Thanksgiving Prep

This is the second year in a row that we will be hosting Thanksgiving at our house. Last year I will say it didn’t go as I had planned..

We had 8 people planned for dinner and life was extremely hectic one year ago. I had the bright idea that I was going to order all of our Thanksgiving sides and I would just cook the turkey and dessert. Easy enough right? Wrong! The day before thanksgiving I headed to pick up the sides that I had ordered. I ordered mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, and stuffing. I knew the second that they handed me my already paid for order it was not what I had “thought” that I was getting.

I had placed an order for each side to feed 12-14 people. Thinking this should be plenty since out of the 8 people 2 of them were kids and I knew they wouldn’t be eating very much. I got my sides home and opened them up. I instantly cried. These containers would feed mayyybeee 4 people. Panic set it, what the hey was I going to do? Less than 24 hours over $100 spent on preordered sides (that was supposed to make thanksgiving a breeze) I grabbed my purse and went to the grocery store.

I picked up sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, boxed stuffing, and checked out. I couldn’t believe that I now needed to go back home and cook everything I had pre ordered to make life easier. I cooked everything and combined the preorder with my homemade sides. Thankfully we did end up having enough.

This year, I have made a plan! We have 14 coming for dinner and I have already written down everything I will be making. I have made 2 lists. One list includes everything we will be having labeled with who is bringing what. The other list is the dishes that I will be making.

Since I will be making the major sides and turkey I have planned when I will start cooking. On Monday and Tuesday of thanksgiving week I will be starting the mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes. I will also be making the stuffing. By Wednesday I plan on having everything put together so on Thursday it just needs to be reheated. As much prep ahead of time will make life a million times easier.

We will have less stress and less of a mess on Thanksgiving. This means more time to watch the Macy’s Day Parade on tv! Yay! Although, my kids have a pretty hard time sitting down and actually watching it. So, really it will mean more free time to plan my Black Friday shopping.

I love love love Black Friday shopping. Not because I have to go, but because I just truly enjoy watching everything. I have already started browsing the leaked Black Friday ad’s.

Anyway, I have already started my thanksgiving planning because I do plan to start shopping here soon. I don’t want to have to run out for anything the week of thanksgiving. The plan is to take my time and just spend a few days cooking at my own pace. I’m so excited for this holiday, it is one of my favorites.

How are you planning your Thanksgiving dinner? Share your most loved dish with me! During the next few weeks I will be sharing my recipes here with you. I’m also super excited about a few Holiday gift ideas I will be sharing too! Be sure to subscribe and follow to get the latest updates <3