Thanksgiving on a budget - Budget meal planning

November 5, 9:37 AMHaight-Ashbury Budget Living ExaminerCarol Hilker

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 The holidays are always a bittersweet time of year;  the lights and decorations are up, family is around and memories are made.  With the holly-jolly and thankfulness also comes stress:  How many people can fit around the dinner table?  Thanksgiving dinner is expensive!  Christmas presents for Grandma..., Christmas presents for kids...nieces... nephews..husbands, wives...

The money goes out and the stress comes in.  Instead of stressing over the holidays, plan accordingly and beat the holiday stress that comes along with creating the perfect Thanksgiving and holiday dinner with these simple tips:


 *  Plan Accordingly

The first step in planning a budget friendly meal is to make a plan.  Consider how many people the Thanksgiving dinner will include and realistically budget how much money can be spent towards this meal.  Plan the dinner to the exact amount applicable to the mapped out budget.  Consider leaving a ten dollar window for forgotten or unexpected items, and before every purchase consider if the item is necessary of if it can be replaced with something else at home.  Additionally, this is the time to start scoping the sales.  Prices for holiday related items will start to go up soon, plan now, save later.

Additionally, think outside the box.  Instead of cranberry sauce, consider cranberry sorbet, which costs less or comparable to fresh cranberry sauce and use ingredients that will already be laying around for the holiday or a baked sweet potato instead of bells and whistles of mashed sweet potatoes.  Egg Nog can also be cheaper to make than bought if rum resides in the cabinet already.


 * Cheap produce = Seasonal Produce

When considering recipes and side dishes, buying what is in season will be the most economical choice.  By the time early winter hits, vegetables like asparagus have already gone out of season, leaving a pound of asparagus costing $3.99 a pound or more.  Instead of paying a higher price or buying it frozen, consider leaving it out and opting for something that is in season like brussel sprouts or egg plant.  Same goes for spices; fresh sage, rosemary and thyme are almost half the price of the dry spices, and don't come near to grasping the same flavor.  

When considering canned v. frozen vegetables, consider the prices and the seasonality.  Make a green bean casserole with frozen green beans instead of fresh and canned corn v. fresh corn.  Sweet potatoes and yams are also in season making them great contenders for pies, ice creams, baked potatoes and much more.

Seasonal Vegetables for November - December:  Artichokes, Broccoli, Fennel, beets, bok choy, carrots, potatos, cabbage, celery, chestnuts, squash, turnips and yams.

Seasonal Fruits for November - December:  Apple, pear, persimmon, rutabega, pomegranite, orange, lemons, kukquat, kiwi, guava and cranberries.

* Bird Watch

In an ideal world everyone would all be eating organic, vegetarian, Martha Stewart-endorsed $69.99, $5.90/per pound turkey for Thanksgiving, but with so many on a budget, most are opting for the grocery for their Thanksgiving turkeys.

Grocery store turkeys can vary:  Most, skinny, pathetic turkeys usually stand out, (unless, of course it is the day before Thanksgiving, in that case, that may be the only choice.), and will be passed on early.  Make sure the turkey is not plumped with saltwater by buying organic or free-range.  To improve the texture and flavor, make sure to brine with a box of kosher salt, onion, a lemon or orange and water for at least a day or two.  The kosher salt can also be used to season other parts of a Thanksgiving meal.  

 * Scratch the Itch to Buy Bad

Once most people see how much the turkey costs, they start worrying about the expense of the rest of the meal, opting for green bean casserole with high sodium cream of mushroom soup rather than homemade green bean casserole;  They will choose the Stovetop over homemade stuffing and even freak out enough to buy a gravy packet, not realizing a little flour will do the trick.  Sure many of these foods are cheap, but they are also loaded with additives and chemicals and never taste better than the real thing.  

To save a few dollars while planning your Thanksgiving dinner, plan on making certain things at home.  An investment in a few items will go a long way.  For instance, invest in some yeast, flour and butter.  

With a $4.99 jar of yeast, a $3.25 bag of flour and $1.79 butter, you can make endless pie crusts and dinner rolls to last throughout Thanksgiving and the rest of the holidays.  Dont spend $3.99 and upward on a loaf of french bread when nothing beats homemade bread and pie crust.  If it's Stovetop stuffing that always ends up on the Thanksgiving table, make a loaf of bread the night before and let it get hard, creating the perfect canvas for stuffing.  Then just use homemade turkey stock and a few already bought spices and vegetables to make a stuffing that beats stove top out of the water and probably cost less than $3.99 per 8 oz.

A pumpkin pie can always be canned pumpkin, however many produce stores offer low priced fresh pumpkins that are a bit of work, but result in the perfect homemade pumpkin pie from scratch. Whichever pie, nothing tastes better than a homemade pie crust.

 * Speaking Of Canned Pumpkin...

Many canned and frozen products can cut the cost while still offering healthy benefits of fresh vegetables. For instance, canned pumpkin is one of the vegetables, that canned, or fresh, will still make a great pumpkin pie. Additionally, making a pumpkin pie from a regular pumpkin (not a pie pumpkin) will give you a much less tasty pie than if you used canned pumpkin.  


 * Cook With Your Instinct...Bake With Caution

When cooking, always go by taste.  Dont buy rosemary just because a recipe says to, if you don't like Rosemary or want to save money by leaving it out.  A Meyer lemon may be much more flavorful with a stuffed in a Holiday turkey then a normal lemon and Meyers are coming into season sooner than later, making them the same price as a boring normal lemon.  Simple things like Substituting water with or without a bouillon cube you might have laying around for canned stock in a soup can have better results than expected.  Cook with instinct and always taste everything.  Baking is a whole other beast.

Anyone who has worked as a Pastry Chef learns early on that just an eighth of an over-pour of salt or one too many eggs can cause disaster to even the simplest recipe.  Imagine adding one too many eggs to a batch of 100 small chocolate fondant cakes only to result in spending an hour re-doing them.  Baking is very unforgiving;  the simplest things  can lead a recipe down the wrong path almost immediately.  Simple things like assuming baking soda can be used because there is no baking powder or eliminating sugar or eggs can cause a regret down the road and add last-minute stress.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

If the desired ingredients are limited, search out how to substitute shortening for butter, etc. and how to substitute butter.  Additionally depression era cooking also has many great ideas for making the most out of nothing, and those cookbooks can often be found in the library.

Some common substitutes:
Baking powder = The basic rule of thumb is to triple the amount, so if your recipe calls for 1 tsp of baking powder, you'd use 3 teasoons of baking soda. I'd omit any salt the recipe calls for, as the baking soda has a different taste than baking powder.  NEVER, EVER, USE BAKING POWDER FROM THE REFRIGERATOR.                                                                                               
Buttermilk = 1 cup of milk mixed with 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar, allow to sit for five minutes at room temperature.
Egg = 1 c. of soy milk, 2 Tablespoons of apple sauce, half tin of condenced milk for every 2.5 cups of flour, 1/4 cup of tofu, among others.

 * Because It Is the Season of Sharing - Make it a Potluck

Most people understand the economy today and most likely will be happy to share a dish.  Provide the bird and ask guests to bring their favorite holiday dish or bottle of wine.  Having the guys bring their favorite dessert or side and the women bring wine (or vice versa) is also a great way to have a little creative fun, while not outwardly asking each person to contribute.

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