You Can be Frugal and Serve a Feast
Wonderful, you’re hosting Thanksgiving! Family, friends, and perhaps a neighbor are all eagerly anticipating a delicious, abundant holiday dinner.
Traditionally, everyone contributes to the spread. Guests’ offerings often include finger foods, wine, pies and cookies, crusty bread, an autumnal flower arrangement, and perhaps a box of holiday chocolates.
But what about the actual meal? Let’s talk turkey. . . and sides.
Even the thriftiest households can put together a memorable feast featuring numerous, affordable, guaranteed-to-please side dishes. Time-honored
dishes like mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, cornbread, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, mac ‘n cheese, and canned goods are inexpensive and go a long way
in sustaining Thanksgiving traditions without gobbling your wallet.
My Italian grandfather called Thanksgiving: La Festa della Gallina. Roughly translated, this meant chickens get a holiday as turkeys take center stage. There are ways to carve the cost when choosing the holiday bird. Here are a few:
- Some grocers give a free turkey with a minimum of purchase the days/weeks before the holiday
- Frozen turkeys are less expensive per pound
- Charitable organizations frequently give free turkeys to families
- Purchasing a smaller or hen turkey can save cooking time and money
Now let’s look at sides, especially the ever-popular side attractions: stuffing and gravy!
The base of stuffing of course is aged bread, unless you prefer the pre-seasoned packaged variety. Either way, add chopped onion, celery, turkey drippings or chicken broth, sausage meat, and/or other extras your family enjoys, and season to taste. The gravy can be made from turkey drippings. If you prefer to skip making it, grab a jar or two from the store. Most grocers offer special sales on traditional sides leading up to the holiday.
Your Thanksgiving table can be abundant with the usual trimmings everyone expects. Still concerned about the cost? Here are a few more inexpensive sides that promise to be a hit every time:
- Buttered noodles
- Baked Apples
- Canned Cranberries
- Brown Rice
- Sliced tomato, olives, and cucumber
Sitting down to your glorious meal, you’ll hear someone clamoring for the drumstick, pass the peas please, compliments flying, and the annual dad joke, “What kind of music do Pilgrims enjoy?” (Plymouth Rock), bringing a chorus of groans and laughter.
This holiday can be affordable and plentiful. Shop the sales (they’re plentiful leading up to the holiday), poke around online for ideas, and bonus: think ahead about things you can freeze for upcoming Christmas or New Years feasts.
Here’s to keeping your wallet fat and treating guests to a feast they’ll gobble till they waddle.
Joan B. Reid
50plus Magazine
Joan B. Reid is The Frugal Retiree and author of “Joyful Passage: A Woman’s Path to Retirement.”