This year my original budget was $20, but I took some lose change to the bank and got another $20, so $40 for Thanksgiving dinner. This was hard for me, last year our turkey cost more than that. So I started by looking at what I have around the house, then based on those ingredients I started my menu. I choose dished that would require only a few purchases. I also tied to purchase ingredients that I would use in multiple dishes. This cuts down on the bill and still makes a feast! I mean come on people, it IS Thanksgiving the national holiday celebrating two of the seven deadly sins... sloth and gluttony. Watch football, eat, nap, eat more, watch a movie, eat, go to bed, wake up and start process again with leftovers and shopping that starts at 5am. We need a feast!
So lets move on to the feast; the last few years I've started to make a southwestern influenced Thanksgiving. My husband and I are originally from Colorado and grew up eating some of the best Mexican food outside of Mexico. Green chili's, Chipolte in Adobo, Cotija cheese, we love it all. Unfortunately we now live in Kansas and I couldn't find good Cotija cheese so I'm using goat cheese. The goat cheese and the brie are my two splurges, they also cost less then $10 combined. When you plan out your menu decide how much you want to spend, then find the cost of the main components of your meal. Doing this means that you can find money to have a much needed splurge. I also make sure that we have a few apps, the meal and dessert. To me it's just not a holiday with out all of that.
So here's the menu:
Apps:
Hummus and Pita chips
Brie en crute with pear and raisins
Meal:
Seiten Wellington (It's pronounced satan; yeah like that Satan, but yummy)
Mashed Potatoes
Caramelized Onion Cornbread Dressing
Chipolte Scalloped Sweet Potatoes
Rolls
Wild Rice with Dried Cranberries
Pablano Gravy
Dessert:
Spiced Pumpkin Cake
I might make a few changes, chef's prerogative. I'm debating adding another app or cranberry sauce. Oh and all of this has only cost me $35.78, so I have enough to get a few more things if I decide too. I will also have enough food to feed at least 4 people and have leftovers.
