Because October is almost over and we’re about six weeks away from Thanksgiving, it’s time to do a quick detour away from Halloween (as much as that pains me!) to talk about planning for the next big holiday. And this post isn’t just about planning for Thanksgiving dinner. I’m talking about making a plan for last-minute pot luck invitations, dinner and breakfast for overnight company, kids returning from college, a big football dinner, etc. If we plan now, we can get most of that shopping done as early and cheaply as possible. That gives us more time to watch our favorite holiday movies!
Early Holiday Meal Preps
- I like to use a large legal pad for this activity.
- First, note if you’re having any visitors around the holidays.
- Mark the dates and number of people. Include the college kids coming home because they eat a lot!
- Decide how many large and small meals you need to make.
- If you’re not entertaining or cooking large meals, are you going to someone’s house and want to bring an appetizer or a dessert? If so, mark that down.
- NOTE: If you’re not doing any cooking or entertaining or bringing anything to a party, you’re don’t need to do the next activity.
- Jot down any meal ideas besides the big ones like Thanksgiving dinner. (See below for an example)
- Are you doing a dinner for guests the night before Thanksgiving?
- Breakfast on Saturday or Sunday?
- Or a dinner on Friday night after a long day of shopping?
- Will you be snacking while watching football games?
- It doesn’t matter the meals look like–write down any ideas.
- Sample weekly plan for feeding a house full of guests during Thanksgiving week is below.
- Here is a printable for a Thanksgiving Portion Planner.
- Here is a printable 6-Week Thanksgiving Planning Chart.
- Now itemize all of the meals and do a quick ingredient list.
- Once you have your list of ingredients, check the pantry, freezer, etc to see what you have or what you can use, even if you end up changing your menu plan.
- Make a complete shopping list.
- Highlight the ingredients you can buy now. Canned goods, meat you can freeze, baking goods, etc.
- Make a separate list for last minute items like fresh veggies. There’s no getting around buying fresh veggies closer to the date until you can have a farm/CSA deliver them to you.
- Collect coupons or sales flyers, begin to look for the best prices and start shopping.
- NOTE: Don’t run out and buy everything all at once! If you do that, you may miss out on sales that happen closer to the holidays. Take your list and your coupons and every time you go to the store, see if there’s anything on your list you can pick up now. If the shelves empty again, especially after the election, you’ll be happy you started now.
EXAMPLE WEEKLY FOOD PLAN, WITH SOME RECIPES, FOR COMPANY DURING THANKSGIVING WEEK: (It’s a lot of meals to make, but it’s still cheaper than eating out all week long!)
Monday Lunch (6 adults): Grilled Ham & Cheese and Tomato Basil Soup (soup made ahead to time)
Monday Night (7 adults): Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue Sliders & Poppy Seed & Peanut Cole Slaw
Tuesday Morning (4 adults): Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes and Bacon
Tuesday Lunch (4 adults): Warm Salad with Grilled Chicken (partially made ahead of time)
Tuesday night (8 adults): Slow Cooker Black Bean Chili party around the fire-pit with store-bought cornbread.
Wednesday Morning (6 adults): Baked Cranberry Oatmeal (prepped the night before)
Wednesday Lunch (4 adults): Leftovers from earlier in the week.
Wednesday Dinner (8 adults): Ham & Potato Chowder with store-bought sourdough bread and salad.
Thursday Morning (6 adults): Pumpkin Muffins & Lots of Coffee (muffins made and frozen ahead of time)
THANKSGIVING DINNER: Turkey dinner including apps and dessert (21 adults & 3 children under 8)
Friday Morning (6 adults): Pecan Pancakes and Bacon
Friday Lunch (8 adults): Thanksgiving Tea at local tea shop.
Friday Dinner (10 adults): Turkey sandwiches and other leftovers.
Saturday Morning (6 adults): Breakfast is scrambled eggs and leftover Thanksgiving pie!
Saturday Lunch: Leftovers and store-bought football snacks for the men (5 adults) while the women (6 adults) go thrifting and have a pub lunch.
Saturday Dinner (10 adults): Slow Cooker Turkey Dumpling Soup and store-bought rolls and salad.
Sunday: Brunch at our favorite cafe (11 adults). Dinner is leftovers (6 adults)
NOTE: For dessert throughout the week, I usually have ice cream in the freezer, buy ingredients for S’mores to make around the fire pit, and my husband loves to make cookies so I’ll probably have a cookie jar filled with Apple Oatmeal Cookies and Gingersnaps, both of which can be made a month in advance and frozen.
NOTE ABOUT INFLATION: Prices are going up and down daily, so sometimes I play supply-chain-roulette with coupons and store flyers where I’ll wait to get something so I can use a double coupon the next week. But this year I’m marking my shopping list with things I MUST have and buying them when I see them.
Not everyone has that option, but if you figure out what you need now, and start shopping around, you’ll have a better chance of getting it at the best price. If you can’t find things at a good price, you’ll have time to determine how important each ingredient/food/drink is to your celebrations. But by making this list early, you’ll have more controlled flexibility over your decision-making. And that’s the goal of Prepping & Planning!
Now it’s time to figure out your menu for the next month or two (depending on the holidays you celebrate and all the things/visitors you have planned). Make an ingredient list and, from that, make a shopping list, and begin checking prices.
I know this is a lot of work, but I promise it’ll feel great knowing that we won’t be rushing around in November looking for spices and cleaning supplies. We can stay home, watching holiday movies with our families, while the rest of the world fights for the last bottle of cinnamon.
