Cook ahead Christmas recipes

[niccig]

Christmas is going to be very busy for me. I was thinking of doing some baking ahead of time and freeze. Eg. holiday breads, muffins, maybe cookie dough that can just be prepped when baked, some breakfast casseroles or cinnamon monkey bread, even some dinner dishes for when we still have family visiting.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[brittone2]

Christmas is going to be very busy for me. I was thinking of doing some baking ahead of time and freeze. Eg. holiday breads, muffins, maybe cookie dough that can just be prepped when baked, some breakfast casseroles or cinnamon monkey bread, even some dinner dishes for when we still have family visiting.

Thanks for any suggestions.

I am starting as we usually have house guests, and our December is crazy with bdays, The Nutcracker, etc.

I do the clone of a cinnabon recipe and freeze. They turn out beautifully. m448 (?) has some old posts with the link to the icing recipe I use as well. But yes, I plan to stash some of these in the freezer soon. I also will buy a few frozen pastry type things from TJs for brunch, house guests, etc to fill in gaps. I am making and freezing two crustless quiches (have done this before) soon as well.

I just made a huge batch of make ahead mashed potatoes, which are kind of like twice baked (cream cheese, sour cream, etc. added). The added fat is what makes them freezer-friendly vs. traditional, fluffier mashed potatoes. That will be as a side dish to whatever roast we do on Christmas (leg of lamb or prime rib).

I broke in the instant pot today and made a beef stew that came out great. I will try it again using more of a beef bourguignon type of recipe and will probably freeze that. Chili, soup, etc. are standbys for this time of the year, and while not very "holiday" I find them handy for rushed nights or quick lunch, etc. when people are visiting.

I made a turkey (easy leftovers and then will probably make some soup) and then made turkey stock today. I wanted to make some stock in advance to do Mark Bittman's make ahead gravy for Thanksgiving. So having the stock on hand is a nice start, and then the week of Thanksgiving I'll make the gravy and reheat on Thanksgiving day.

When we do cookie dough we roll into balls and flash freeze, then bag. That works wonderfully for just pulling out a few as needed for things like oatmeal cookies or choc chip.

It was cold and miserable here today, so I was testing out the instant pot (HB eggs, beef stew, chili, turkey stock) and threw a turkey in the oven.

I usually make quick breads, etc. to freeze. Some are more traditional, but I do a lot with almond flour, etc. as that's what my parents and family eat, so we'll do things like ginger scones, ginger bundt cake, etc. made with almond flour and erythritol/stevia. That's handy for when my parents are in town.

Don't overlook some handy store bought items. I think TJs is excellent for things like choc croissants and the like, and that's great to have on hand for visitors and houseguests.

[niccig]

I am starting as we usually have house guests, and our December is crazy with bdays, The Nutcracker, etc.

I do the clone of a cinnabon recipe and freeze. They turn out beautifully. m448 (?) has some old posts with the link to the icing recipe I use as well. But yes, I plan to stash some of these in the freezer soon. I also will buy a few frozen pastry type things from TJs for brunch, house guests, etc to fill in gaps. I am making and freezing two crustless quiches (have done this before) soon as well.

I just made a huge batch of make ahead mashed potatoes, which are kind of like twice baked (cream cheese, sour cream, etc. added). The added fat is what makes them freezer-friendly vs. traditional, fluffier mashed potatoes. That will be as a side dish to whatever roast we do on Christmas (leg of lamb or prime rib).

I broke in the instant pot today and made a beef stew that came out great. I will try it again using more of a beef bourguignon type of recipe and will probably freeze that. Chili, soup, etc. are standbys for this time of the year, and while not very "holiday" I find them handy for rushed nights or quick lunch, etc. when people are visiting.

I made a turkey (easy leftovers and then will probably make some soup) and then made turkey stock today. I wanted to make some stock in advance to do Mark Bittman's make ahead gravy for Thanksgiving. So having the stock on hand is a nice start, and then the week of Thanksgiving I'll make the gravy and reheat on Thanksgiving day.

When we do cookie dough we roll into balls and flash freeze, then bag. That works wonderfully for just pulling out a few as needed for things like oatmeal cookies or choc chip.

It was cold and miserable here today, so I was testing out the instant pot (HB eggs, beef stew, chili, turkey stock) and threw a turkey in the oven.

I usually make quick breads, etc. to freeze. Some are more traditional, but I do a lot with almond flour, etc. as that's what my parents and family eat, so we'll do things like ginger scones, ginger bundt cake, etc. made with almond flour and erythritol/stevia. That's handy for when my parents are in town.

Don't overlook some handy store bought items. I think TJs is excellent for things like choc croissants and the like, and that's great to have on hand for visitors and houseguests.

Thanks Beth. I'll do some of these. Can you post the cinnabon recipe and your recipe for quiche? That sounds great.

I'll do soups and look for a stew recipe in the crockpot. Unfortunately, the family that are visiting are not adventurous at all, so chili and several of my go to recipes are out. Thought I'll even make a lasagna to freeze. We don't normally eat much pasta. Maybe even pulled pork.

I have some frozen apricots from our tree in the summer, so I'm going to make more apricot turnovers and freeze. DS doesn't like apricots, so I also do apple turnovers. Thought some muffins, and some savory muffins/scones too.

[brittone2]

These are the quiches I make most often:
http://www.lifeingraceblog.com/2013/...e-mason-dixon/
http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/bacon_a...ss_quiche.html

Clone of a cinnabon. I made it a few weeks early last year, flash froze the individual rolls, and it turned out great on Christmas.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/clone-of-a-cinnabon/

Frosting can be frozen as well, and turns out great.
http://web.archive.org/web/200703161...s/cinnabon.htm

good thread here:
http://windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/arc.../t-310530.html

and here
http://windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/arc.../t-419295.html

[WatchingThemGrow]

Brittone2, how did you do the HB eggs in the IP?

[basil]

In addition to rolls and cookies and stuff, I did make ahead gravy last year and it was awesome! So easy to just throw it in the microwave and defrost versus worrying about doing it last minute when everything else is going on.

[brittone2]

Brittone2, how did you do the HB eggs in the IP?

They aren't faster, but are SOOOOO easy to peel!
I followed ebr's post here: http://www.hippressurecooking.com/fo...d-boiled-eggs/

It worked great for us. I only did a few; I need to experiment with a larger batch. I have read about people using silicone muffin liners to keep the eggs from banging into each other with a larger batch. I imagine I wouldn't need to adjust the cooking time, but haven't tried it yet.

Watchingthemgrow, I had a lot of fun messing around with the IP yesterday and think I'm going to really like it Thanks for your info on it in past threads.

[rolypoly27]

They aren't faster, but are SOOOOO easy to peel!
I followed ebr's post here: http://www.hippressurecooking.com/fo...d-boiled-eggs/

It worked great for us. I only did a few; I need to experiment with a larger batch. I have read about people using silicone muffin liners to keep the eggs from banging into each other with a larger batch. I imagine I wouldn't need to adjust the cooking time, but haven't tried it yet.

Watchingthemgrow, I had a lot of fun messing around with the IP yesterday and think I'm going to really like it Thanks for your info on it in past threads.

Totally agree, HB eggs in the IP are the best. Super easy to peel.

Did you have to adjust the beef stew and chili recipes at all for the IP? Or can I just throw in all the ingredients and press the Chili button? The original recipe calls for two hours in the Dutch oven but I'm wondering how it would do in the IP.

[brittone2]

Totally agree, HB eggs in the IP are the best. Super easy to peel.

Did you have to adjust the beef stew and chili recipes at all for the IP? Or can I just throw in all the ingredients and press the Chili button? The original recipe calls for two hours in the Dutch oven but I'm wondering how it would do in the IP.

I followed instructions for the HB eggs, and just experimented with everything else. It was cold and rainy and I hadn't planned on cooking a bunch yesterday, but decided to because I had no interest in going anywhere For the beef stew, I just threw it together without a recipe, and experimented with the IP's abilities. I had a frozen roast, so what I did was to put that in the IP totally and completely frozen. I cooked it for maybe a half hr, let it release pressure naturally for the most part, and then chopped it into bite sized pieces (middle was still not done, but not that far from done either). I added the beef back in, some diced tomatoes (aseptic pack), thyme, salt, pepper, quartered mushrooms, chopped carrots, some regular onion and frozen pearl onions, and some fish sauce. I think I cooked that another 20 or 30 mins (I wish I could remember). Let it release pretty much naturally, and it was very tender. It would be much faster if I had not started from frozen, but it was kind of fun to experiment with cooking a roast from frozen just to see what it could do. Since I was doing it from frozen, it was slower. I didn't use the slowcooker function, I cooked it all under pressure. If you are cooking under pressure I would not do two hrs. I'd probably try a half hr and then check on it and adjust as necessary? I'm a newbie though and am not certain. Under pressure things are pretty fast.

For the chili, I browned it a little on the stove first (wasn't sure I had enough surface area in the IP, but I don't know???) and then threw in the ground beef, tomatoes, etc. and spices, and hit the chili button. I think I had it go for maybe 30 mins also? I can see that I need to actually write down what I did so I can adjust better

eta:I did not thicken the stew with a roux. We LC, so I usually skip that or modify and use other thickeners. I have read that you would want to thicken afterward; not sure if it is best done in the IP or on the stove at that point. I think it sticks if you cook it really long in the IP with flour, but I'm not sure.

And fwiw, I found cleanup very easy so far.