Planning a Matheson Family Christmas Post 5

 This is a post I get excited about, because it’s a big impact item. I have been making my menu and grocery list. For me, the holidays are steeped in tradition, a big player is the food. So it stands to reason I have a pretty good idea what we will be eating year to year. I do include things like the bits an bites my Aunt makes, cookies, and copious amounts of hot chocolate. 

Primarily though, I take a look at the menus for Christmas Eve, Christmas, Boxing Day, and typically the day after too. I look at the day after too because where I work in retail I do not have the time or desire to venture to the stores on that day. For any Americans who are joining us this year and are not acquainted with Boxing day, in some parts of Canada, the day after Christmas, we don’t reopen the main stores, and have an extra day to relax and reflect. I will typically have a big pot of soup ready in case anyone is hungry prior to Christmas eve dinner. Christmas eve, we take from my family traditions and have Cornish Pasties (my Great-Grandparents were from Cornwall England, and this stems from them). We go out, look at lights and come home for Hot Chocolate. I also put the slow cooker on with an overnight breakfast. Christmas day, there is usually soup left if you’re hungry and then we have the Turkey Dinner, as per my husband’s family tradition. Boxing day my Grandparents hosted a pot luck when I was a kid, so typically we have a bunch of appetizers kicking around. Beyond that it’s typically left overs, or I do up a Turkey Pizza, Divan or Soup.  Thus you see my menu. 

Here is the big impact part, the grocery list. I go through this whole menu and add in all the items I will need, and they are carefully separated into 3 categories, Non-Perishable, Frozen or Fresh. Why this can make a big impact, is because I have started on the Non-Perishables. So my Christmas groceries are spread out, and I grab stuff when it’s on sale. This saves money and time. I have a designated cupboard that Cale has to access for me weekly (I’m too sort) and that is where all my Non-Perishables go. Eventually I’ll start on Frozen and I put a big “C” on them with a sharpie (there will be a post) and save the fresh stuff to the very end. So when everyone is in a mad scramble with a massive grocery order, I’m basically in the produce and refrigerated aisles and out. 

This has been done out of necessity in the past too, I simply couldn’t afford one big grocery order at Christmas either. Not to mention when it comes to produce, often m Mother in-law likes to stop on her way up at a farmers market, so she’s excited to grab that stuff too. 

So that’s what I have been working on. I get excited about this post, because this method has always served me well, and I sincerely enjoy sharing it. 

-Mama Bear out