We picked five tips from the new Jouluin herkut special magazine, which you can use to save on Christmas food expenses and also on the electricity bill. You can find more tips, recipes and party atmosphere in the magazine itself.
Hans Välimäki designed a wonderful Christmas dinner, all the recipes of which can be found in Joulun herkut magazine. Mikko Huisko
Christmas is approaching, but many Finns are thinking about how they could build a wonderful and atmospheric Christmas a little cheaper.
Iltalehti recently reported on a study by the S Group, according to which the economic situation also has an effect on buying Christmas food, although less so than buying Christmas presents. Slightly more than half of the Finns who responded to the survey estimate that they can choose their Christmas food shopping freely or fairly freely.
Even so, you can and should save on Christmas food costs, especially when a little planning can actually get even better delicacies for the Christmas table. That’s how it goes!
1. Calculate how much food you really need
Think about how much food you need for the guests at the Christmas table. At Christmas, of course, you want to have plenty on the table, but on the other hand, it doesn’t make sense to have a lot of food left over.
Remember that the more species there are on the table, the less individual food is needed. According to research, an adult eats around 400–700 grams of food at one Christmas meal.
Approximately 150 grams of ham and turkey are reserved per eater. We can eat a maximum of 50 grams of fish from the fish table per species – and naturally less if there are plenty of species.
Boxes can be reserved for approximately 100 grams per party guest. On average, we can stick two potatoes in our cheeks.
2. Plan the menu carefully in advance
Christmas preparations start from thinking about the whole. Think about how you should build your own Christmas table this year, so that it is delicious, but durable and affordable.
Would there be a place on the Christmas table this Christmas, for example, for a new, plant-based dish? Various salads or marinated lentils are suitable for the Christmas table, for example. Vegetarian dishes don’t have to be boring and traditional.
When you go grocery shopping, make a shopping list and stick to it. Avoid the temptations of chocolate boxes lurking near the cash registers. Even at Christmas, you can’t eat more than you can eat.
The attractive and tasty mushroom wellington can even be used as a substitute for ham. You can find the recipe in Joulun herkut magazine. Mari Moilanen
3. Cook with less electricity
You should prepare several foods or pastries with one heating of the oven. Savory dishes, such as Christmas boxes, can even be placed in the oven one on top of the other if the oven has a convection function.
Cake pans should be fitted to the oven before heating. You can often bake several cakes in parallel in the oven. When one batch is ready, immediately put the next one in the oven.
In the case of salty dishes, it is also worth using the initial and afterheat of the oven. So you can put the food in the oven as soon as the oven clicks on, and correspondingly, you can turn the oven off shortly before the food is to be taken out.
4. Create new traditions for Christmas
Think about whether you could do something completely new this Christmas.
For example, organize a Christmas baking day together with relatives, friends or neighbors. This way, with the same heating of the oven, a lot can be prepared at once, and the distribution of the workload among several people eases Christmas stress.
You can also exchange extravagant treats on the droopy Christmas table for stylish and festive platters. So you cover the entire Christmas meal, from starters to desserts, directly on the plate in front of the diners. In this way, you can accurately calculate portion sizes, minimize wastage, and therefore you can even replace ham with more expensive meat, such as reindeer or game.
Hot-smoked salmon escargot is made from Christmas salmon roe. Mari Moilanen
5. Take advantage of the loss.
It would be best if you only buy as much as you need, but estimating quantities is difficult, and the estimate is not always accurate.
However, using the stars after Christmas prevents food waste. You can make magic from the leftovers on the Christmas table, for example, Kotoisat pikkusuolaits for the New Year’s party.
If there is no immediate use for the leftovers, they can, for example, be frozen for later use. For example, ham leftovers can be frozen, as can hard cheeses, which should be grated before freezing.
Leftover vegetables can be made into vegetable broth and frozen, for example, in an ice cube tray. You can make delicious sauces for winter game dishes from the wines left at the bottom of the wine bottles.
The story continues after the picture.
In Joulu herkut magazine you will find ideas for Christmas meals as well as decorating your home and making small gifts. Mikko Huisko
More tips and recipes from Joulun herkut magazine
Joulun herkut magazine offers no less than 79 tasty recipes and practical ideas for the Christmas dinner table, baking, home decoration and homemade gifts.
You can also find a supplement to all the saving tips mentioned above in the magazine. There are plenty of recipes in the magazine for side dishes, leftovers and new types of vegetarian delicacies. The magazine also covers saving electricity in both cooking and installing Christmas lights.
Top chef Hans Välimäki conjured up a wonderful fish table for Joulun herkut magazine and gives tips for choosing and preparing gray salmon. Of course, Välimäki’s Christmas table includes not only fish, but also other delicacies and tasty desserts.
If you want a change from home flavors, you can grab a menu for an Italian Christmas Eve dinner with starters, mains and desserts and drink tips from the Joulun herkut magazine.
Buy the Christmas Treats special magazine together with Iltalehti or read magazines and theme magazines from Iltalehti Plus.