By Joy Essien, Contributing Editor, Lagos Metropolitan.
Last year, I shared meal ideas for Christmas. This time, we’ll be focusing more on all the activities that go on before D-day and how we can make it easier on ourselves cos trust me, it’s a lot of work, especially if you have little or no help.
It’s always best to start meal prepping early and not wait till Christmas Day or Christmas Eve before getting started.
A lot of buying and storing will be taking place weeks to Christmas so the first thing to do is:
1. Have a Menu in Mind.
What are you having this Christmas?Having an idea what you’ll be having for Christmas, ahead of time, helps keep you organised and also helps prepare you for the next tip.
2. Write a Shopping List.
Knowing what’s on your menu serves as a guide to shopping. Your list would normally contain things you want to shop for in line with what’s on your menu.
3. Clean Out Your Fridge/Freezer.
Things going into your fridge will be from bulk orders of meat, chicken, turkey, tomato and pepper blends and green veggies. It’s best to start off with a clean cold room so there won’t be any bacteria sticking to food. After this, things should be put in airtight containers to reduce smells and dripping incidents where something drips into another or creates a mess.
4. Prep your Jollof Mix Few Days Ahead.
For many years now, I always have my jollof mix chilling in my freezer at least a week, if not 2 weeks to Christmas.. This ensures when I’m ready to make jollof rice, I simply add it to hot oil and start cooking.
5. Meat Prep.
Meat should have been purchased early enough and kept frozen. It’s best to season, cook and fry on Christmas eve and not earlier because of how delicious and tempting fried meat is. You don’t want it down by half before it’s time 😁.
6. Chop Veggies and Refrigerate.
If you have things like fried rice or jollof on your menu, it’s only better to chop them up and store in airtight containers
in your freezer. This reduces your work time in the kitchen. Once it’s time to cook, you already have your veggies chopped up.
7. Outsource Other Things on the Menu.
Certain things on the menu can be outsourced, especially if they’re really stressful, time consuming and you’re not so great at them. Pastries and certain meals like moimoi amd small chops can easily be outsourced.
8. Cook Through the Night.
It’s very unusual but I’ve been doing this for some years now. You’ll appreciate this strategy if you have guests to entertain on Christmas Day. After making my jollof, I prepare cole slaw amd refrigerate. Then if cocktail is on the list, Chapman’s in particular, I make it and also refrigerate. Followed by fried plantains, samosa and spring rolls.
After these, I clean up, take a bath and go to bed. You can sleep in if you so desire.
Others can wake up early and clean the house, knowing food is already on standby. You, on the other hand, will wake up only to start setting the table, dining with family and attending to your guests like the fabulous host that you are.
