Gulf Coast Family

by Leanne Ely (The Dinner Diva)

In the hustle-bustle of the holidays, it is so easy to have good intentions go awry. Every year the reminder that you need to get on the stick and get organized to make the holidays happen, is exacerbated by the fact that the retailers can’t seem to resist putting the holiday decorations out earlier and earlier.

I almost had a panic attack when I saw my local Wal-Mart unloading back-to-school supplies mid-July, and Halloween goodies by mid-August.

I may not have my holidays down pat by September, but I do have meal planning down to a science. During extremely busy times, like the holidays, I always fall back on these important tips:

1. Implement the 10 o’clock rule

Ideally, your meals should be planned out for the week. Not everyone is “there” yet, though. So here’s a fall-back plan. if you know you’ll be shopping in the afternoon or out doing some kind of holiday activity, make sure you have planned what you will be having for dinner the night before by 10 p.m. You need to also plan for enough time to make it.

If, on the other hand, you know you’ll be home all day, but busy with baking, crafts, decorating, etc., make sure you have decided on dinner by 10 a.m. Pull out something to thaw, check ingredients — make sure you’re ready to roll before the dinner hour and before you’re forced to call the pizza guy again.

2. Use a servant

We all have them — those indentured servants that live in our dark cupboards in the kitchen. You know, the appliances that were going to make our lives easier, that we all just had to have? That crock pot is the ultimate indentured servant, waiting to whip up culinary wonders while we are out all day at work, shopping or whatever.

Plan a little time to get everything in the crock pot in the morning and leave the rest of it up to your servant, the crock pot.

It’ll take care of everything and promises not to burn it, too. What more could a busy person want?

3. Go into a deep freeze

Next time you are making dinner, try doubling or even tripling that meatloaf recipe and freezing the extra portion. It really doesn’t take much extra time, and believe it or not, if you stock your freezer this week, by the time the holidays are going full throttle, you should have a mini-mother lode of dinners just waiting to be thawed and heated. Now that makes freezer cooking a breeze!

4. Make it convenient

Once upon a time, I wouldn’t normally buy lettuce in a bag, already washed and ready to go. Times sure have changed! In my opinion, this kind of convenience really pays off — like during the holidays, for example. Make a list of convenience foods you might not normally buy, and make sure you have a few on hand to use “just in case.”

5. Try breakfast for dinner

Scrambled eggs and toast really are substantial and take all of 10 minutes to make. If you put a little cheese on top of the eggs and pour orange juice into wine glasses, and maybe even light a few candles, no one will suspect you didn’t have the time to do your normal dinner “thing”— and the kids will love it!

These tips can carry you through the holidays with hardly any effort. Plus, they may be able to help you out at another stressful time, too. In any case, give them a try.

Sometimes a couple of tips make the difference between dinner being there . . . or not!

Christmas Eve Shortcut Cinnamon Buns – Makes 20 buns

These are made the night before and popped in the oven Christmas morning when the kids are attacking their stockings!

• 20 unbaked frozen dinner rolls (Bridgeport is a brand I have used)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

Lightly grease a 10-inch bundt cake pan. Place frozen rolls into the pan and sprinkle with brown sugar, the pudding mix and cinnamon. Pour melted butter over the top. If you don’t have a bundt pan, you can use a muffin tin, but they turn out better in a bundt pan.

Cover with a clean, damp cloth and leave overnight at room temperature to rise.

In the morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake rolls for 25 minutes, until golden brown. Turn rolls out onto a serving plate and dig in!

For more help putting dinner on your table check out Leanne’s website www.SavingDinner.com or her Saving Dinner Book series published by Ballentine. Copyright 2006; Leanne Ely Used by permission in this publication.