The Lazy Man’s Guide to Christmas Dinner

Christmas! It’s a time for eating, drinking and being merry! If you’re celebrating Christmas with family or alone, use the festive period as a time to kick back and binge on the things you love. Now despite how much I do love eating and drinking…I’m not too fond of the effort that goes into the Christmas day celebrations. As a single man without any kids, Christmas has previously been a sporadic trip to the nearest supermarket where I spend a last-minute fortune on a selection of snacks – which when I get home, barely make up a single meal.

This year I made a pact to myself that I wouldn’t fall into the same old festive trap and find myself gorging on a miss-matched tapas off scotch eggs and yulelog. So I went on a hunt to find some lazy man’s Christmas dinner alternatives that make me look like I’ve actually got my s**t together and I thought I’d share them with you guys…

The Starter

Start off Christmas Day with a real easy, treat.  Aldi offer a complete range of ready-to-eat Fish and Seafood Starters with quality that doesn’t match the price tag. We like the Fish & Seafood Macaroni Cheese and the Maine Lobster Tails – check me out Santa, Lobster Tails, I’m on it!

The Main

I never get round to cooking a Turkey because, well it’s effort isn’t it. Once you’ve bought it, you’ve got to prep it and then you have to wait for it to cook and then you’ve got to carve it and yadda yadda yadda. BUT. The co-op have only gone and answered all my single man prayers and released…wait for it…..the Christmas Dinner in a box. It includes a British turkey breast joint wrapped in smoked streaky bacon, pigs in blankets, stuffing balls, gravy and a cranberry compote, the full works (without the veg) for £12. That’ll do me!

The Sides

I think I must be one of those unlucky people who never quite mastered the ability to make an incredible Yorkshire Pudding or Roasties. I swear, as soon as every woman in my family met a certain age – they were gifted with the unnatural ability to make out-of-this-world roast potatoes. Thankfully, Marks & Spencer’s have delivered as part of their Christmas food range and produced these, straight-in-the-oven, Beef dripping Yorkshire Puddings and Roast Potatoes. The perfect care-free side with that big, home cooked taste.

For the best selection of seasonal sides, we found that Aldi’s Rainbow Vegetable Selection and Brussel Sprouts with Bacon are the best to just bang in the oven.

The Dessert

Okay, so when it comes to desserts, the selection is huge. If you don’t fancy yourself as a Paul Hollywood, there’s still plenty of great desserts on the market which require zero prep time. Get a selection like the Individual Desert Selection from Tesco or indulge in something indulgent like the Extra Special Raspberry & Lemon Semifreddo or the Traditional 24 month matured Christmas Pudding from Lidl.

It’s not all that difficult after all. Hopefully the rest of my family won’t be TOO disappointed if they come over for a few bites this festive season…