so have fun at home.

One warning, we travel on Christmas Day a lot, and have noticed that there are FEW places open even to eat. Bring a lunch in the car, not just snack food, if you are traveling on the 25th. We learned this the hard way.

 

[Bren's Mom]

You can do a beef roast with twice baked potatoes and a veggie or veggie casserole. And maybe shrimp cocktail to start. Just defrost the exact # of shrimp you will need...everything else will easily freeze.

 

[Ericandus]

What about breakfast?? Kids love it, and usually no leftovers! Pancakes, eggs, sausage or bacon, fruit salad. You could even do a breakfast casserole and make it ahead of time! We always have a big brunch on Christmas day after the frenzy of presents. It is something that everyone loves!

 

[bas71873]

We did steak, baked potato & salad last year. My parents came to Louisiana and spent the week leading up to Cmas with us and left on the 26th, so I didn't want a ton of leftovers from a ham or turkey, so we grilled steaks for Cmas. It was nice, super easy and very little clean up. We did the ham early in the week so we did have that for sandwiches, etc.

BTW, my now 6 year old, LOVES steak. If we go out, that's what she orders

 

[a1tinkfans]

How about lasagna, salad and garlic bread?

YUMMY, freezes well...nice treat when you get back!

 

[MSSANDRA]

We do all finger foods; wings, nachos, potato skins, shrimp etc.

christmas cookies or fudge.

 

[ktlm]

Reservations? (Actually, due to some fairly last minute circumstances in our Christmas travels to the in-laws, we wound up having to scrounge for a place to eat Christmas dinner a few years back. We found a Christmas buffet at a really nice and beautifully decorated hotel. We'd never actually eaten Christmas dinner out before, and I wasn't really thrilled with the prospect. It was Great!!!!!).