Category: Holidays (Page 1 of 2)

Just a few weeks til the Big Day!  You can start now getting your plans together so that your Thanksgiving Day will be easier and even enjoyable. This post is meant to help you find your way through preparing a big Thanksgiving Dinner.  Be sure to get your FREE Thanksgiving Planner using the link below!

I started planning big holiday meals years ago and it has enabled me to let go of last minute stress and hurry. There isn’t much I like LESS than having to hurry through a recipe or making a meal.

I’ve gathered all my Thanksgiving Helps together from all over this site so you can use them if you want to.

You can start today by putting together your menus, grocery lists both perishables and non-perishables, checking to see if you have all the equipment you will need to cook the meal, cleaning out your refrigerator and using this post to create a timeline of what you want to get done before Thursday, November 28th.

You can print this page out and use these lists, adding your own notes, to help you prepare.

Here is a link to my FREE Thanksgiving Planner!

Friday, November 22nd
Make pie crusts for the freezer. I freeze them between waxed paper, flat on a cookie sheet and store them in a ziplock bag, lying flat.
Make cornbread and biscuits for dressing, crumble and freeze in plastic bags.
Grocery shop for non-perishables
Clean bathroom and do general straightening in the house

Saturday, November 23rd
Take turkeys out to defrost
Grocery shop for perishables
Cleaning and laundry

Monday, November 25th
Check on turkeys as they defrost
Clean dining room, put out plates, utensils, etc.
Set out all casserole dishes, pots and pans, see if I have what I need to cook everything
Make Aunt Eura’s Yeast Rolls and put in freezer.  Also see How To Make Yeast Rolls For The Freezer. 
Make Cranberry Relish, refrigerate

Tuesday, November 26th
Brine the turkeys. I’ll use the Traditional Turkey recipe this year!
Assemble casseroles and refrigerate (sweet potato, green bean, any casserole that does not contain breads, baking soda or baking powder.)
Make a Breakfast Casserole for Thursday, freeze or refrigerate OR make a hot dip like artichoke spinach dip and serve it for an appetizer Thursday morning.

Wednesday, November 27th
Take Breakfast casserole/hot dip out of freezer
Bake pies. Try a REAL pumpkin pie
Make dressing and refrigerate
Make salads
Roast turkey, carve, refrigerate in chicken broth
Make centerpieces
Do last minute laundry

Thursday, November 28th – Thanksgiving Day
Put Breakfast casserole or hot dips in to bake
Take pies and yeast rolls out of freezer early
Make stuffing
Make mashed potatoes
Reheat turkey
Bake casseroles
Bake yeast rolls
Make gravy

Dinner is ready!

Hey, guess what? Its nearly Thanksgiving. And my life is SO busy right now that I am not going to be making very many new posts, but I WILL be using all my own Thanksgiving helps and recipes.

You can use them too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First there is my Thanksgiving Planner. Check it out if you need a map for getting Thanksgiving together. My 44 page Thanksgiving Planner includes……..

• Brief History of Thanksgiving
• Thanksgiving Games
• 4-Week Thanksgiving Planner and Devotionals
• Article: “The Danger of Unmet Expectations”
• Devotional: “Renew My Strength, Lord”
• Devotional: “Holy Living”
• Sylvia’s Turkey Tips
• Instructions for Brining a Turkey
• Recipes ~ both Family Favorite Recipes and Whole Food, Allergy-Friendly Recipes
• Harvest Crafts and Home Decor Ideas

 

 

 

 

Here is my personal planning list from last Thanksgiving, it might help you get started:

Sylvia’s Personal Thanksgiving Planning List 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then …..cleaning and decluttering and getting the house ready:

 

 

 

 

 

Fast And Furious Fall Cleaning in the …..

Living Room

Master Bed Room

Bathroom

Kitchen

 

 

 

 

 

A little simple, easy, tasteful decorating, perhaps?

Little Pumpkin Votive Holders

Easiest Decorating Idea Ever

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, about that TURKEY…  here are all my Turkey Tips in one place. Brining, defrosting, stuffing, roasting its all here:

Turkey Tips

 

You might want….

….my Homemade Disinfectants and Cleaner Recipes

….Mamaw’s Homemade Pue Crust Recipe

…Homemade Cranberry Relish

…Aunt Eura’s Yeast Rolls

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All my pie recipes…..

Chocolate Pecan

Chess

Buttermilk

Mammy’s Pumpkin

 

I will try to add more recipes and helps as I can. Have a lovely Thanksgiving! 

 

 

I’ve updated my Christmas Planner and if you need help getting it all together….. I really think my planner can help you.

The 2013 Planner is 28 pages long and  contains:   

 

• Christmas Devotionals – to encourage you and keep your mind on what Christmas is really about: JESUS!
• Weekly lists of what to do that you can add to or take away from to personalize
• Ideas for Christmas Traditions – how to start some,how to choose them, what to expect
• How to Host a Cookie Exchange -simple directions, loads of FUN!
• Many Recipes – including fast and easy meals for busy days
• Crafts and Decorating Ideas – inexpensive, beautiful, easy
• Gift Ideas – for every member of the family but especially those who enjoy vintage goodies.

I have used scripture and quotes about Christmas from one of my favorite authors, Charles Dickens, to help get your mind focused on the important aspects of this beautiful holiday.  The Christmas Story is included in the planner so that you can read it again or use it to read to your family!

My goal for the Christmas Planner is to help you decide what you must do this season, when to do it and how to get it all done without exhausting yourself or your resources.  I suggest you print off the lists and keep them either in a notebook or just anywhere you can see them frequently.  The devotionals are short, applicable to the weekly plans and each one ends with a prayer.

Go ahead and check it out, I think you’ll be very glad you did!

2013 Christmas Planner

 

 

Over at the Christian Homekeeper FaceBook Group we’ve been putting together all kinds of frugal ideas for Christmas. You can find ALL the ideas here. There are a LOT of great ideas on that page!

Here is a sample of the ideas:

* If you have well treated house plants like aloe vera, spider plants, or various herbs, why not do up potted plants for gifts?

*Look at thrift stores for nice coffee cups and run through the dishwasher and then use as a base for homemade gifts. I like to fill mine with hot coco mix, or tea bags.And a few pretzels dipped in chocolate and rolled in sprinkles. A gift I often give to teachers.
* Sharing your canned up foods can be a great gift too!
 *http://www.purlbee.com/… A friend shared how you can make an apron from an old pair of jeans! Looks easy. She used this pattern for the apron and a leg of a pair of jeans, opened up for the main part of the apron.
Molly’s Sketchbook: Adjustable Unisex Apron – The Purl Bee – Knitting Crochet Sewing Embroidery…
www.purlbee.com
* http://beingfrugalsally.blogspot.com/…
I’m thinking of making these super cute gift boxes for my nieces this year. Looks like a great way to reuse soda bottles.
Being Frugal Sally: Recycled 2 liter Bottle Penquin Gift Boxes
beingfrugalsally.blogspot.com

Go on over to the Frugal Christmas Blessings page and see what you can find………..

This week I am using my own Thanksgiving Planner and getting busy cleaning, organizing my thoughts and menus and buying a few supplies for the big feast.  

My focus this week is on getting my cabinets organized so I can find stuff and stocking up on items like nuts, butter and canned foods that I use to prepare the meal.

I also plan my Thanksgiving Menu this week though I can tweak it as I go along right up until Thanksgiving week.

Here’s my rough draft menu:

Roast turkey (brined beforehand)
Dressing
Gravy
Mashed potatoes
Sweet potato casserole
7-Layer Salad
Cranberry Relish
Yeast rolls
Green beans
Apple Caramel pie
Pumpkin pie
Iced tea, coffee and lemonade
 

 

We’ve been busy offering lots of Frugal Christmas Blessings over at the CHK Facebook page. Here are today’s ideas…..

From Nada ~ If you have well treated house plants like aloe vera, spider plants, or various herbs, why not do up potted plants for gifts?

From Cherylynn ~ Sharing your canned up foods can be a great gift too.

From Sylvia ~ A friend shared how you can make an apron from an old pair of jeans! Looks easy. She used this pattern for the apron and a leg of a pair of jeans, opened up for the main part of the apron. http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/2011/8/11/mollys-sketchbook-adjustable-unisex-apron.html

From Sarah ~ I’m thinking of making these super cute gift boxes for my nieces this year. Looks like a great way to reuse soda bottles. http://beingfrugalsally.blogspot.com/2012/08/recycled-2-liter-bottle-penquin-gift.html?m=1

From Jennifer ~ Cocoa snowmen. Use 3 jars stacked on top of each other. Put peppermint candies in the bottom, cocoa mix in the middle one and marshmallows on the top one and decorate.

All previous Frugal Christmas Blessings can be found here: http://christianhomekeeper.com/all-the-frugal-christmas-ideas/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Marg and Cindy ~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Sylvia ~ http://christianhomekeeper.com/simplify-gift-giving/ Some simple gift ideas from last year Save pretty glass jars and lids to put Christmas gifts in. Bean Soup, brownies in a jar, cookies in a jar, etc. , all look nice if they’re in decorative jars.

From Jennifer ~ For a young couple or someone who has recently gotten married, I one took a plastic recipe box and filled it with some of my favorite recipes. She loves is and still uses it now.

From Lori ~ To celebrate Christmas with our closest friends, we have a potluck each year. I generally host it, and as host I provide hot beverages and a hot main dish…..everyone else can bring whatever they like. Some bring appetizers, some bring desserts, some bring soda and wine…..and it changes year to year. But to celebrate Christmas with our friends we have enjoyed this tradition for over a decade….and we generally have around 20 people here, and I never have more than $20 out of pocket.

From Jennifer ~ My kids used to give my mom home made ornaments. It usually was either foam paper or construction paper with a picture of the child on it with a loop made of ribbon.

From Pam ~ Last year in October I bought a large leather crafting kit. The kids made bookmarks, key fobs, luggage tags, belts, and wallets. We learned the art of leather crafting and we gave their creations as Christmas gifts.

 

From Marg – Make snowflakes with puzzle pieces and a piece of ribbon. This would be even prettier with glitter.

Find all the 2013 Frugal Christmas Blessings HERE