Thanksgiving Preparations: Shopping

I had high hopes for baking and cleaning today, but they were not to be. I did shop, and then I realized that this was a very important part of preparing for Thanksgiving day.

I had already planned the menu last week, and while I was planning the menu I made a shopping list. Yesterday I went to a local market that had good prices on produce and a few other items. So, I picked upthese items to be used for Thanksgiving:

onions
carrots
celery
lemons
cream cheese

Today I went to Aldi and Wegmans. I think I have everything I need. Here are my holiday items from those two stores.

pumpkin
green olives
mint patties for after dinner
black olives
sour cream
soda pop
apple cider vinegar
Izze (My kids love these, and they only have them on Thanksgiving.)
chicken broth
kalamata olives
Thanksgiving paper napkins
navel oranges

I think that sums up the purchases. All I have to pay for now is the turkey which I will pick up on Wednesday afternoon.

TIGHT AUGUST BUDGET

The month of August has put us in a tight place money wise. We have annual bills due this month, and I need to save us every possible penny.

I have planned out each meal for the month. Yes, that is for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I have also decided for ease of planning to make one breakfast and lunch plan and rotate it each week of the month. This has made things much easier for me who tends to over think everything.

Part of this plan includes me making English muffins and bagels each week. Buying them is out of the question. That would add $10 to my bill, and I already own all the staples necessary to make these items. I have a tried and true English muffin recipe thanks to Alton Brown of Good Eats fame. I was a little leery of making bagels. I did attempt making bagels once. It was several years ago, and my results were less than spectacular. Well, after searching and searching I was able to come up with a usable recipe. I actually combined a few recipes that I found on line and one that a friend sent me. I made a couple of errors, but they turned out great. One of my errors was not making the whole big enough, so I ended up with holeless bagels. It was a little strange, but it did not affect the taste. I also thought they could have been a little sweeter. So, I will adjust that next time. I told the children that next week I would try making them cinnamon raisin bagels.

Since this is only the end of week 1, my motivation is strong. I hope this continues to be the case. Only time will tell.

Blessings,
Jennie