I wasn't going to do a Thanksgiving dinner this year, as my husband is not American, and we don't live in the US... but after deciding that, I realized that I actually had everything in the house that I would need to make a Thanksgiving dinner, so I figured- why on earth not?Here's my menu, attempting to make our Thanksgiving dinner as frugal as possible:
Ground turkey and wild greens roll up. I made this last year for our Thanksgiving dinner and it was such a hit that I will be making it again, and this time, actually writing down the recipe so I can share it. I am cooking with ground turkey instead of making a whole turkey since whole turkeys are very difficult to get here, and ground turkey is not expensive.
Mushroom gravy. Easy as pie to make. Actually, much easier than pie- why do people say easy as pie when pie is far from easy?
Cornbread stuffing- made with homemade cornbread, carrots, celery, onion, and sage. Based on this recipe, but with a few changes.
Roasted potatoes. With rosemary.
Vegetarian succotash. I don't think I'll make this exact recipe- I think I'll use corn, green beans, zucchini, carrots, and onions instead....
Pumpkin pie. I still have to post the recipe that I will be using (it's been in my "Draft" folder for a while).
That's it!
What are you serving for Thanksgiving? Is your focus on traditional foods, or on keeping it cheap?
What a great idea, those turkey roll-ups!!! And I appreciate the corn-bread---miss it terribly, and this is a wonderful discovery! -- Sarah
ReplyDeleteBaked brie and bagel chips, Turkey and cornbread dressing and gravy, turnip greens, sweet and sour cabbage, carrot soufflé, sweet potato casserole, Corn pudding, cranberry and orange relish, deviled eggs, rolls, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and lime fluff ( lime jello, cool whip, cottage cheese, pecans)
ReplyDeleteTurkey was 13 pounds and on sale for 47 cents a pound with a $40.00 purchase. $6.11
Mom made stuffing and pecan pie and lime fluff and brought rolls.
Turnip greens are $1.00 a pound at Farmer's Market two pounds 2.00, plus 2.50 ham hock.
Cabbage was 99 cents
Carrots were .99 cents
Sweet potatoes were $2.00 for the bag about 4 pounds.
Corn pudding was about 1.00 for corn and cornbread mix and butter so $2.00
Cranberry per bag used two 1.99 plus one orange and sugar 2.3
Deviled eggs made 8, so 4 eggs is .36
Store made pumpkin pie 2.89 plus .99 for cook whip.
Brie and chips were around 6.00
Throwing in sugar and butter and spices used, oil and ice tea and cokes, spent around $45.00 for dinner.We have leftovers for 3 days. Plus I will make turkey soup from the wings and legs.
My mother hosts thanksgiving and I was asked to make biscuits and a potato dish. My father can not consume large amounts of fat and also has diabetes. So I wanted to cut out the fat and slow down the carb impact of these carby foods.
ReplyDeleteI made whole wheat rosemary and thyme drop biscuits, completely replacing all of the butter with mashed navy beans (I have SO many dried beans I was glad to use them!)
I also made barley drop biscuits but added onion and cheddar to them, and again replaced ALL of the fat with mashed navy beans.
For the potato dish I baked potatoes, cut them in half, scooped out the insides into a bowl, and broiled the skins. I mashed the potato guts with the same amount of navy beans, fat free ranch dressing and powdered onion seasoning. I put this mixture into the crispy skins, topped with a little cheese and broiled them.
The cheddar in both dishes was reduced fat.
Dad loved them, and everyone else picked a favorite biscuit and enjoyed the potatoes.
I am definitely making these again! And is the wheat biscuits don't get eaten quickly enough, they already have enough flavor to use in stuffing!
The potatoes were 2 dollars for 10 pounds, and both the beans and flour were cheap as well (bought years ago though). The only expense really was the cheddar and ranch dressing which was three dollars. Really.. Its kind of one of my most expensive meals.. But I splurged on the amount I had to make for the extended family, so I fed a lot of people for that cost. And it just feels good to feed people healthy food :)