Are you hosting a holiday meal this year that you worry will put you in debt in the New Year?  Feel like you need a bank loan just to fill the table and feed your family and friends?  We’re ALL feeling the pinch this year, when the costs of pumping out a special meal are competing not only with the price of presents but maybe with rent and utility bills, too.  Here are a few simple tips for putting some boundaries on the bucks that you spend putting a special meal on the table.

Plan your meals ahead.  It sounds like a no-brainer, but many people enter a grocery store with only a loose idea of what they plan to buy.  Going in without a plan makes shoppers more vulnerable to expensive “impulse buys” as they wander up and down the aisles.  Plan your meal “from soup to nuts” and compose a shopping list BEFORE you go to the store.   Then limit your purchases to the items on your list.  You’ll be amazed how you can save on your over-all bill with a little forward planning and a shopping list.

Wet their appetites.  Take some pressure off the main meal and serve some simple, inexpensive things to your guests before they reach the table. A nice, whole-grain cracker and a block of low-fat cheese, a bowl of mixed nuts, or slices of citrus fruit are great treats to serve in anticipation of the meal and will go a long way to “evening out” appetites so your crew goes from ravenous to merely hungry by the time they sit down to the main meal. 

Consider plating.  When it comes to holiday meals, most folks fill a table and everyone digs in “family style.”  This is a great way to share a meal, but it also requires more food.  Take a tip from the wedding planners, who know it reduces costs, and plate a meal instead.  This allows a host to have better control over portion size, and therefore over the total amount of food he or she has to serve. 

Treat meat like a condiment and offer lots of sides.   Much of the expense associated with grand holiday meals are wrapped up in a big hunk of meat that serves as the basis of the whole meal.  Instead of trying to make your holiday meal satisfy your guests’ protein requirements for the next month, realize that the proper portion size is actually around 3 cooked ounces per person, so plan your meat purchase accordingly. Then, offer your guests a lot of side dishes based on whole grains and vegetables, which are typically much less expensive than meat.

Potluck it!  One of the best ways to save on the expense of providing a holiday meal is to spread the cost by asking your guests to make a contribution.  While this might strike some as a low-point on the hospitality meter, making a meal a potluck can actually be great fun for everyone involved.  For the host, it not only reduces the expense of assembling ingredients, it also reduces the anxiety many feel in trying to prepare multiple dishes.  For the guests, it provides them an answer to that age-old question—“What can I bring?”—and an opportunity to showcase their best dish.  For everyone at the table, it’s an opportunity to try a wider variety of dishes, many of which will be new and some of which may even become favorites.

Invest your energy in making the whole table—not just the parts you eat—special.  It’s not just foods and the dishes we prepare with them that make a holiday meal special.  You can pump up the wow factor by making your table appeal as much to the eye as it does to the stomach.  Maybe you decorate your table with pumpkins and gourds left over from Halloween, crafts from your preschooler, or Christmas lights in a glass bowl.  Or maybe it’s just breaking out a table cloth and those special napkins from your aunt that rarely see the light of day.  Investing your time and energy—but not much expense—in how your holiday table looks can take some of the pressure off the meal itself. 

Finally, focus on the fun.  Holidays aren’t just about presents and they’re not just about food, either.  They’re about friends and family getting together, perhaps for the only time that year, to enjoy each other’s company.  So focus on the fun by adding some entertainment to the event.  Break out a board game, the deck of cards, or an old home video.  Move the furniture and clear a small dance floor.  Try singing a holiday song “on the ‘round.”  When you give the whole event—not just the meal—your special touch, you can reduce the costs associated with the holidays without reducing the merriment.  Happy Holidays!  

For tips on healthy and affordable meals any time of year, contact Cornell Cooperative Extension at www.ccefm.com