With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I seem to be focused on cooking.  I’m gathering my favorite recipes and looking for some new ones that could become family favorites.  One of the challenges for many families, especially this year, is creating a feast on a limited budget.  Even though turkey prices are usually reasonable, like most families, I’m looking at a variety of side dishes to round out the table and fill up our tummies.

Last week I talked about making dishes that are more creative for your guests who are vegetarian.  If you’d like to read about serving beautiful meatless main dishes, click here.

The same theory applies to the side dishes served with a turkey as the centerpiece of your meal.  Just because you’re looking for frugal dishes to make doesn’t mean those dishes have to be sparse looking or tasting.

What are some of the classic side dishes you enjoy at Thanksgiving time?  If the famous Green Bean Casserole is on your menu, you’re in luck.  There are many variations to this dish that will spruce it up a bit, making it more of a centerpiece in the meal.  Add extra crunch with water chestnuts or almonds.  Spice it up a little more with a dash of soy sauce.  You could stretch this classic dish out a little further by adding flavored croutons to give it more of a casserole appearance and texture and less of a green bean side dish.  Think of your Green Bean Casserole as more than a side dish – think of it as a guest of honor on your table.

Don’t forget to make extra stuffing when you stuff the bird.  A bit of extra stuffing cooked in a casserole dish adds a lot more mileage to your feast.  Kids especially will love filling up on this inexpensive side dish.  Pass some more gravy and you’ve got another full plate, and full tummy!

And, what about those mashed potatoes?  They’re yummy with just a bit of gravy, true, but you could turn them into a glorious creamy casserole instead.  By whipping in some sour cream, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, half-and-half, some chives, or whatever else you can think of.  Your once plain ol’ mashed potatoes are now ready for their close-up!  These potatoes take center stage on any holiday table when topped off with a little butter and a sprinkle of paprika.

Serving dinner rolls to help stretch your food budget is smart, but putting cranberry muffins or pumpkin muffins on your table is even better.  I know many people who will pass up a regular dinner roll but will help themselves to a couple flavorful muffins when they are passed around the table.  Muffins are easy and inexpensive to make and will stretch your food budget without anyone noticing – or caring!

Pumpkin pie is a classic, but you really can’t stretch it very far.  If your dinner guests are dessert fanatics, try a pumpkin cake in addition to your pumpkin pie.  You can serve quite a few people with one cake, stretching that food budget even further.

When you plan your Thanksgiving or other holiday meal, keep in mind that you can stretch your budget by serving side dishes that are economical, but more importantly, that are a feast for the eye and the tummy!  If your guests can’t resist helping themselves to more of your side dishes, you will accomplish what you set out to do – serve a glorious and plentiful meal at an affordable cost.  And that’s something to be thankful for!

p.s.  If you are looking for a recipe for a perfectly roasted turkey click here.

p.p.s.  You may want to review a whole list of recipes to find even more side dishes to stretch your holiday food budget.  Just click here for some tasty holiday recipes that could become your new family favorites.

It may seem a bit early to be thinking about shopping for Christmas gifts, but, if you’re like me, trying to save as much money as I possibly can, you should probably start today.  Planning a more affordable Christmas this year doesn’t have to mean cutting out all the gifts, decorations, food, and fun.  You just need to start early, use your creativity, and base your shopping on good judgment.

Christmas time is supposed to be a time of joy and celebration.  If you are burdened with debt because you overspent on gifts, your heart will not be light and full of good cheer.  Those expensive gifts can become a burden that strips away the joy of the season.

Let’s look at some basic strategies for slashing the overspending that can occur at Christmas time.

Plan Your Gift Budget – This is so basic you would think that most people already do this, but many don’t, and that is where the trouble starts.  Don’t start with a gift list, start with writing down exactly how much you can afford to spend on Christmas gifts this year.  Don’t forget that you’ll need to budget for the rest of your Christmas expenses, too.  Things like decorations and food need to be budgeted for, so keep the total expense in mind.

Make Your Gift Recipient List – Write down everyone you normally buy a Christmas gift for.

Remove Some People From That List – This may seem a bit difficult, but you are almost guaranteed that after you go through your list, you’ll find someone that you really don’t need to buy a gift for this year.  If it makes you more comfortable, just move their names to the bottom of the list so you can remember to do something for them, even if that doesn’t involve buying a gift.

Plan Dollar Amount For Each Recipient – Write a dollar amount behind each name that you now have on your list, then add it up.  Are you outside your budget for gifts?  You’ll need to go back then and rethink each amount and adjust the figures until it fits within your gift budget.

Make Your Gift List – Now you can go through your list of names and start jotting down ideas for each person.  Because you’ve created a budgeted dollar amount for each individual, your ideas now have a limit.  The problem most people get into when they shop for gifts is that they create a gift list with gift ideas first instead of dollar amounts first.  To save your budget, always start your gift list with the dollar amount to be spent for each gift recipient.

Start Your Shopping Early – Yes, there are some great bargains to be found as you get closer to Christmas, but the panic that sets in usually ends up costing us more than we planned.  Last minute shopping narrows your choices.

Re-Think Gift Shopping – Consider more inventive options for at least some of the names on your list.  Shop smart and thrifty by looking through bargain basements and resale shops.  Yes, even a trip through the second-hand stores may prove to be rewarding.  You’ll never know what kind of fun and funky finds you’ll come across.  For instance, you might find great vintage jewelry that would be just right for a teenager.  You may even stumble upon some antique books.  And, what little princess wouldn’t like a big box of sparkly gowns to play dress-up in?  You’ll find racks of bejeweled, lacy, and shimmery dresses on the bridal and special events racks in most larger thrift shops.  Check it out before you head to the mall.

Homemade Gifts – If you are creative, if you can follow a pattern, if you can cook, or if you just have a desire to make something nice, put your skills to work and make a gift.  Something as simple as a pretty jar filled with bath salts can be just the right gift to give a friend in need of a relaxing moment. Gifts made from the heart are always appreciated.

Leave Yourself Off Your Gift List – If you’re tempted to buy yourself stuff while you’re shopping for gifts, you’ll need to give yourself a stern talking to!  There are so many lovely things out there in the store aisles and they all seem to be calling your name.  That is what is called “marketing to the impulse shopper.”  If you have no control, give your list to someone else who has more self-control and is willing to do your shopping for you.  Know yourself and avoid this pitfall.  Your budget can’t take it!

This is my frugal challenge to you.  Hold onto the joy of Christmas gift giving by setting your gift budget within your means.  Don’t go into debt in order to give gifts that you cannot afford.  Your family and friends would not like it if they knew their gift caused you a hardship.

According to information from the folks at Butterball, about 90% of Americans cook a turkey for Thanksgiving and about 50% of Americans cook a turkey for Christmas.  That’s a lot of turkeys being consumed over the holidays to say the very least.

Turkeys are normally a very frugal choice for holiday meals.  Price per pound is typically very attractive so you can feed a lot of people for very little money.  But, how do you know what size turkey to buy?  You don’t want to plan too small and feel like you passed up a real deal, but you don’t want to plan too big and end up being stressed out about wasting leftovers.

Enter our friends at Butterball.com.  With a little help from their turkey experts, we’re going to give you some guidelines as to the size of turkey you should consider.  For simplicity, we’re going to assume that everyone would like to have leftovers.  Here are just a few examples:

• For a guest list of 4 adults and 2 kids, you’ll want to cook about a 7 pound turkey, using around 5 cups of stuffing.  If you are big eaters, go up to a 10 pound turkey and stuff it with about 7 cups of stuffing.
• If you are serving 4 adults and 6 kids, and there aren’t really big eaters in the bunch, you’ll be looking for a 10 pound bird and stuff it with about 7 cups of stuffing.
• What if you have a house full with 6 adults and 12 kids, and you’re all big eaters?  You’re looking at a whopping 24 pound turkey with about 18 cups of stuffing.

You also may want to consider alternatives to cooking one large bird.  If you have the oven space, you can choose two smaller turkeys and cook them together.  The advantage is more drumsticks, more thighs, more breasts, more wings… well, you get the idea.  If you choose this method, be sure you have two roasting pans that fit side-by-side in your oven, leaving room around the sides for the heat in the oven to move around freely.

Once you decide what size turkey or turkeys to buy, your frugal planning continues.  If you bought a turkey with leftovers in mind, it’s time to get out your recipes and lay out your plan of attack.  Cooking a 24 pound turkey and not having a strategy for leftovers means turkey sandwiches for weeks.  This is what produces that dreaded moment when you have to throw away food.

To prevent the “leftover panic” start by taking all the leftover meat off the bird and put it all into nice zip lock bags and set in the refrigerator.  Once the good meat has been packaged up, scrape all the leftover fat, skin, bones, and the entire carcass into a big soup pot.  Set that in the refrigerator if you don’t have time to boil it for stock right away.

In order to keep on track with this leftover turkey, get busy as soon as possible boiling the bones for stock and separating the meat into packages for recipes.

I’ve included a very simple stock recipe so you won’t have to put that off too long!  Here it is:

Classic Turkey Stock

• Put turkey carcass and all leftover fat, skin, and bones, in big soup pot – cover with fresh cold water.

Add to soup pot:

• yellow onion or onions – scrubbed clean but not peeled – cut in half
• celery – 1/2 a bunch – use leafy tops
• peppercorns – 8 or 16 depending on size of bird

Bring to boil, then immediately turn down to simmer slowly, gentle bubbles rising to the surface.  Put a lid on the pot loosely, tipped.  Let simmer for at least a couple hours, the longer the better.

Place a colander or large sieve in another big pot and pour through to strain off bones, vegetables, etc.  Pour stock into small containers and place in FREEZER to cool quickly.  If you want, keep some in the freezer and put some in the refrigerator, but not until the stock has been cooled completely in the freezer.

And, to help keep you on that frugal path, some simple recipe suggestions to use up the meat from the bird are listed here:

Turkey Veggie Stir Fry

Barbecued Turkey Oven Bake

Turkey and Swiss Calzone

Turkey Jalapeno Quesadillas

The frugal challenge when planning a holiday dinner is budgeting not only money, but the size of your meal.  You can do that if you plan the size of your bird ahead of time AND plan a strategy to use every last ounce of those leftovers.  You can get a lot of mileage out of a holiday turkey with a good plan of attack!