Sunday, November 25, 2012

Thanksgiving dinner on a budget

So the holidays and a couple of viruses got the better of us (Colton first,then me) so that I didn't get to post these past weeks. However, I'm back and ready to share!

For Thanksgiving, we decided to host the meal to save us the trouble of packing and driving across Texas with two very small children. We made the traditional feast of stuffing, turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, rolls and of course, gravy. However, the prep was anything but traditional. Have you ever heard of working smarter, not harder? Well, that's me to a "T". For the stuffing, I didn't feel like cutting all the vegetables, so I got a "stuffing starter" from HEB (cut up veggies and spices) and then tweaked it to my liking. It turned out perfectly! Another cheat-I bought a pre-cooked turkey and warmed it in a roaster with chicken broth. Then, the night before and morning of the big day, I came down with a violent stomach virus. My mom and mother in law, and my Dad and step-dad and hubby stepped in and saved the day. Everything tasted great! (a day later when I could finally eat again, that is.)

I'm going to plug HEB here, but I bought almost all of our Thanksgiving supplies for <$50. My mom made the cornbread for the stuffing and the pumpkin pies, but I bought the turkey (~11lbs), canned goods, and stuffing starter, broth, potatoes, etc. The store does these deals where you buy the main thing and get so many items for free. This time, I bought a turkey, and for free, I got salad, ranch dressing, cookies, aluminum disposable roaster, and something else I can't remember now. At the end of the receipt, it said I had saved more than $26 over the course of all the BOGO deals, brand savings and the meal deal. I love my grocery store!

In summary, my family and I were able to pull off a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner while having a stomach virus, and all for around $50!


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