Happy Friday Reader!

Prepping a scrumptious home-cooked Thanksgiving dinner doesn't need to be difficult.

But it does require a bit of planning and coordination. Don’t let the fear of juggling all the moving pieces keep you from hosting a meal you’ll be proud of.

You’ve got this! And I’ve got you. You absolutely CAN pull this off.

So tuck this email into a folder where you can find it easily.
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Think of it as your personalized Thanksgiving prep roadmap — setting a calm, doable rhythm that lets you savor the holiday instead of stressing over it.

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Thanksgiving Meal Prep Timeline

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This Weekend — Set Yourself Up for Success

Plan Your Menu and Grocery List:

Personally, it’s way too stressful for me to wait until the last minute. I don’t want to be wandering the grocery store on Wednesday — or worse, on Thanksgiving Day — hoping they haven’t sold out of the essentials.

My suggestion? Take fifteen minutes this weekend to physically write down your Thanksgiving menu. Plan the main dish, the sides/salads, and desserts. If you serve snacks or appetizers throughout the day, be sure to plan those, as well.

For our family gathering, I prep the turkey, potatoes and gravy. And I usually make a few sides, plus a birthday dessert for our youngest daughter.

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Invite Guests to Contribute Their Favorite Thanksgiving Dish

But I have fabulous help in the form of our grown daughters and son who always contribute a dish or two or three to our meal. When they were younger (and so was I), I did it all on my own.

Our grandkids even get in on the cooking, now, which is such a hoot for me!

It's so much simpler now that I have grown kids pitching in. Our grandmothers were right when they reminded us that "Many hands make light work."

I highly recommend inviting guests to share their favorite Thanksgiving dish for the meal.

• It takes the pressure off you when you don't have to worry about juggling the timing of every dish being served.
• It allows others to incorporate their favorite holiday traditions into the festivities.
• It creates a delicious, abundant spread for everyone.

When I plan the menu, I place a name by who is bringing what dish, so I know everything is covered and what groceries I personally need to add to my shopping list.

MY MENU

Here's what we're having for Thanksgiving dinner.

• ​Convection Oven Turkey in a Bag — Easy, Juicy & Holiday-Perfect​
• ​Turkey Gravy from the Drippings​
• ​Easy Mashed Potatoes - I will be peeling them and leaving out the garlic for Thanksgiving dinner. And I will be 3x'ing the recipe.
• ​Sweet Potato Casserole​
• ​Mandarin Orange Salad | Easy 5-Ingredient Orange Jello Salad​
• ​Easy Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce​
• ​Apple Crisp​

Dishes Others are Making For Our Meal

• Stuffing (We're a StoveTop Stuffing family, so this is a quick prep at the last minute.)
• Dinner Rolls (You can also try Biscuits, Sweet Cornbread, Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread, Soda Bread or Pumpkin Muffins.)
• Relish Tray/ Charcuterie (Charcuterie Cups, Pimento Cheese , Cheese Balls, Sausage Balls and Homemade Beef Summer Sausage are good options for appetizers.)
• Green Bean Casserole (Or you could give some other Side Dish a try.)
• Pies, Pies, Pies! : There is usually an assortment, i.e. Pumpkin Pie, Banana Cream Pie or Apple Pie .
• ​Deviled Eggs​
• Our family's traditional Cranberry Apple Salad.

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Saturday, Nov. 22

1. Buy the Turkey and a Turkey Roasting Bag: If you haven't already purchased the turkey and stashed it in your freezer, go get that bird!
   • Multiply the number of people you'll be feeding by 1.5. That's how many pounds your frozen (or fresh) turkey needs to be to feed everyone generously with a small amount of leftovers.
   • I personally shoot for 2x my # of guests, because we use leftovers for a second meal in the evening, too.
2. THAW THE TURKEY: Whether you buy a large or small turkey, that frozen bird is going to take days, not hours, to thaw safely.
   • Thaw your turkey breast side up, in its original unopened wrapper, on a rimmed baking sheet in the fridge. (40 degrees F or below).
   • Allow at least one day of thawing for every 4 lbs of turkey.
   • Place the rimmed tray with the turkey in the lowest part of your fridge. That's the coldest and the safest spot for meat.
   • Cook the turkey within four days after it is completely thawed.
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Thursday–Sunday, Nov. 20–23 — Your Make-Ahead Magic Window

This is where a little prep pays off big. These tasks are simple but time-saving, and your future self will be so grateful.

Some dishes, though easy to make, can also be messy and/or time-consuming. Use your make-ahead time wisely so that the day before and the day of the dinner are stress- and mess-free.

1. SHOP your pre-made grocery list. - Start in your pantry. Check for things you already have on hand and mark them off the list if you don't need to buy them. Make the store run. (Don't forget a turkey roasting bag for an easy, stress-free turkey roasting experience!)
2. ​Make Pie Crusts - Once you reach the chilling stage of making the crusts, place each of the wrapped discs into the freezer instead of the fridge. Or hit the refrigerated or frozen section at the grocery store and buy your pie crusts pre-made.
3. Make Dinner Rolls - Dinner Roll dough can be frozen ahead and baked later. If you're making homemade dinner rolls, prep the dough and freeze it a week ahead. No flour-covered counters on baking day is a great time-saving win. You can always go for even less stress and buy some delicious ready-made dinner rolls, too!
4. Make Cranberry Sauce - My Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week, so the weekend before Thanksgiving is the perfect time to get this dish completed.
5. Make Sweet Potato Casserole and Freeze - The more that gets done ahead, the easier my Thanksgiving prep day goes. So this tasty favorite is done the weekend before, too.

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Monday, Nov. 24 at bedtime

1. Remove pie crust discs from the freezer and place in the fridge to thaw while you sleep.
2. Take frozen sweet potato casserole out of the freezer and place in the refrigerator to thaw.

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Tuesday, Nov. 25

Both the gelatin-based salads I'm serving hold up well and should be made a day or two ahead. (Lime Jello Salad With Cottage Cheese and Broccoli Cauliflower Salad are also good Thanksgiving sides that could be made on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.)

1. Make Mandarin Orange Jello Salad.
2. Make Cranberry Apple Salad.
3. Prep creamy dips or cheese balls and store tightly covered in the fridge.
4. Make Hard-Boil Eggs for Deviled Eggs. Peel and store the hard-boiled eggs, whole, in the fridge until Thursday.

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Wednesday, Nov. 26

Wednesday is your big prep day, but it doesn’t have to be stressful. Think of it as the day you set everything in motion so Thursday feels effortless.

If you've read my recipe post for Convection Oven Turkey in a Bag, you already know I roast and slice my turkey ahead and rewarm it in its own juices on Thursday. This is especially important since I will be roasting multiple birds.

1. Remove frozen dinner roll balls from the freezer and arrange in a prepared baking pan. Allow to rise 4 to 7 hours, depending on how warm your kitchen is.
2. Roast your turkey or turkeys while the bread rises.
3. Bake the rolls. Cool completely and store for Thanksgiving Dinner.
4. Prepare the Apple Crisp through Step 6 in the recipe. Store the streusel topping separately. Refrigerate both until Thursday.

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Thursday, Nov. 27 - Thanksgiving Day

1. Warm and Bake
   • Remove the pre-roasted Turkey and Sweet Potato Casserole from the refrigerator to come closer to room temperature. I do this about one hour before I intend to rewarm them and anticipate at least 1 hour to fully reheat the turkey and bake the sweet potatoes together in the same oven.
   • Even though they have been out coming to room temperature, they will still be cool and it will take longer than you might expect to get them heated. Leave them covered while coming to room temperature. Remove the cover from the sweet potatoes just before baking at 350°F.
2. Prep the Essentials
   • Peel potatoes. Bring them to a boil in salted water, when the turkey and sweet potatoes go into the oven. Mash according to the recipe.
   • Remove the Apple Crisp and Streusel from fridge after the potatoes begin to boil. Sprinkle the apple crisp with the streusel topping and set aside at room temperature.
   • Make gravy. Use the bone broth you made after roasting the turkey yesterday to make gravy according to the recipe instructions. Keep warm on a back burner.
   • Cut and fill deviled eggs.
   • Prepare the Stove Top Stuffing.
3. Finishing Touches
   • Remove the turkey and sweet potatoes from the oven.
   • Place the apple crisp in the oven.
   • SERVE your wonderful meal while the apple crisp bakes.
   • Serve warm apple crisp with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

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Wrapping it Up

Hopefully, this guide will help you with the planning and prepping for your own holiday meal.

I've even included timing of dishes that others are making instead of me, so you can understand how they might fit into your own menu plan.

My recipe for holiday success is simple:
• Make your menu.
• Invite others to help.
• Write your grocery list (and shop your pantry first).
• Start thawing the turkey five days before Thanksgiving.
• Make as much ahead as you reasonably can.
• And most importantly — have a blast!

No event goes perfectly. That’s okay. If you spend the day laughing, eating great food, and being with the people you love, you WIN. Every time.

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Next Week and a New Recipe : Red Beans and Rice​

Next week I'm going to hone in and give you a set of recipes that will help you keep your family nourished, for cheap, WHILE you're planning and prepping during the week of a holiday meal.

In the meantime, check out the newest recipe on the blog, Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice.

This easy recipe is just one option for feeding your family healthfully, for not much cash. It makes enough for leftovers or maybe even two meals. It's so delicious and crazy easy. You're gonna love it!

Get the Easy Recipe: Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice​

Have a wonderfully blessed week! I hope this guide will help you plan a stress-free and delicious Thanksgiving meal.

And I hope you'll get your week started right with some scrumptious Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice.

Whatever your weekly menu plan holds, I hope you get to share delicious food with the people you love most this week and that someone else does your dishes! Hugs!

What's For Dinner?

This is the part of the newsletter where I share recipe ideas from some of my best blogging friends and myself to inspire you with what's for dinner at our houses this week. That gives you seven days' worth of new recipes to inspire you for your own delicious meal plan. Enjoy!

• ​Apple Cider Pork Chops from Laura at Little House Big Alaska
• ​Chicken and Cabbage Soup from Gen at Two Cloves Kitchen
• ​Crock Pot Turkey Tenderloins for Two from Glenda​
• ​Chili Ramen with Egg from Rupali at Caramel and Spice
• ​Chicken Marsala (Olive Garden Copycat) from Sue at Sula and Spice
• ​Baked Italian Subs from Lori at A Reinvented Mom
• ​Crock Pot Chili from Kristin at Dizzy Busy and Hungry

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Tools to Make Delicious Holiday Meals

These are Amazon and Walmart affiliate links to some of my favorite holiday dishes. I may earn commissions on qualifying purchases. You can read my affiliate disclosures here.

• ​Crock Pot - This is one of three slow cookers I use on a regular basis. Yes, three. lol I mean what does a girl do when she is making refried beans, delectable southwest chicken and creamed corn all at the same time? lol This beauty is an 8-qt giant that can handle anything I throw at her. And she was cheap, as crock pots go.

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• Pyrex Mixing Bowls I use these daily. Of course, they're great for stirring together the ingredients for a recipe. But they're also perfect for storing leftovers and serving dishes like this scrumptious Broccoli Cauliflower Salad. Another great feature is that they come with lids, so leftovers can easily go straight to the fridge. For potlucks, I can toss together a quick salad, snap on the lid and go.

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• My Deep Dish 9x13 Ceramic Baking Pan is perfect for casseroles, Magic Cookie Bars, cakes and more.​

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• ​12 qt. Stainless Steel Stock Pot with Lid - This is my soup, stew and chili go-to pot. And it's the one I reach for when making mashed potatoes for a gathering. Plenty of room for making large batches.

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• ​18x13 Half-Sheet Rimmed Baking Sheets: I have six of these cookie sheets and I bought them 13 years ago. I LOVE them! They are stainless steel professional grade sheets that are warp resistant. I use them for cookies, brownies, sheet pan dinners and baking bacon. They're an essential tool in my kitchen.​

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• I absolutely love these Oven-Safe Cooling Racks. Obviously they're great for cooling hot things on the counter. But these also fit inside the baking sheets I listed, above. I love being able to roast things in the oven with that little bit of hot air being able to circulate even to the bottom of what I'm cooking.

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Visit my Amazon Storefront to explore more of the tools and ingredients I love cooking with at home.