Simple Steps to create an Easy Christmas!

sarahlholmes76
Dec 4, 2025
8 min read

The holiday season often brings excitement mixed with stress. Preparing for Christmas can feel overwhelming with endless to-dos, from decorating, to cooking and gift shopping. But celebrating Christmas doesn’t have to be complicated or exhausting. With a few simple steps, you can create a joyful and easy Christmas that focuses on what truly matters: spending quality time with loved ones and enjoying the festive spirit.

Plan Ahead with a Realistic Schedule

One of the best ways to keep Christmas easy is to plan early and set a schedule that fits your lifestyle. Avoid last-minute rushes by breaking down tasks into manageable chunks over several weeks.

Make a checklist of everything you want to do, such as decorating, shopping, cooking, and catching up with the people you love. Not everything needs to be on the big day! In our extended family we have our Christmas get together early in December, and it's always epic! That way, we get to see each other, not be stressed and it frees up Christmas for our own families.
Set deadlines for each task to avoid piling everything into the last few days. Those tasks that require budgeting can be aligned with your pay cycle to minimise the last minute impact.
Prioritise what matters most to you and your family. For example, if baking is a tradition, plan for that early. If sending cards feels stressful, consider a digital alternative. Or let go of those things that simply aren't important to you. Making a list of your 'non negotiables' is a good way to clarify what is important to you...and to get rid of what isn't!

Planning ahead reduces stress and gives you more time to enjoy the season.

Choose Easy and Delicious Meals

Holiday meals often cause stress due to their complexity. There's all this expectation, and it's so unnecessary! You can enjoy festive food without spending hours in the kitchen.

Opt for one-pot dishes or easy 'throw together' dishes that can be prepared in advance.
Plan a potluck-style meal where guests bring a dish, reducing your workload and adding variety.
Prepare a simple but special breakfast for Christmas morning, like cinnamon rolls or fruit salad.
If you can't afford a turkey don't buy a turkey! That's exactly the type of expectation we're trying to challenge! There's nothing wrong with sausages on the barbie and a couple of roast chickens (really cheap at the moment)! We always have bacon and egg pie at the beach on Christmas Day...traditions don't need to have big price tags!

Focusing on easy meals lets you spend more time with family and less time cooking.

Create Meaningful Traditions That Fit Your Life

Traditions make Christmas memorable, but they don’t need to be complicated or time-consuming. Choose a few simple activities that bring joy and connection.

Read a favorite holiday story together each night.
Watch a classic Christmas movie as a family. Popcorn and hot chocolate can be a cheap and special tradition (more to come on that next week!)
Take a walk to see neighborhood lights or visit a local holiday market.
Volunteer or donate to a cause that matters to you.
Christmas baking fills the house with warm and happy smells! And it's a cheap and personal way to make gifts for neighbours, teachers and extended family.

These small traditions build lasting memories without adding pressure.

Manage Gift Giving with Thoughtfulness and Simplicity

Gift giving can become stressful if it feels like a race to buy the perfect present. Simplify this part of Christmas with thoughtful choices.

Set a budget for gifts to avoid overspending.
Consider experiences instead of physical gifts, such as tickets to a show or a family outing.
Make handmade gifts or personalized coupons for favors or activities.
Use gift exchanges like Secret Santa to reduce the number of presents needed.
Wrap gifts simply with recycled paper or fabric for an eco-friendly touch.

Thoughtful gifts show you care without creating extra stress.

Focus on Connection Over Perfection

The heart of Christmas is connection. When you focus on spending time with loved ones rather than perfect decorations or complicated and/or expensive meals, the celebration becomes more meaningful. Accept that things might not go perfectly and enjoy the moments as they come. Easy totally means better!

And easy is what we're all about! Here's a few recipes from our cookbooks that we think might help to make your Christmas, well easier!! And they're not expensive, use mainly store cupboard ingredients....and they taste fantastic!

We hope they help to make your Christmas a little easier too.

Sarah

1/6 TOMATO, GARLIE AND BASIL BRUSCHETTA

This recipe is so easy to throw together and makes a perfect accompaniment to pre-dinner drinks or as a starter. The bread can be toasted and the tomatoes prepared ahead of time to put together just before serving. Of course, if you have tomatoes and basil in the garden over summer, all the better...and cheaper!

Ingredients

1 whole baguette or crusty loaf

4 tbsp olive oil

5 cloves finely chopped or crushed garlic

2 x 180g (6.4oz) punnets cherry tomatoes, quartered

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

16 fresh basil leaves, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
Cut the bread into slices approx. 1 cm (1/2inch) thick.
Place on an oven tray and bake until the bread is lightly toasted.
While the bread is toasting, heat the oil in a small frying pan over medium heat.
Add the garlic and stir for approx. 1 minute to slightly roast the garlic.
Pour the garlic oil into a large bowl.
Add the tomatoes, vinegar and basil, and mix to combine. Season to taste.
The tomato mixture can be left to marinate until you are ready to serve.
Just before serving, place spoonfuls of the tomato mixture on the toasted bread.

Serves: 6

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

2/6 PRAWN AND GRAPEFRUIT COCKTAIL

Don't let the retro styling of this beauty fool you, it's just as fab now as it was in the 70s! There are many different versions of this, but this one has the addition of grapefruit which gives the cocktail a burst of tart freshness and lightens the dish. Traditionally served in glasses on a bed of lettuce, for ease of prep, it's just as delicious in a big bowl. And to make it stretch further at Christmas, Surimi mix can be added!

Ingredients

500g cooked prawns, peeled, deveined and tails removed

1 grapefruit

3 tbsp mayonnaise

2 tbsp tomato sauce

1 tbsp lemon juice

shredded iceberg lettuce, paprika and finely chopped parsley, to serve (optional)

Method

Place the prawns into a large bowl. Peel the grapefruit and cut into 1cm cubes, removing any pips. Add to the prawns and toss to combine.
Mix the mayonnaise, tomato sauce and lemon juice in a small bowl then pour over the prawns and grapefruit. Gently fold through until just combined.
Season with salt and pepper.
Spoon into glasses on top of a little bed of lettuce and place in the fridge until ready to serve. Sprinkle with paprika and parsley just before serving, if using.

These are best served on the day they are made.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 0

Serves: 4

3/6 GLAZED HAM

Whenever there is glazed ham on the menu, you know there's something worth celebrating, and nothing says Christmas quite so well as a glazed ham! While they are a bit more pricey, a ham is an easy way to feed a crowd and there are always leftovers to enjoy over the coming days.

Ingredients

1 leg of ham

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup rum or pineapple juice

Method

Remove your ham from the fridge about one hour before cooking to bring to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 160°C.
Remove the skin from your ham. Using a sharp knife, cut through the skin at the knuckle end and around the sides.
Slide your knife between the skin and the fat then gently run your fingers underneath, slowly easing the skin off and leaving the fat.
Score the ham. Using a sharp knife, make incisions about 2-3cm apart in a diagonal pattern all over the surface, making sure you only cut into the fat and not the meat.
Place the ham in a roasting dish.
Place brown sugar, maple syrup and the rum or pineapple juice into a small bowl and mix until well combined.
Spread over half the glaze, then pop in the oven for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and spread with the remaining glaze. Place a cup of water into the base of the roasting dish to avoid the glaze from burning and to keep the ham from drying out.
Place the ham back in the oven and cook for a further 30 - 40 minues, basting the ham every 10 minutes or so (with the glaze in the bottom of the roasting dish), until the ham is brown and golden.

4/6 STRAWBERRY AND CUCUMBER SALAD

This recipe is a delightful fusion of sweet and crisp and is the perfect salad to celebrate Christmas in summertime!

Ingredients

250g stawberries, hulled and quartered

1/2 cucumber, diced

1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped

100g feta cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh mint

3 tbsp mint sauce

2 tbsp pumpkin seeds, toasted

Method

Toss the strawberries, cucumber and red onion together in a large bowl.
Sprinkle the salad with the feta, mint, mint sauce and pumpkin seeds.
Serve chilled.

Serves: 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 0

5/6 NO-BAKE CHOCOLATE TART

This dessert is not for the faint-hearted so perfect when we get to treat ourselves a little at Christmas! It's rich and tastes heavenly, and a little goes a long way so great for a crowd. Delicious served with fresh berries. Not replacing the pav (of course!) but that deserves its own wee post next week! And Christmas should always be a two pudding kinda day, don't you think?!

Ingredients

Base

2 packets (2 x 133g/2 x 4.7oz) Oreo cookies

100g (3.5oz) butter, melted

Filling

1 cup (125ml) cream

50g (1.8oz) butter

350g (12.3oz) dark chocolate, roughly chopped

1/2 tsp salt

Method

Place the cookies in a food processor and process into fine crumbs.
Add the melted butter and pulse until well combined.
Press the mixture into a 20cm (8inch) tart pan with a removable base.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes before adding the filling.
To make the filling, place the cream and butter in a small saucepan and heat until it's just beginning to bubble around the edges and the butter has melted (do not boil).
Remove from the heat and add the chocolate.
Let it sit for 2 minutes without stirring, then stir gently until the mixture is well blended.
Stir in the salt.
Pour the mixture onto the base, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Serves: 10-12

Prep Time: 15 minutes, plus chilling time (4+ hours)

Cooking Time: 0

6/6 CHEAT'S NOUGAT

Just one more sweet treat, because Christmas wouldn't be the same without a wee little something extra! This nougat recipe is so simple to make and yet so impressive to serve. Lovely with a cup of coffee, to share with your family and friends, or, better still, make a batch or two to give away as homemade gifts.

Ingredients

200g (7oz) white chocolate chips or buttons

200g (7oz) white marshmallows

200g (7oz) whole toasted almonds or pistachio nuts

Method

Grease and line a 20x20cm (8x8 inch) baking tin.
Melt the chocolate in a large microwave-safe bowl in the microwave, using 30 second bursts.
Add the marshmallows and microwave for an additional 30 seconds, or until the marshmallows have melted.
Add the nuts and stir until well combined (the mixture is quite stiff and sticky).
Press the mixture into the prepared pan using wet hands.
Refrigerate, then cut into pieces when set.