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12 oz bag of cranberries is on sale this week for $.77 and fresh green beans are $.98/lb. It really isn't that costly. Biscuits can be made with pantry staples, as can the gravy. Butter is also fairly cheap, about $2 a lb.
Jealous! I haven’t seen butter that cheap in years. I try to buy it on sale for $3/lb around here. My stock-up target price used to be $2.
Edited to add: It is 2.29 this week at Aldi, but I’m rushing to finish two school projects before I leave town for the holiday. Woe is me. Hopefully I’ll get another chance at that price before my Christmas baking!
I know that it might come as a shock but there are a lot of people who can barely afford the $50 for a Thanksgiving meal but can still prepare the meal above for that amount.
I shared this thread with a few of my farmer friends and they were amused. Several of their wives said that they could prepare a bigger meal than that for the $50. Of course, it will be a meal from scratch and include items canned from the garden last summer.
16 lb Turkey:$22.38
gallon of milk: $2.99
dozen rolls: $2.26
two nine-inch pie shells: $2.45
3-pound bag of sweet potatoes: $3.52
1 pound bag of green peas, $1.53
half-pint of whipping cream: $2.08
14-ounce package of cubed bread stuffing: $2.81
30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix: $3.21
12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries: $2.43
1-pound veggie tray: $.74.
miscellaneous items (butter, evaporated milk, onions, eggs, sugar and flour), $2.72
Years ago Stop and Shop had the free turkey if you spent x $. It came in a big box with a bag potatoes, a bag of stuffing, a can of sweet potato and can of cranberry sauce. A few years later they stopped that and only gave the turkey for the x $ purchase. They started giving the big box with the turkey and supplies to people with vouchers from the Salvation Army. If I were in their position I would be glad to have that thanksgiving box.
Still, that list from the OP is one basic thanksgiving dinner. Where are the potatoes? What is the gallon of milk for? Why not buy a bag of potatoes instead of milk? Forget the pie shells and filling. Make some decent stuffing and maybe another vegetable and ask Aunt Kathy to bring a pie. Get Uncle Joe to bring some wine...
I'm just cooking three things and my cost is over $49.
<sigh> But the point is, you don't HAVE to. You really CAN make a nice, tasty, turkey dinner for 10 people (1 serving each, very few leftovers) for $50 (as how many of us have already pointed out?). Whether you would WANT do, of course, is a different question, since again, as a lot of us have already posted, part of the fun or "tradition" of Thanksgiving is to have lots of leftovers to take home.
But you didn't even state WHAT your "three things" are or for how many people you are cooking, but you know, those things MATTER if you are comparing your list to the "official" list, which was I think the point of this thread ... yeah, I know, I'm sounding ornery, but it feels like there's a contest going on to see who has the most expensive Thanksgiving. Which is, you know, kind of the OPPOSITE of the point of "thanksgiving." IMHO.
(And to that, all I will add is, I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. )
<sigh> But the point is, you don't HAVE to. You really CAN make a nice, tasty, turkey dinner for 10 people (1 serving each, very few leftovers) for $50 (as how many of us have already pointed out?).
Doesn't matter how many times this is said, people who refuse to see/believe it will be vocal.
Sure, I could probably blow $50 on just the turkey...skip the sale birds, I could Probably go over $50 on just the bird alone, if not I could brine it in the most expensive water, salt, sugar, and spices I could find. Problem is, it wouldn't taste enough Better (maybe different) to warrant the money spent.
Heck, I could probably go over $50 with my cranberry sauce if I tried.
But people don't get it, that's not the point. The point is that it is POSSIBLE to do a full, tasty dinner for 10 with $50 and without any undue effort.
Has no one EVER made fresh cranberry sauce? It’s so much better than slime-in-a can, just fresh cranberries & sugar, recipe on the package of cranberries. You’ll have more from one package of cranberries than from a can & it tastes good & actually hasn’t had the nutrients cooked out of it. All grocery stores sell fresh cranberries at a loss this time of year...buy extra bags & put in the freezer.
Stuffing...good grief, use old bread, that’s what I have always done, or if you like corn bread stuffing, you’ll likely have corn meal. If you ever cook, you have spices on hand, plus butter or margarine, flour, cornstarch, some form of milk, eggs...those all aid in meal prep for gravy, rolls, mashed potatoes, pie crust.
Also, as I & many said before, most “traditional” Thanksgiving food items are on sale at all supermarkets...they want your business.
If people don’t know how to make gravy, message me...my mother never cooked, l learned through trial & error & one very old cookbook, pre-internet era. I’m not a pro, but I do all right.
When did having 150 different dishes/styles of food start to represent Thanksgiving? I guess I missed the memo.
One more thing...off topic, so I hope I don’t get checked on this...does anyone know about nmnita? She hasn’t posted for a few days & I always enjoy her...she posts in the food forum a lot...hope she is just on a trip.
No way am I eating at their house. At Thanksgiving I like to EAT!!! I want seconds!
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