Here is the menu again:

• Turkey – There are great prices on turkeys right now and I usually get one slightly larger than what we can eat.  That ensures leftovers for a couple of days.  Make sure to thaw your turkey in plenty of time for Thursday.
• Mashed potatoes & gravy
• Stuffing – Straight from the box will work.  Use stock from the turkey, or boil the turkey innards and use the stock from that to give your stuffing a delicious flavor.
• Green Beans – Fresh or canned will work.  Add some bacon to spruce it up if you’d like.  Really any vegetable will work.
• Rolls – Although I love to bake, Thanksgiving is too busy for me to bake bread, so I buy these from the store
• Yams and Marshmallows – mmm mmm goodness!
• Cranberry Sauce – You can use this straight from the can.
• Pumpkin Pie or Pumpkin Cheesecake – I noticed this year that the pre-made pumpkin pies are 2 for $5.  I think it’s a great price and I may cheat and just buy one instead of cooking one.

Remember that even when finances are tight, you really can pull off a nice holiday meal.  Also, while all the ingredients are on sale this week, you can stock up on some pantry items like broth and stuffing.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

1. Check parenting forums for their for sale or trade items.  There are many great deals on there and if they have a section where you just pay shipping, you can get an even better deal.
2. Check eBay.  The past couple of years I have gotten pretty good deals on costumes for my older son.  The best part is that I resold the costume the next year and got my money back!
3. Go to thrift stores.  Thrift stores have all kinds of costumes, clothes and props, so your creativity is the limit.
4. Lastly, if your store has an area where they keep dress up clothes, check there.  A lot of times they have the same types of costumes as the Halloween section, but at a reduced price.

Ideas for Cheap Costumes

• Ghost
• Clown
• Hobo
• Witch
• Dress as the opposite sex
• Businessman

Just to share what I did this year.  I got my youngest’s costume from a friend.  She was only going to charge me shipping on a cute little pumpkin costume (which would have been $3), but then she just sent it to me for free.  My oldest wanted to be Spiderman, but I was having a trouble finding a nice costume at a reasonable price.  I was outbid on eBay so many times and was getting frustrated.  So, while I was at Walmart one day, we were going through the toy aisles.  In the back, they had a dress-up section which had a Spiderman costume.  Couple of bucks cheaper than the actual Halloween costumes and it comes in a hanging case.  I think I got great deals this year!

I needed an idea that wouldn’t cost a lot, would bring us all together as a family and would perhaps even result in some Christmas gifts that they could give away.  Then the idea hit me – we would have a family baking party.

We plan on doing this tomorrow and have decided to bake Gingerbread Men, Christmas Sugar Cookies, Peanut Butter Cookies and Lemon Cookies.   To ease the burden for everyone, each household will bring something simple like a bag of sugar or a bag of flour.  Each person will have a task in the mixing process, the baking process, the decorating process and the packaging process.  Along the way, we will share a great afternoon together as a family, which is a nice change from our business at our jobs and lives.  In the end, each person will have a sense of accomplishment and a gift to give to another family member or friend.

I encourage everyone to spend a little extra special time doing things with their families.  In the rush of our everyday lives, the ones closest to us are neglected along with our relationships.  Use this time to nurture each other and enjoy the time together.