This year I am hosting the Thanksgiving meal for my family and my husband's parents. Typically for holidays, my inner Martha Stewart comes out and I go overboard on everything, including spending money on food and other things.
This year we are trying to save some extra money for Christmas, so I'm challenging myself to trim down Thanksgiving.
1. Do you really need 10 side dishes? No! Pick your favorites and make plenty of it for the day and some leftovers.
2. Do you really need 6 desserts? Baking can get pricey, especially if you choose something with nuts like pecans- oh my-or chocolate etc.
3. If cooking a turkey, they are usually a good price, so you could get one bigger than you need to have leftovers to freeze.
4. Instead of buying premade pie crusts and rolls/bread, make some ahead and freeze them. Flour is cheap, butter isn't necessarily cheap, but in our case we prefer not to use margarine or shortening, which is usually in the premade crusts. Yeast rolls would come out pretty cheap cost wise too.
5. Frugal doesn't necessarily mean cheap to me. Frugal means, getting the best I can for the least amount of money. This year I plan to make a homemade green bean casserole. This will likely cost a little more than the usual canned green beans with cream of mushroom soup, but it would be healthier.
So what is my menu plan?
Roasted turkey, I may brine it the night before to flavor it and make it juicy
stuffing made from homemade bread (I use apple, onion and celery in mine)
mashed potatoes and gravy
sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top (the kid fave- and from fresh potatoes)
homemade green bean casserole
rolls
my homemade spicy/citrusy cranberry sauce
*deviled eggs
ice tea
pumpkin pie, cranberry raisin pie, pecan pie if on sale if not, mini cheesecakes
Seems like plenty to me. I might also throw in a fresh salad or a jello fruit salad if I fancy it at the time. But I'm not planning it. The deviled eggs may or may not make it either, we'll see.
5 comments:
sounds great, very similar to mine, i do add the salad, and omit green beans, they all like corn and peas, as well as CANNED cranberries :( we go to a great aunts house for pie and coffee, so that really helps, i usually bring a pie, and my older son bakes(!) sugar cookies to bring, most of which he eats himself before we even get therelol, it's a family joke by now! i sure love this time of year!
That sounds good! In our family everyone brings a dish. Thanksgiving is at my house and we are doing the turkey and mashed potatoes. My mom is bringing cranberry salad and pumpkin pies, my sister is bringing a veggie dish and rolls, my sis-in-law is bringing green bean casserole and something else. My other sis-in-law will probably make a different kind of dessert. Could you have family members bring something?
~Terri
Love your frugal Thanksgiving! =)
This year my best friend and I are cooking the meal together and splitting the cost.
And I love what you said, "Frugal doesn't necessarily mean cheap to me. Frugal means, getting the best I can for the least amount of money." Excellent point. Frugal isn't always cheap, but wisdom in stewardship. Love it =) I may have to share that quote on my blog...if that's okay?
Terri- that's usually what we do with my mom- everyone brings something and she provides the turkey. Buy my inlaws are traveling over 1500 miles and can't really 'bring' anything. They'll help cook on Thursday though, and I don't want them to give me money for it. If they want to contribute something else that's fine.
Kat- of course you can use my 'quote'! It's not like it's new or anything :)
Terri- that's usually what we do with my mom- everyone brings something and she provides the turkey. Buy my inlaws are traveling over 1500 miles and can't really 'bring' anything. They'll help cook on Thursday though, and I don't want them to give me money for it. If they want to contribute something else that's fine.
Aahhhh, gotcha! OK, you'r plan sounds great, enjoy the holiday!
~Terri
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