Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year. It is full of family gatherings and great food! But what defines great food? Here in our house, great food is not defined by which grocery store I shop in, or by expensive ingredients like fresh sage and Brie cheese. It is defined by how we share it with our closest friends and family.
When I was young, my parents had a limited income, and yet every year, we had a beautiful Thanksgiving dinner. To make it special, my mother would pull out her best china and we would set a beautiful table. She made a pumpkin pie every year, and sometimes an apple pie, if she had time. She would also make a Jello mold that would have some sort of fruit cocktail in it. We loved it! We had a turkey, stuffing, and potatoes with squash, green beans, and rolls. This meal was special every year and it didn't come with a table of appetizers, alcoholic beverages, or expensive centerpieces. What I'm trying to say, is that you don't have to go out of your way (or your budget) to have a beautiful Thanksgiving day, the memories are going to be as special as you make them. Simple is the key.
Today and tomorrow, I am going to give you a rundown of what I am serving for dinner on Thursday. I will give you recipes and tips for each dish. I am going to apologize up front because there won't be time for me to take pictures until Thursday when I actually serve the food. If you have any questions about preparing the turkey, stuffing, or pies, please feel free to leave a comment. I will try to check back often over the next few days to help out.
So, here is what I have on the menu and how much I paid for everything. I have 10 people coming for dinner, so I will break down the cost per person for you as well. As you know, I try to keep everything at a minimal cost so that we can enjoy a wonderful meal, without breaking our budget!
Turkey- 16 pounds $7.50 (I got a great deal at Wegman's $0.48 per pound with a $25.00 purchase)
Potatoes- 5 lb. bag for $1.49 (white potatoes)
Butternut Squash- 5 lb. (2 large) $.99/ pound, $5.69
Yams- 2 lbs. $.39/pound- $0.78
Apples- 5 lb. Empire apples- $5.99 ( I will only use 7 apples in this bag which is just about 2.5 pounds so the cost is about $2.75)
Frozen green beans- $.99
Heavy cream- 1 qt. $4.99 (I will only use 1 cup to make whipped cream, so that is a total of $1.25)
Butter- 1 lb. (Walmart 2 lb. pack is $5.69 right now) $2.88
Pumpkin puree (I have some frozen in the freezer that I made from a fresh pumpkin, but you can get the puree at Aldi for about $. 89 a can.)
Flour- 5 lb. bag at Wegman's $1.29
Sugar- 4 lb. bag at Wegman's $1.79
Milk- 1 gallon 2% at Wegman's is $2.18
Stuffing- Arnold seasoned cubed stuffing- $2.50
I roll of pork sausage- Wegman's 2.50
! small bunch of celery- Wegman's $.69
1 bunch of sweet onions- Walmart $2.99
4 cans of chicken broth- Wegman's brand $.50 each- $2.00
The rest of the ingredients I need are in my pantry, these include: brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sage seasonings) I try to keep my costs for Thanksgiving to $40 or less. It could be cheaper if I left out a few things, but since it is just once a year and I usually serve my in-laws, I splurge a bit. My total for this year was $39.27. That is just $3.92 a person. That, I am grateful to say, is less than what it costs for a six piece chicken nugget happy meal at McDonalds and it includes dessert!
** Something important to remember is that you don't have to purchase the larger container. For example, I purchase a quart of heavy cream. I know that I'll use that in other recipes this week, but you can purchase it by the half pint and pint for less than what I paid for it. The same with the apples, if you don't have $5.99 to spend for a 5 lb. bag, you can buy them by the pound. This time of year you can usually find them for $.99 per pound. When I did my calculations, I only added in the cost for what I am going to use for Thanksgiving dinner, so if you were to add based on what I spent, the total would be a bit more. Hope that this isn't too confusing!**
Now I am going to walk you through cooking that big ole' turkey! It is not nearly as intimidating as it may seem!
Easy Turkey Cooking Instructions-
We don't fry our turkey for Thanksgiving, I have a counter top oven (that I love!) and it comes out perfectly every time!
My turkey is 16 pounds, and so the cooking time is approximately 15-20 minutes per pound. For health and safety reasons I choose not to stuff the bird before cooking. If you want to stuff it, it will take longer to cook. Remember, the stuffing and bird have to reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees to be safe. Don't rely on a pop up turkey timer, especially when you have stuffed the bird first.
Okay, so what do you do? First you need to remove the turkey and all of the bags (I know, gross right?) containing the liver, neck, and other internal organs. Thoroughly rinse the turkey in a clean sink and away from clean dishes (I move my dish drainer and all of my washing utensils before I rinse the turkey to ensure that there isn't any cross contamination.) Dry the turkey with paper towels as best as you can. Melt 1/4 cup of butter in the microwave or on the stove. Cut up two whole onions and the leaves of 5 stalks of celery. Stuff the cavity with the onion and celery and sprinkle the inside generously with sage, thyme, salt, and pepper. Brush the melted butter on the outside of the bird. Sprinkle the top with more thyme, salt, and pepper.
Cover the turkey lightly with foil (This is not necessary if you are roasting on the counter like me) Cook at 325 degrees for about 15-20 minutes per pound ( for me, this would be about 4 hours.) 30 minutes before the turkey is set to come out, remove the foil and turn up the heat on your oven to 375 degrees. This will give your turkey that nice golden color and crisp up the skin. Once your turkey is at the correct temperature (around 160 degrees) pull it from the oven and tent it with foil. Allow it to rest for about 20 minutes. It will continue to cook and should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Remember that the cooking time will vary based on the size of the turkey, so please be mindful and if you haven't invested in a meat thermometer, I would recommend getting one today. It will help to keep you and your family safe. If you have questions about how to use it, check out some great videos on YouTube...they can show you exactly where to measure the temperature on your turkey.
I hope that you found this post helpful! If you have any tips or tricks to share about how you prepare your turkey on Thanksgiving, please share them with us! I am always looking for new ideas!
Blessings to all!
Kim
FREECHIP DAN FREEBET www.ayambirma.com
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