This is a sponsored post on behalf of Straight Talk Wireless. All opinions are 100% our own.
It is hard to believe but Christmas is right around the corner! We are here to help you not only save money this holiday season but also to save your time and take the stress out of the holidays by planning ahead! Soon your social calendar will be full of holiday engagements, parties and school functions. I personally keep my calendar on my Straight Talk Wireless smart phone so that I know what my schedule is while I am on the go. Now is the time to start planning and prepping so that you can enjoy the true reason for the season and spending time with your friends and family instead of shopping! We have Holiday Menu Planning Tips Made Simple to help you prepare for the busy season ahead!
Holiday Menu Planning Made Simple:
1. Consider Freezer Cooking. Spend 1-2 days bulk cooking for your family during the busy holiday season. By preparing recipes that you can freeze, thaw and cook throughout the holiday’s you will remove stress and help save your budget. We have a 20 Freezer Meals in 4 hours plan and a 8 Freezer Meals in 2 hours plan that can help you get started. This is perfect for the busy days ahead!
2. Utilize the Crockpot: We like to use a slow cooker to prepare our meals during the holiday season because it allows us more time to spend with our kids, get our errands run and still provide a hot dinner at the end of the busy day. Check out this awesome Crockpot Menu Plan for how to prepare your entire Christmas Dinner in your slow cookers! This is a game changer when it comes to menu planning for the holidays!
3. Consider One Dish Meals: Add one dish meals to your menu plan and you will not only save time in preparation but also during cleanup. This is a great way to feed your family and save time too! One of my favorites is this Complete Steak Dinner in the Crockpot and Crockpot Chicken and Stuffing. Both of these are perfect to serve on Christmas Eve too!
4. Search For Recipes Online: Using your Straight Talk Wireless SmartPhone so that you can multi-task and search for recipes for the holidays while you are on the go. A great resource is Pinterest, All-Recipes and of course StockpilingMoms.com. Create a Holiday Menu Plan Pinterest Board and save recipes to the board. When you are waiting in carpool line or at sports practice you can use your Straight Talk Wireless Smart Phone and search and pin recipes that interest you then you can use those to create the ultimate Holiday Menu Plan that your family will love. We have a sample Holiday Menu Plan for you to help keep it simple.
Holiday Menu Plan:
Christmas Morning
Dinner Menu:
Crockpot Pineapple Ham and/or Turkey Breast in the Slow Cooker
Sweet Potato Casserole or Crockpot Hashbrown Casserole
7up Rolls – or Sister Schubert Rolls
5. Make A Shopping List: Create a shopping list on your Straight Talk Wireless Smart Phone and then head to Walmart to purchase all of the items on that list. I love that Walmart is a one stop shop! You can load your cart with every item on your list while you also pick up last minute gifts, wrapping paper, paper products and more! I love being able to use my Straight Talk Wireless phone to create my shopping list and if I have a question about an ingredient on my shopping list I can quickly access the recipes that I have pinned or visit the website where I found the recipe to help keep my shopping easy!
We hope these tips and menu ideas help make your holidays simple this season. Just remember that what really matters is the time you spend with family. By shopping at Walmart and utilizing your smart phone you can save yourself time and money.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Straight Talk Wireless. All opinions are 100% our own.
Melissa is a soccer mom who has been married to her best friend for 22 years. She loves sharing recipes, travel reviews and tips that focus on helping busy families make memories.
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