Thanksgiving is just days away and it seems almost
everywhere you go right now, you are bombarded with images of elaborate
spreads of gorgeous stuffed turkeys lined with rosemary and oranges
surrounded by all the trimmings.
While these images might be
beautiful, more often than not they can make you feel that unless you
recreate such an extravagant affair for your Thanksgiving feast, it
just won't be good enough. The reality, though, is that most of us do
not have the time or the money to pull off a magazine-like Thanksgiving
spread.
So to aid you in creating a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration without breaking the bank, I've teamed up with four other excellent bloggers to bring you Thanksiving on a Budget.
Amy from Amy's Finer Things, Erin from Five Dollar Dinners, Jessica from LifeAsMOM, Monica from TheHomespunHeart, and I will be bringing you some of our favorite Thanksgiving recipes, how-to's, decorating ideas, presentation tips, money-saving ideas, and much more. I think you're in for quite the treat and I hope that by the end of this week, you'll be inspired that you, too, can pull off a simple, but fabulous Thanksgiving–on a dime!
At the end of the week, we're going
to be enlisting your help as we'll open up the floor
here with a Mr. Linky and encourage you to post your favorite frugal
Thanksgiving ideas and recipes on your blog and then come back here to
share your link with everyone else. We look forward to hearing about your favorite recipes, tips and ideas for
making this Thanksgiving both frugal and festive!
It is our
desire that this series will help relieve some of the "pressure" that
is placed on you to create
the perfect meal on Thanksgiving Day. And we hope you are able to
instead focus more on what Thanksgiving is really all about–taking
time to give thanks for all of the blessings we have been given!
We’ll be spending Thanksgiving with relatives, so I don’t have all the pressure of cooking the meal myself, but I am looking forward to reading about other fun ways to make Thanksgiving special. 🙂
Thank you Jennie!
Christine
you can use coupons that are expired?
Easy Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
24 oz. fresh or frozen whole cranberries (washed and picked over)
2 C. sugar
2 C. water
2 whole cinnamon sticks
Directions
Mix sugar and water in a saucepan. Stir to dissolve sugar and add cinnamon sticks. Bring to boil, add cranberries, return to boil, reduce heat. Boil Gently stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until the berries begin to pop. Remove from heat. Cool completely at room temperature and refrigerate.
Yield: about 4 1/2 cups
Cranberry Tips:
* When the recipe says “cook until the cranberries pop”, don’t expect popcorn. This simply means the berry’s outer skin will expand until it bursts
* Do not wash cranberries until ready for use, as moisture will cause quicker spoilage.
* When washing, look for bright, plump cranberries and pick out any soft, crushed, or shriveled berries.
* Peak season is September through December.
* Fresh cranberries will keep in the refrigerator for 4-8 weeks.
* You can freeze fresh cranberries for longer storage.
* You can substitute frozen cranberries in most recipes calling for fresh.
We may be having Thanksgiving at our house for the first time EVER, so this is very timely for me – thanks!
Help! My husband saw the real cranberries in the produce department and asked if I was going to make cranberry sauce. I’d love to surprise him on Thanksgiving with exactly that. My cooking skills are mediocre at best. I’m more of a Sandra Lee than a Martha Stewart if you know what I mean. He works really really hard and this year has not been easy for us(although I will say we are blessed that he is working and we are in no danger of not having a roof over our head or going without food). It’d mean the world to me to be able to extend a gesture that shows I am listening and what he says has value to me. Does anyone have an easy cranberry sauce recipe? Something I could do while keeping in mind I often have 4 bodies to referee/ parent? If so I would be thrilled if they could share it.
Christine
[email protected]
This sounds like a good idea to me! Anything to make life easier.
How cool! I am definitely looking forward to these posts. I already made Thanksgiving here because I’ve been writing a 4 week feature on Thanksgiving recipes over at Craftzine, but my dad just asked if I’d head up the kitchen while we’re all at his house, so now I have another opportunity. May even sneak in a new recipe or two!
I’m looking forward to this series as I am looking for inexpensive decorating and meal ideas.
fyi albertsons is having a great deal on turkeys until tomorrow
we bought a 20lb one for only $4
I’m looking forward to hearing all your great ideas! I love your site – you have so much helpful information to offer!
Wonderful idea!! Looking forward to your series.
Yay! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday so I’m really excited for this series.
What a blessing, especially after this month of unexpected expenses and an exhausted emergency fund. Thanks, Crystal.
Peace be with you.
MaryAnn
Oh I’m so excited about this series!!! Thank you for hosting it!!
Looking forward to the series! A great recipe for using up all your Thanksgiving leftovers is here: http://www.bulkfreezercooking.com/2009/08/leftover-casserole-from-thanksgiving.html
Sounds great.
I am looking forward to it!