by Jill Cooper
www.LivingOnADime.com

Thanksgiving can be a great opportunity to enjoy time with family and friends, but it’s easy to get overwhelmed at the thought of everything that you need to do. By making some simple changes to the way you approach some of the Thanksgiving preparation, you can save time and money and spend more time enjoying Thanksgiving and less time dreading it! Here are a few tips to help you make this Thanksgiving more fun and less stressful!

Larger turkeys are usually less expensive, so buy the largest one you can. If you have a small family, ask the butcher to cut your turkey in half and wrap each half separately. Then you can freeze half and save it for later so you won’t have weeks of Thanksgiving leftovers. Half a turkey is also much easier to handle and prepare for roasting. Just wrap the other half and freeze it to use for Christmas.

I’ve often made ham for Christmas just because by Christmas we are so sick of turkey that we don’t want to think of preparing another one – ever! If there are fewer leftovers after Thanksgiving, your family might not mind having turkey again. Then you would have one less thing to buy for Christmas dinner.

If you still don’t want to have turkey at Christmas, save it for some cold day in January. If you have a large enough crockpot, cook the turkey in the crockpot. If not, cook it on very low in the oven so that it slow cooks all day. It is amazingly delightful it is to come home to the yummy smell of slow cooked turkey!

Save money by making your own pies instead of buying the expensive pre-made ones. If the thought of making pie crust is too daunting, just buy a ready made crust. They are usually on sale for very little around Thanksgiving.

It really isn’t that difficult to make the filling for most pies. Pies are often easier to make than cakes or cookies. If you like the traditional pumpkin pie, most cans of pumpkin have the recipe on the back.

If your family and friends aren’t fussy about having the traditional pumpkin pie, you can make banana cream, chocolate, or butterscotch pie. Just mix a box of banana pudding and pour it into a baked pie crust. Cover it with sliced bananas and whipped topping. For the chocolate pie, use chocolate pudding with chocolate chips in it and cover it with whipped topping. For the butterscotch, use butterscotch pudding and whipped topping and sprinkle with butterscotch chips.

You don’t have to make so many pies that you could open a bakery. I have found that most kids are just as happy with a platter of cookies. Don’t overdo it. You’ll just wear yourself out! If you have time, make the cookies in the shapes of pumpkins and turkeys.

Save on your relish dish. Buying ingredients for a relish dish can get expensive, especially where we live. One year I paid more for my relish dish items than my turkey. If you have this problem, only use 3 or 4 vegetables on the relish dish instead of 10 and cut out on the more expensive vegetables. Broccoli and cauliflower are very high priced for us so, if I needed to save, I would probably use carrots and celery. Fill the celery with cheese or peanut butter or cut them into fancy shapes. On this occasion, the turkey is the star and most people won’t even notice that you cut back on the relish dish.

Don’t make so many side dishes. Like I said, the turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes are more important than everything else. By the time everyone stuffs themselves on those, they only eat a token amount of the side dishes. Why? Because, of course, everyone wants to save room for dessert!!!!!

Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam are frugal living experts and the authors of the Dining On A Dime Cookbook. Dining On A Dime will help you save money on groceries and get out of debt by cooking quick and simple homemade meals. For free tips & recipes visit www.LivingOnADime.com , sign up for our free Living On A Dime Newsletter and learn to save more!

Note from Shannon: The tips and ideas in this story are the types of things that are found in the Dining On a Dime Cookbook. I own this cookbook in the printed version and it quickly became a must have and my favorite go to cookbook. Check out the PDF version and download your copy today.

Save Big At Thanksgiving! is a post from: Staying Home with My Son

Now on to this week’s …

Monday: Herb and Butter Rice with Skillet Steak

Tuesday: Chili (made from last week’s beans)

Wednesday: Mashed potatoes with hamburger patties and gravy

Thursday: Tuna casserole

Friday: To be determined

Saturday: To be determined

Sunday: To be determined

Menu Plan Monday is a post from: Staying Home with My Son

The Premium calendar features 12 laminated, glossy photo pages that give your pictures a little extra pop, and matte date pages allow for easy writing. Use photos from 2010 to create the perfect gift that is enjoyed every day of 2011!

One lucky winner will receive a free 11×14 Premium Calendar from Picaboo — a retail value of $29.99!

Prize Details:

a. Winner will receive a coupon to Picaboo valid for a 12-month Premium Photo Calendar.

b. Promotion does not include shipping costs. Shipping within the continental US starts at $5.99 for USPS Priority Mail or $7.99 for Ground. The full list of shipping rates for calendars can be viewed on the website.

c. Coupon will expire on 2/15/11. This could be a great Valentine’s Day gift for a friend or loved one! Order by Monday, 2/1 to ensure delivery by Valentine’s Day with Ground shipping (within the continental US).

d. This giveaway is sponsored by and made possible by a donation from Picaboo. This giveaway is limited to one per person *globally* meaning the same person cannot win the giveaway on more than one site. Winner will be confirmed with Picaboo and if the winner has won on another site, a different winner will be picked.

How to Enter:

1) To enter this giveaway, please visit the Picaboo website and tell me which products you are most interested in. This entry must be done or your other entries will not be valid.

Extra Entries:

2) Subscribe to this blog and leave a comment that you are a subscriber.

3) Follow me on Twitter. – Comment with your username.

4) Send a Tweet about this contest. Comment with a link to your Tweet. This can be done once daily!

5) Blog about this giveaway. Comment with a link to your post.

6) Follow Staying Home with My Son using Networked Blogs on Facebook.

7) Follow Picaboo on Facebook. Leave a comment for each action.

Add my button to your website or blog. (See sidebar for button.) – Comment with a link to where the button can be found.

9) Comment on any NON-GIVEAWAY post – Unlimited Entries – Leave a comment for each entry with name of post to be counted.

This giveaway will end on January 19, 2011 at 12 Noon MST. The winner will be chosen at random using “And The Winner Is” plug in from all valid entries submitted. The winner will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to contact me confirming their contact information before another winner is chosen. This giveaway is open to anybody age 18 years or older.

UPDATE: This contest is now closed. And the winner is…

Stefani

Congrats Stefani! And thank you to all who participated. Watch for another contest coming soon.

CONTEST ALERT: 11×14 Premium Calendar from Picaboo is a post from: Staying Home with My Son

After we moved out of state, Mom would take us back to visit as often as she could. Usually we spent several weeks in the summer and sometimes we’d even get to go for Christmas.

After I had Andrew one of my goals was to make sure he got out there once in a while so he could create his own memories. And of course it was important to me that he got to meet these two people who were so important to me. While I wasn’t able to take him as often as I would have liked, I’m proud to say he does indeed have some great memories of the ranch and his great-grandparents.

I remember when I used to go back before, as a child and as an adult, I would feel this overwhelming happiness when we’d pass that “Welcome to California” sign crossing over the state line. I knew I was almost home.

It’s different now though. When I see the sign now my eyes well up with tears, and I feel sad knowing Grandma isn’t there anymore. I know she hasn’t been gone very long and the pain is still fresh, but California just isn’t the same without her, and I don’t think it ever will be.

Going back to Cali is a post from: Staying Home with My Son

On a side note, this post would have been published days ago if I had figured out earlier how to actually get it from my phone to the blog. Ha!

Blogging from my phone is a post from: Staying Home with My Son

I remember calling the baby’s father before I left for the bowling alley, telling him we needed to talk and arranging to see him the next day.

I remember grabbing a small plastic cup of water and grabbing my crackers I had brought with me and hid under the counter to manage my nausea before I left the bowling alley that night.

I remember pulling up to a stop light at an intersection.

I remember seeing an abandoned car sitting on the side of the cross road to my left.

I remember seeing a county sheriff’s deputy checking out the abandoned car.

I remember coming to and wondering where I was and what was happening.

I remember somebody holding my hand through the car window and telling me that everything was going to be ok.

I remember asking her to find my phone and calling my boyfriend, telling him I’d been in an accident and that I needed him and would he meet me at the hospital.

I remember calling my mom and before I could tell her what happened losing the strength to do so.

I remember the woman taking the phone from me and telling my mom what had happened and promising to stay with me until the ambulance arrived.

I remember the ambulance arriving and working on getting me out of the car.

I remember telling them over and over that I was pregnant and asking them if my baby was ok.

I remember them telling me everything would be fine and that I needed to calm down so they could get me out of the car and to a hospital.

I remember them finally pulling me from the car and putting me in the ambulance.

I remember the hospital trying to figure out how to make sure I was ok without risking harm to my baby.

I remember my mom arriving and holding my hand, telling me everything was going to be ok.

I remember my mom telling me the baby’s father had arrived and wanted to come back to see me.

I remember her telling me that I should probably tell him I was pregnant before he heard it from one of the doctors or nurses.

I remember being strapped to a hospital bed while I told my son’s father he was going to be a dad.

I remember getting x-rays and being told that the baby was probably fine and that he had more cushion than I did during the crash.

I remember the police officer who was checking out the abandoned car coming to the hospital to check on me.

I remember him apologizing for not stopping to make sure I was ok.

I remember him telling me that he was sure I was dead and he had to make sure he caught the guy and so he could pay for what he did.

I remember going home with my mom, barely able to move let alone walk.

I remember my mom helping me with a bath and making sure all the glass was off my body and out of my hair.

I remember calling my dad who was stationed in Japan at the time and telling him what happened.

I remember losing my job because I was too scared to drive and therefor didn’t have reliable transportation to and from work.

I remember the first time I drove again, the tears falling down my face as my sister assured me I could do it and was going to be ok.

I remember the long weeks, months and years following…trying to find a new normal.

I don’t remember the 19-year-old who was well above the legal alcohol limit hitting me from behind at an estimated 90 miles an hour and pushing me through a 4 lane intersection.

This time of year most people remember the happenings of September 11th. I also remember September 10th…and surviving.

10 Years Ago – A Night I’ll Never Forget is a post from: Staying Home with My Son

Wordless Wednesday is a post from: Staying Home with My Son

Nothing lost. Nothing gained. I guess that’s a plus.

Follow my progress and those I’ve teamed up with over at Plus Size Bloggers.

Weekly Weigh In – Meh is a post from: Staying Home with My Son

I mean come on already. It’s a good thing Tishia is doing such a great job and keeps me motivated or I would have given up already.

One pound down.

Follow my progress and those I’ve teamed up with over at Plus Size Bloggers.

Weekly Weigh In – Slow and Steady Wins the Race is a post from: Staying Home with My Son

A new theme, a new header, and a new button!

My New Look is a post from: Staying Home with My Son