Easy Family Size Meals for the Holidays

You know those people that hum along to Christmas songs at the store in October and are excited to fight the crowds on Black Friday? Yeah, I’m those people. The cold weather, the gifts with meticulous wrapping, the food, the family, the pumpkin and peppermint everything. I love for this time of year. There are lots of birthdays in my family this time of year and of course lots of time together.

In my family, there’s that one house where everyone meets. That house where we have Thanksgiving and where we all meet to exchange gifts. That house that sees dozens of people walking in and out of it through the holiday months. Well, I live at that house. And nothing makes our guests happier than having a fridge stocked with food.

But who has time to whip up big family meals for unexpected guests? My family isn’t into making plans. I have five siblings and they almost all have children. We all live relatively close so it’s not uncommon for people to just show up at the door. Because everyone in this house is on such different schedules and we are all quite busy, a warm home cooked meal rarely happens. So when guests pop in, we never have dinner planned.

We all love going out to eat but when it’s bitterly cold outside, who wants to bundle up all the kids and brave that just to spend $50+ at a restaurant? Not me. My favorite thing to have on hand is big family sized meals that require very little effort. I love to #PlanAhead for my family’s meals, especially when dinner involves 6 or 7 people.

Just the other day my brother dropped by and spent the night. When dinner time rolled around I was in no mood to go out so I popped a Stouffer’s Family Size Lasagna in the oven and 2 hours later I had a huge, cheesy, meaty delicious lasagna. I’ve made homemade lasagna a dozen times and it’s quite the process. This takes me about 2 minutes, tops.

My daughter, who is a notoriously picky eater, actually asked for a huge slice of lasagna and she ate about 10 bites while mumbling through her pasta filled mouth “Mmm momma, das yummy pasagna.” 10 bites doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s about 8 more than usual. Winner winner, lasagna dinner.

Nestlé is seriously winning. My freezer is full of family sized meals like the meaty lasagna, some yummy mac and cheese (which I usually spice up with some real bacon bits and broccoli), and so many DiGiorno pizzas. Because, hello, those pizzas are insanely good and they only take like 20 minutes to make. Perfect for the when any of my four brothers and their giant stomachs stop by the house with their families.

Let’s not forget dessert. I’m a recovering bakerholic. I’m itching to dust off my KitchenAid and whip up some pies and fudge but I’m resisting. I’m fighting a serious sugar addiction. So when I allow myself a little treat, it’s always ice cream. I don’t normally go gaga over ice cream but when the Edy’s Special Edition flavors are released.. I. Can’t. Resist. At least the whip cream I top it with is fat free. That counts for something right? I’ll assume you’re nodding your approval right now.

My little’s devoured the Edy’s Slow Churned Light Ice Cream Limited Edition in Peppermint Wonderland. It was covered in festive sprinkles and whipped cream. Did I mention they ate it BEFORE the lasagna? Yeah, I’m still working out the kinks of this parenting thing. But I’m pretty sure as long as my kids hug me and kiss me with their sticky sugary mouths afterwards I’m winning as a parent.

By the way, the ice cream is totally light and has half the fat that it usually does. To me this means an extra scoop is not only appropriate but utterly necessary.

My favorite thing about having these #PlanAhead meals is that I don’t really have to spend any time in the kitchen. I can sit around and talk with my family or play with the kids. The holidays are really about spending quality time with loved ones and these no fuss meals are the perfect way to make sure that happens.

Or those two glasses of wine, I won’t judge. 😉

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Party Time!

There’s a #PlanAhead Twitter Party on the horizon.
You’ll get the chance to win 1 of 5 $100 Walmart gift cards!
Who doesn’t need a little extra dough this time of year?

The party is scheduled for 11/19/13 from 1:00 to 2:00 pm EST.

Be sure to RSVP here before the party!

If you’re looking for more great holiday meal ideas from Nestlé check out this issue of LiveSoFab Magazine!