Holiday Week Meal Plan

I posted that I was meal planning for the week (including Christmas) and had several people ask what the plan was. So, here ya’ go!

12/21 – 12/23

The next three nights will look like…

Smitten Kitchen bulgogi tacos, chips + salsa
Dan Pelosi Manicotti Florentine with pink sauce (DM for the recipe!)
Takeout! Trying to keep it easy here.

Christmas Eve

Appetizers for Christmas Eve! We typically decorate cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve, so appetizers seem like a better idea than a proper dinner.

Appetizers We Love

I’ll keep adding to this, but here’s a start!

Barefoot Contessa tomato crostini with whipped feta
Big Night Sweet-Salty Pigs In Blankets (DM for the recipe!)
Jessie Sheehan gorgonzola fig jam drops
Charcuterie things (mostly from Trader Joe’s) — salami, cheese, apples, grapes, nuts, crackers… Bonus points if you shape it like a Christmas tree!
Philadelphia cream cheese topped with pepper jelly & served with Wheat Thins (bonus points if you get the block kind of cream cheese, cut it diagonally and make a Christmas tree shape out of it before topping with jelly)

Christmas Day

Breakfast

My personal dream breakfast on a cold, snowy (hey, I said it’s a dream, ok) Christmas morning is a batch of homemade cinnamon rolls covered in not-too-sweet cream cheese icing. Happy kids in the background. Hot coffee. Bacon, fruit and Smitten Kitchen panna cotta.

So, that’s the plan. Notes below!

Cinnamon Rolls

This is the cinnamon roll recipe I am planning to use. I have never made these, but they won the Pancake Princess cinnamon roll bake-off. This carries a lot of weight for me!

If you aren’t familiar with Pancake Princess, she crowdsources 10+ recipes that people love for a certain category, bakes them all on the same day, and then holds a taste test. Winning this is a big deal!!

Panna Cotta

Don’t let this intimidate you! I cannot stress enough how easy her recipe for panna cotta is. Truly. You basically heat up sugar and milk, mix in gelatin, stir in some yogurt, add some lemon, let it chill and it’s DONE.

Heat, stir, chill.

I always pour panna cotta into small cups for single-size servings (before chilling!) I love using the little glass jars that come with fancy yogurt cups for this. Any container will do, though. You can also keep it in a larger container and just serve it from there.

Smitten Kitchen tops her with walnuts and honey but I never have patience for that. We all love it as-is! It’s slightly sweet and has a perfect texture. 10/10.

The Rest Of The Day

You’ll notice I don’t have any plans for the rest of the day food-wise. We are heading to my parents’ house after Christmas morning here so I don’t need to plan for food.

IF I DID NEED TO PLAN CHRISTMAS DINNER, I think I’d do something classic like lasagna. Especially one you make ahead and cook from the freezer. Serve with a salad + bread.

For dessert, I’d make something beautiful like the NYT Cranberry Curd Tart. Their recipes are typically behind a paywall, but you can find it in the comments on this reddit thread. It’s a great make-ahead recipe it’s served chilled.

12/21 – 12/23