Week 39 challenge | An earth-friendly Christmas dinner
You’re hosting Christmas dinner at your house and you’re thinking, “Lori, I’m already stressed out about MAKING an entire dinner for my family. Now you’re asking me to make it SUSTAINABLE?”
Don’t worry! These tips are created to help LOWER your stress level as you cook up a scrumptious meal.
According to The United States Environmental Protection Agency, the amount of waste produced in the United States increases about 25% between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Yikes!
Here are a few tips to help you be sustainable with your food prep and reduce waste this holiday season:
- Make less | What if this year, you simply reduced the amount of food you buy and make? I’m guessing a lot of your guests will thank you as they’ll go home feeling a lot better. Other benefits? Your stress level goes down because you don’t have as much to make and your budget will go further too.
- Get creative with leftovers | If you do have leftovers, make a Christmas dinner lasagna. Simply layer your chicken, stuffing and potatoes into a freezable casserole dish, making sure to use your leftover gravy between the layers. End with a layer of potatoes and pop it in the freezer for another meal you can easily heat up. Looking for more leftover meal ideas? I’ve got some more for you!
- Have guests bring their own re-usable container for leftovers | An alternative to the leftover lasagna, ask your guests to bring a re-usable container. If anything is leftover, they can fill it up, take it home and have another meal so nothing goes to waste!
Did you try this challenge? Post a photo of your guests enjoying your eco-friendly meal on social media with the hashtag #thrifty50 and tag us with @MCCThrift. We'd love to see how you're doing!
Until next Wednesday,
Lori Giesbrecht
MCC Thrift
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