Plan a Christmas Brunch on a Shoestring Budget

With the costs of everyday foods soaring, the looming holiday season is one that many families are trying to cut costs on. Having a delicious and warming Christmas brunch doesn’t have to break the budget, and with a little planning you can create a meal that your family and friends will love. Since brunch is usually based on breakfast foods, which are much less expensive than other foods, you are already on your way to saving money.

Just Choose One
If you are having a smaller family gathering for Christmas brunch, then you will only need to choose one meat for the brunch. For example, a traditional choice for Christmas is ham, which can be purchased relatively inexpensively when you cook and slice it yourself.

You can cook and slice the ham the night before, making sure to save the drippings for reheating the ham the next morning. Since one ham pound ham will serve over twenty people, this is perhaps the most cost effective meat that you can serve.

Sweeten it Up
Serving pancakes and waffles for your Christmas brunch can also be very cost effective, and you can make your meal delicious by making your own homemade toppings. Frozen blueberries and strawberries are inexpensive, and can also make delicious syrups for your pancakes. You can also prepare your batters and syrups the night before, so that you will be prepared when the guests arrive.

If you are worried about keeping your pancakes and waffles warm, then you can layer them as they are done on aluminum foil, and store them for about half an hour in a 200 degree oven. You may even want to set up a waffle station, so that you can make fresh foods as the guests arrive. You can also help keep your pancakes and waffles tasting great by serving the syrup warm, so that is adds some heat to the food.

Drink Light
If you plan on serving wine at your Christmas brunch, then you may want to consider serving a mulled wine. Not only will your drinks stretch further, they will also be deliciously warming. If you want to serve non-alcoholic drinks, then coffee and tea are a must, and can be dressed up for the holiday season with a few extra ingredients. For tea, you will want to have a few lemons on hand, while coffee can be flavored with drink syrups.

For the kids, you can easily make a batch of spiced cider with commercial cinnamon candies placed in the basket of your coffee pot, and then simply substitute the water for apple juice. The kids will love having a warm, sweet drink of their own on this special day, and you can make the recipe for just around three dollars.

Choose the Classics
For those who are willing to stick to the classics of a good breakfast, foods like biscuits and gravy or hash browned potatoes are both filling and economical choices for a Christmas bunch. You can add sausage to your gravy for an even more filling approach, but make sure to serve jams and jellies for the biscuits if you are making this your main dish. You can also easily add some flair to your biscuits by making them from scratch, and adding your choice of shredded cheese, herbs and butter to the recipe.

Sliced seasonal fruits will give even the most humble Christmas brunch a special appeal, especially for the picky eaters in the family. If you want to make the fruits special, then try packing apples with brown sugar and cinnamon, and baking them for about 45 minutes to an hour for a special Christmas treat.