The Top 5 Ways to Make Holiday Cooking Easier

Building on the article we did in last month’s newsletter – easing up the large appliance load for Thanksgiving dinner – this month, we’re giving you the top 5 ways to use your 360 Grill™ to make holiday cooking easier. Although some of these ideas work for both, cooking for the holidays is a little different – largely because you’re usually cooking more meals than just the one for Thanksgiving. More meals means you have to be even more creative in cooking for family, out-of-town relatives and friends that are staying with you over the holidays.

To try and make your life a little easier, we’ve compiled the following Top 5 list of ways that a 360 Grill™ makes holiday meal planning a breeze:

#1 Holiday Dinner Side Dishes
As we talked about last month, one of the biggest challenges in cooking for the holidays is the amount of food that requires your oven. Figuring out the timing of cooking so many courses to be ready at the same time can be difficult and, sometimes, downright impossible. By finding side dishes that can use your 360 Grill™ bake plate (or even the grill plates with a dish like our Grilled Sweet Potatoes) you can take some of the stress off your oven and the timing of your meal will go more smoothly.

#2 Breakfast & Brunch Made Easy

During the holidays, people tend to have the time off and the inclination to do special breakfast and brunch meals with the family. The bake plate works perfectly as a griddle for eggs, pancakes and even omelets, while the grill plates work for sliced ham, sausage and bacon. Plus, because it’s a 360 Grill™ with our patented slope, it’s actually going to be a healthier breakfast for your family since you’re knocking out some of the fat and grease. Then, just throw the removable plates in the dishwasher and you’re ready to start enjoying the day with the family.

#3 Finger Foods for Couch Potatoes
As much as wives and moms may hate it, sports and other TV specials have made the holidays a time to be a couch potato for many of the members of your family. As if sitting on the couch for a few days straight isn’t bad enough, then you add a bunch of unhealthy munchies on top of that and you’ve a perfect storm of packing on the pounds. Using your 360 Grill™, you can make quesadillas, sliders (mini-burgers) and even desserts like brownies directly on your grill. No need to dirty baking dishes or pans, plus you can make healthier versions from scratch of the same finger foods you’d find at the store.

#4 The Alternate Meal Maker
Have a vegetarian, someone with a special diet or even just an extremely picky eater at your holiday table? Often, anyone that falls into one of these groups may be a little less than wowed with any big holiday meal because their particular dietary needs aren’t being met. The 360 Grill™ gives you a perfect way to make an alternate main dish. From grilled eggplant for a vegan to a nice steak for a non-ham eater, you can use your grill to make the meal as special for someone with a special diet as it is for everyone else.

#5 Holiday Dinner for Few
Not everyone has a big family dinner at the holidays, because sometimes schedules and situations just won’t allow for it. Whether it’s travel restrictions or work that keeps you away from the family table during the holidays, it can be a bit depressing if you don’t do something special on your own.

If you’re just cooking for you, or you and a spouse possibly, you don’t want to do something huge like full honey-baked ham or turkey because you’ll be eating the leftovers for weeks. Using your 360 Grill™, you can make a special holiday meal – like grilled lamb chops or the pork tenderloin featured as this month’s recipe. This way, the meal can feel special, since it’s not something you eat every day, but you won’t be cooking for an army if there’s only two of you.