Perhaps your family is re-thinking their Christmas dinner plans this year. You may be traveling, you may be eating a meal at several family’s homes, or you simply want to cut costs this year by eliminating a big sit-down dinner. Planning to share a Christmas brunch may suit your plans this year for any or all of those reasons.
When your budget is part of your decision. consider how expensive a fancy sit down meal tends to be. You’ll have a large main course, typically a big piece of meat or poultry. Then you have all the side dishes to go along with that, and we can’t forget the desserts. Of course, what’s a nice cup of coffee without some wonderful fudge and candy. You’ll also might serve beverages that cost more, like mixed drinks and wine. Evening meals just seem to cost more.
If your family needs to trim the Christmas budget, travel to more than one household for dinner, or leave early in the day for another location, celebrating together with a brunch instead of dinner may help solve your dilemma. Let’s take a look at how we can host a brunch that is not only convenient, but fun, frugal, and delicious.
Brunch Casserole – Probably one of the most familiar and popular dishes for brunch, there are countless recipes from which to choose. Most begin with some sort of potato like hash browns, or bread. To that you add your layers of anything like sausage, ham, green pepper, cheese, and egg. This assemblage is refrigerated overnight, then baked in the morning and served hot. You can make this as simple or as complicated as you choose.
Skillet Dish – If you’ve ever had a Frittata then you know what a skillet meal is like. For brunch, you want to make the Frittata using a variety of breakfast-like foods. Starting with some hash browns or rice, you would fry that up with whatever sausage or ham you like, maybe some vegetables, then pour the egg over and let it set up. Cover it with some shredded cheddar cheese and you have a complete meal in a skillet.
Muffin Tin Meal – Picture mini pot pies full of your favorite breakfast foods. You can start with some simple biscuits in a tube, roll them out flat, and line the muffin tin just like a pie pan. Then fill with sausage, a little hash browns, and crack an egg on top. Sprinkle some shredded cheese on top and pop them in the oven until they are nice and golden brown and the egg is done. Or you can make up a batch of muffin mix and throw in some ham bits, or bacon, and cheese and turn a regular muffin into a whole meal.
Omelets – This item on your menu won’t work for you if you don’t want to cook while you have guests in your house. If your kitchen is far removed from the area where your family and friends will be mingling, you probably wouldn’t want to prepare omelets. However, if your house is set up with an open kitchen dining room area where you’ll be gathering right around the cooking area, then you may find this fun. Be sure to get all your prep work done well in advance so that you are ready. Wash and chop all the veggies you are using in the omelets and get the assembly line well organized so you don’t miss a beat.
Prepare a variety of food and fill your brunch buffet with lots of choices and your guests won’t be disappointed. Add a tray of fresh fruit, some coffee, tea, milk, and juice, and your brunch is complete. Don’t forget a simple assortment of cookies to finish off the meal. No fancy pies, cakes, or candy for brunch. Some of your guests could be on their way to another meal!
With just a few ideas for a simple brunch menu, you can put together a nice meal for Christmas. It’s all about spending time with the people you love and not spending your hard earned money on a big fancy dinner. Enjoy your brunch!
Looking for ideas for free and easy Christmas meals? Go no further! You’ll find what you need at FreeQuickRecipes.com to plan the perfect holiday gathering.
