affordable xmas dinner

[Anonymous]

It looks like I'll be hosting 2 dinners; one for 6 adults, one for 5. I need to do this fairly affordably and without driving myself insane cooking.

For one meal, I was considering lasagna. I normally do a very basic lasagna, but I'd put more effort into it for this occasion. Anyone have a favorite recipe?

Is beef stew too informal for xmas dinner? What could I serve with it? Bread? Salad?

Any other casseroles folks recommend or other ideas for stretching the budget?

[Anonymous]

Here's a thought: carbonara. It's super junky amazingly decadent (cream and bacon!) but not expensive to make. It might feel festive and affordable... you could do it with frozen green peas and those little cocktail onions in it, for a "fancy" veggie side or you could buy frozen carrots and serve with fancy butter (like fresh dill and butter or lemon zest and butter.) A lot of what makes food festive it its presentation--think colorful touches.

I would not do beef stew because it's actually fairly expensive (beef being fairly pricey) to make and usually doesn't seem as expensive a dish (in presentation) as it actually cost at the checkout line. However, you could see if you can find a good price on the beef and then maybe it would work out OK. That's just my two cents. (And believe me I'm one of those people who still believe 2 pennies is worth saving!)

[Anonymous]

Barefoot Contessa has a great lasagna with turkey sausage. If you follow her recipe exactly (she uses fresh mozzarella and goat cheese), it gets fairly pricey. But I have made it with regular shredded mozz and no goat cheese and it is still really good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's a thought: carbonara. It's super junky amazingly decadent (cream and bacon!) but not expensive to make. It might feel festive and affordable... you could do it with frozen green peas and those little cocktail onions in it, for a "fancy" veggie side or you could buy frozen carrots and serve with fancy butter (like fresh dill and butter or lemon zest and butter.) A lot of what makes food festive it its presentation--think colorful touches.

I would not do beef stew because it's actually fairly expensive (beef being fairly pricey) to make and usually doesn't seem as expensive a dish (in presentation) as it actually cost at the checkout line. However, you could see if you can find a good price on the beef and then maybe it would work out OK. That's just my two cents. (And believe me I'm one of those people who still believe 2 pennies is worth saving!)

I second the carbonara! It's so carbolicious, but whenever my MIL makes it, I get soooo happy. Add a couple of green veggies/salads and you're in business for not too spendy.

[Anonymous]

Pot roast? You can give it an impressive presentation, surrounded by roasted veggies.