Jess Hardiman
A mum has sparked a debate after revealing her fuss-free approach to Christmas dinner, having come up with an innovative way to ensure she's free to enjoy 25 December without too much hard work.
As the festive season rolls around, it can become easy to get caught up in the stress, with presents to buy, menus to plan and homes to clean.
But one mum has found she’s able to eradicate a large chunk of the pressure by simply getting ahead with the food.
Nope, we don’t just mean cutting up the veg the day before or making the stuffing in the morning before everyone’s got up... we mean really getting ahead.
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TikToker Charlotte Crouch (@charlottescrunchymama) posted a video explaining how she does it, writing: “Reasons why I prepare my Xmas dinner a month ahead!”
She began: “Firstly, have you been to a shop before Christmas? Those few days before Christmas, they are manic.
"I’ve done the whole going in at 5 o’clock in the morning, and the queues are up the aisles. I’ve gone late in the day, there are queues up the aisles. People just go nuts.
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“But if you go in November, they’re just normal. So I can get my King Edwards potatoes and make sure they’re the potatoes that I prefer to do it with.”
Charlotte continued: “Secondly, it means that I can make sure I've made every part of the roast dinner from scratch.
“So normally I make pretty much 90 percent from scratch, but I might buy instant gravy. For Christmas dinner that is not gonna cut it.”
Finally, there’s also the small matter of all the cleaning up admin you’re saving on.
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“Thirdly, it saves on all the washing up!” she said.
Charlotte said normally you’d have to spend time prepping, cooking and then washing up ‘all the prep stuff’ – and that’s before you’ve even touched the ‘tins, and the plates and the cutlery’ from the meal itself.
She added: “I will also be putting, on Christmas Day, my stuff into disposable tins. It’s the only time I ever do it, but I do it because I then spend time with my kids. Because I want my kids to remember Christmas Day, me being with them, and not me just being in the kitchen.
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“I've never even thought of doing this! It's genius, especially the tins to cook in!”
Not everyone was won round by the advance prep, with one arguing it would be 'reheated and ruined'.
Another said: "I like my dinner fresh. Not frozen."
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But Charlotte hit back: "This is what I do personally – and it works for the family,” she replied to the haters.
However, most people were sold by the idea, with some even saying they'd already given it a go, with great success.
"I’ve just prepared my veg for Christmas and it’s in my freezer now, I started at 10.33am and finished at 12.01 I’m so glad it’s done," one commented.
Someone else said: "I’m definitely doing this this year! I’ll be nearly 5 months pregnant so I can’t think of anything worse than standing in a hot kitchen cooking a full Christmas roast.”
A third said: "For me I would rather spend the morning chilled out with the kids rather than being stuck in the kitchen."
And a fourth added: "You inspired me last year and will be doing again this year, had a wonderful non stressful day."