Not long to go! Get prepped and ready with my guide to freezable festive sides and sauces you can make now!

Christmas is fast approaching! Where on earth are the days going?! My daughter Coco kindly reminds me daily how many days there are left before the big day!

So I thought now would be a great time to talk to you about what you can be doing right now to take a tonne of the stress away and get yourselves ready and raring to go.

I’m going to talk you through the side dishes and sauces featured in my Christmas Planner, all of which you can prepare beforehand and pop into the freezer.

I put the Christmas Planner together because the first time I hosted Christmas was a year before I had a child, then I had Archie and I found it so stressful juggling everyone and everything!

The more that you can do in advance, the better. You can sit with your children and actually play with the gifts they may have received, enjoy the company and really just get into the loving spirit of Christmas instead of whizzing around the kitchen!

There is a section at the beginning of the planner that specifically tells you which of the recipes you can make now and freeze, 19 of them in total, which is super handy. All you need to do on Christmas Eve is simply take them out to defrost.

Roast Potatoes - cook these up now, take them out 15 minutes before you normally would, let them cool and get them into the freezer!

My Mother used to peel, chop and soak these the day before. I attended an Italian cooking course a while back and actually learned that this isn’t a great idea as they take on too much water and therefore don’t taste as good. They actually recommended boiling the potatoes with the skin on and then peeling after so they don’t take on as much water!

Dauphinoise - this freezes really well, and will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.

Honey Roast Parsnips - these freeze well and simply need to be defrosted and heated through on the day.

Sprouts - these are the only things I do on the day, along with the turkey.

Red Cabbage - mine is in the freezer right now! I actually think it tastes even better having been frozen.

Stuffing - can be done now and be put in the freezer ready for the big day.

Bread Sauce - Can be done now and frozen, you may need to add more milk once reheated.

Cranberry Sauce & Cumberland Sauce (my recipe here) can be prepared now and popped into airtight jars ready to go.

White Sauce with Gruyere - I always make and freeze bucketfuls of this as it’s just so incredibly versatile!

Gravy - You can do this in advance or alternatively start to freeze up stock ready to use. I keep stock from any gammon I cook and add it to the gravy.

If you haven’t got a copy of my Christmas Planner there’s still time! I’ll be posting them out until the end of next week - so grab your copy now!

Love,