There are just too many close knit days to deplete the wallet even more these days. Considering Amazon is promoting things "up to 45% off", there's a good chance you'll find something worth the percentage, but maybe not, as sometimes the box stores have better deals. Like I've said in the past, "research is your friend" and one place might not be the best place to buy everything. It all depends on what you're looking for.
Or in our case, what we were looking at.
My mother decided to make Thanksgiving this year, as I had to work the week. It's the first time in a long time that I wasn't able to get off the day of and the day after.
As we usually go to a relatives, this year we didn't want to attempt it as it would have been too much to go up and back on Thursday. It comes out to be three hours in the car (round trip) to be there for what, two hours? One time we did try to make it to Sarasota, it took 5 hours of bumper to bumper traffic because everyone had the same idea of leaving town that morning. It normally takes 90 minutes door to door.
Which is also why we didn't want to chance it. Had I had Friday off, maybe. But who knows.
That's why we had dinner here. Too many variables. My mom invited a couple who she's friends with. We've come to call each other "family" because we do a lot together including Christmas and Easter dinner at their house, so doing national bird day at ours was okay.
The meal plan was such:
- Individual charcuterie cups
- Turkey (cooked in the crock pot - new recipe)
- Home made cranberry relish / sauce
- Green beans and broccoli
- Roasted mini red potatoes
- Rolls
- Home made Ambrosia salad (made by the guest)
- Sweet potato casserole with mini marshmallows
- Stuffing
- Dessert was made by our guest and it was Costco's pumpkin pie and home made spice muffins.
- Drinks were water and punch (cranberry, orange and pineapple juice mixed with some ginger ale)
Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures except for one, which was the burnt sweet potato casserole.
It was already cooked when my mom topped it with the marshmallows and put it in the oven under broil at the last minute.
Next thing you know, we're smelling something burning.
Whoops. We weren't paying attention because we were trying to set everything up on the table as well as being deep in conversation.
Everyone still ate it, but scraped the burnt off as much as we could. It wasn't an end all, as we just ate around the extra crispy parts.
Side notes for what was on the table / made:
- Amazon has various suggestions for "Thanksgiving dinner" ideas, and unfortunately, ordering an entire turkey through them would likely come from Whole Foods and cost you a literal arm and a leg. Or in this case, a wing and a leg.
- Solely based on the fact it's priced per pound plus a $13.95 delivery fee, even for Prime members (see here).
- This is why it "pays" to shop around: we got our three pound boneless breast at Aldi for $10.99 and it was big enough for four people, with leftovers. I couldn't find the circular that was promoting it, but if you search around, there's a Facebook page or two where people are talking about it.
- We cooked the turkey in the crock pot according various recipes found online. The most searched was "Crock Pot Turkey with Garlic Butter". Every site has a different value, so it's a matter of what you're going for.
- The pumpkin pie was "hacked": Our guest had seen a video on how to make the best of the big Costco beast.
- You take a biscuit cutter (pretend like you're making biscuits at home) and start cutting the pie up, into the round shapes. It becomes individual little pies. Add whip cream accordingly.
- What's left over of the pie, put all of that in a blender or pan and mush it all together. Scoop out that extra into bite sized balls and cover it in white chocolate. It's like pumpkin pie truffles.
- The spiced muffins were.. home made but I don't know how home made.
Overall, for a "1pm seating" we were done in two hours and our guest went home with full bellies and leftovers. My mom and I put the rest away, reset the table and by 4pm, were crashed on the couch, ready to watch a movie. You'd never know we had a big turkey dinner at our place just a few hours prior.
Now if we could only figure out how to limit the crazy amount of extras and dial it back so we don't feel like we're going to be throwing away more than what we need, that would be spectacular.
Also, when is a good time to turn the scale back to normal?
Take care of yourselves and watch your spending!
Cheers;
