December Updates

Great news!

1. I passed the CPN exam! I am now a Certified Pediatric Nurse and I get to put extra letters after my name. Wahoo!
2. Cindy Lou Who's reflux is getting better. She's still on more than $500 worth of medication each month and I still can not have tomatoes or onions, but I can have small amounts of cranberries, chocolate, citrus, beans and dairy. Really, this is huge people.
3. We had a great Christmas, including some time with my brother-in-law who just came home from the Philippines.

With these big things behind us I'm ready to conquer the world. Or maybe just tackle my house. It needs serious work. And perhaps get around to fixing my blog, that is getting my computer programming husband to fix my blog. Starting the first of the year I'm going to try something new: The $100 Challenge. For the month of January I plan on spending no more than $100 on groceries for my family of five. It's basically a pantry challenge, but gives me some leway to buy milk and fresh produce. I'll share my menus and food storage ideas here and I'll find prizes for some of those who want to join me in my endeavors to rotate my pantry items and save some money. Who is with me?

Reducing Stress at Thanksgiving

 First of all I have to say thank you to all of my readers who have stuck with me despite the fact that my posts have been very sporadic. Life has been crazy. Having three kids has thrown me for a loop and of course life had several curve balls on top of it. Blogging was pushed to the back burner, but I'm finally feeling a little more on top of things. This week I went to a RS meeting on getting organized and I thought I would share some of the things that I learned. (And then I can have all the info here and toss the handouts so they aren't cluttering my house.)
 Here are some suggestions they gave to make the big Thanksgiving meal go a little smoother and more enjoyable.

• Plan the meal in advance, divide up assignments between guests that are coming. Just because you are hosting the party doesn't mean that you need to stress over everything. Assign someone to bring snacks.
• 2 weeks ahead of time- order a turkey (hope you've done that already)
• 1 week before- clean out the fridge, use up any leftovers and mostly empty bottles of condiments
• 3-4 days ahead- if using a frozen turkey, put in the fridge to thaw (1 day for every 4-5 pounds)
• 2 days ahead- make pie dough and refrigerate, toast bread for stuffing (if you're not just using Stove Top, ;) ) and pecans for pie.
• The day before- trim and peel vegetables, caramelize onions and make pies
• The morning of- prepare potatoes and refrigerate, make sure everyone has breakfast so they're not irritable all day
• 3 & 1/2 hours before- bring turkey to room temperature, start roasting, make glaze
• 2 hours before- cook side dishes, put egg beaters & a bowl in the fridge so they can fluff up whipping cream faster
• 30 minutes before- while turkey and potatoes are cooling, cook stuffing and make gravy
• After the meal- get everyone involved in putting away and cleaning up.

I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween!

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving: Apple Pie Filling

This year will be the first year that we're having Thanksgiving at my place. I'm trying to do as much as I can ahead of time so I actually have a chance at enjoying the holiday. This week I've been putting a little more effort into cleaning the house, bought a new shower curtain for the second bathroom (dinosaurs!), stocked up on a few baking items that were on sale and made apple pie filling. Aside from trying to get ready, with recent apple prices and then my Bountiful Basket we had more apples than we could possibly go through before they go bad. (And that's after I made a few batches of apple sauce.) Growing up my mom made apple pie filling every year, then when it's time to make pies you can just roll out a crust, dump in a quart of pie filling and you're done. Easy as pie. Not to mention it tastes significantly better than store-bought pie filling. This is the first time I have done it myself and I was very pleased with how it turned out. The only problem is that any recipe I get from my mom is not exact. Here was part of our conversation the other night:
"So how many apples do you use?"
"A potfull."
"How big of a pot?"
"A big one."
"How much sugar do you use?"
"Enough"
"How much is enough?"
"It depends on how big your pot is."

Apple Pie Filling

1.One potful of apples, peeled and sliced. I used mostly fujis, but there are a few granny smiths and galas too. I'm guessing around 16 cups of apples.

2. Mix 6 Tablespoons of cornstarch with 3 cups of sugar. If you don't do this you're more likely to get corn starch clumps.

3. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. How much depends on how big your pot is. I used about 3/4 teaspoon of each. Also add 1/4 cup of apple juice to prevent apple from burning to bottom of the pan while they start to cook. Also add 3 Tablespoons of lemon juice. (I also added 1/2 tsp orange juice concentrate.)

4. Cook over medium low heat, stirring occasionally for about an hour. When you're done it should like this:

5. Can according to you canner instructions. (For mine I just boiled it for 20 minutes after I put the filling into quart jars.) Makes about 3 quarts of apple pie filling.

Note: My mom usually only uses 2 cups of sugar and less corn starch, but I tasted it and felt that it needed more. It depends on your apples. But I will say that this stuff is going to make some pretty amazing pie.

Reader Tips on Getting Ready for Christmas

And here are some of the great tips that people listed on how to get ahead on Christmas:

• Family History gift- time consuming, but valuable and they're doable if you spread the work out over a year
• The Target Clearance Sale- unadvertised and happens in January and July
• Make presents, start looking for ideas in September and start the making in October/November
• Buy one of those key locked large rubbermaid storage chests with three shelves. Buy things for each child,  wrap it and sit it on their shelf. Shop all year and not have a huge closet stashed with gifts to dig out
• Do most of my Christmas shopping on Black Friday, to make the holidays more stress free and enjoyable. Usually hit Target and Walmart and any other store that has an item I want or need.
• Look for free deals on photobooks at online sites like Picaboo and Shutterfly. Great family gifts for the price of shipping
• Enter giveaways for a chance to win presents
• Clip coupons 
• Cyber Monday & other forms of online shopping
• Do lots of shopping close to Christmas, businesses are dropping prices to compete for your dollar
• Don't travel more than twice in December and never back to back weekends
• For the holidays, make a list of all the goodies and extra traditional snacks. Then decide which ones to make this year. Then, put them all on the calendar for which days to make which things. 
• Whenever I see something that someone would like, I file it away mentally or make a note of it. I start doing actual shopping in September or October, usually, and it takes a lot of the stress off. 
• Used bookstores, they save a bundle, and used books have extra character. 
• Make photo calendars.
• Buying baking ingredients in bulk during the big loss leader sales in November. Check the store flyers and plan ahead! 

Getting Ready for Christmas & October Giveaway

Yes, yes I know it is not even Halloween yet. However my kids' birthdays are in November and December and if I don't start planning for the holidays way in advance, the holidays aren't fun. They're busy, stressful and more expensive.
 Here are some of the things that I've been stowing away over the past few months:

• a couple Littlest Pet Shops from Target (used a B1G1 coupon combined with a sale) 
• eight books (including some activity books) gathered from various sales (I generally only spend $4 or less on children's books)
• a wooden alphabet abacus from GraveyardMall.com ($7)
• a few Tag reader books from Walmart clearance & LeapFrog.com (used my coupons and the LF.com sale is still going through the end October)
• a couple movies (great deals + coupons)
• a few Melissa and Doug puzzles from B&N.com (@ 70% off)
• a couple M&D magnifying glasses from B&N.com (same sale)
• coloring books and new crayons (at $1 each or less)
• a Toy Story Lego set from B&N.com (that sale is still going through 10/24)
• multiple small items for stocking stuffers and "shoe gifts" (In my husband's family they have a tradition that on the 12 Days of Christmas, an elf left a tiny present in one of their shoes. It's one that we continued.) 
• plus I found a really great idea to make for the extended family (I'd share here, but once in awhile my family does read my blog and that would ruin the surprise.)

And this is the one that I am really excited about.

 One day my super cute friend sent me a text asking if my daughter like Disney Princesses. Of course. She collected porcelain dolls when she was young, was getting rid of stuff and was wondering if I would be interested in taking them off her hands. There were these, plus two others that aren't in the boxes. It is going to make a fantastic set-up for Christmas morning. My husband  plans on making her a cabinet to keep them safe from her little brother. I'm so excited for how excited she's going to be! I'm done with my shopping for her and some for my son and I've spent about $120. I'm pretty happy thus far, some items they have requested, a few they wouldn't have thought of, and several 'learning toys'.

Now for the October giveaway: Beauty and the Beast Diamond Edition Blu-ray/DVD combo pack plus Disney Princess soundtrack, to take one more item off your Christmas shopping list.  (Were you as excited as I was, to hear that this one was finally coming to DVD again?)

Here's how you can win it: 1. (Required) Be a follower and leave a comment stating your interest. 2. (Extra) Share one way you get ready for the holidays without losing your sanity. Be specific, not just 'I shop early', for example 'I hit x sale at y store', or 'I make z dish and freeze it' 3. (Extra) Share a deal you have found on one of your Christmas gifts for this year. 4. (Extra) 'Like' this post on Facebook (Button at bottom of post) and leave a comment here. 5. (Extra) Read one of these these posts Be A Hero, Be the Match or Folic Acid- A Key To Healthy Babies, share the info with someone and leave a comment here. (Because these are issues I care about, and I want people to be aware of how simple actions can make a huge difference.) Giveaway runs through October 31, 2010 at 23:59. The winner will be announced on November 1, 2010. The winner be selected using a random number generator. Only residents of the United States are eligible. Good Luck.

Halloween Costumes on the Cheap

I am ready for Halloween!
I bought a BuyCostumes.com Groupon ($30 for $15) last weekend which I used to buy this for Thing One.

Out of pocket, including shipping, the Groupon and star wand=$21 (Normally $47 + tax). Another thing about BuyCostumes is that every day they have a couple of costumes that are ridiculously marked down. Today there are a cute mermaid and a little red riding hood costume normally $50 each down to $3.99.  They also have several cute Animal Planet infant/toddler costumes for $10 each (every day). Economy shipping is 4.99. You can get 20% off with code "creepy20" Definitely worth looking at. (Oh and they participates in Ebates too.)

For Thing Two we decided on a dragon costume from Old Navy.

Online they are $20, but there is a code for 30% off ( SAVEBIG today only), bringing it down to $14, but then you have to pay for shipping unless you spend $100 or more. (One perk of buying online, besides the convenience, is that you can get a Upromise or Ebates kick-back.) At my local Old Navy all of the costumes were marked down to $16. On Tuesdays if you use your Old Navy card you can get an additional 10% off or you can use your bucks back like I did to get it for FREE. (You can't use a percent off discount and bucks back in the same transaction at Old Navy stores.) I have bought Old Navy Halloween costumes in the past and have always been happy with them. The fleece ones are really great if you live somewhere that has snow at Halloween. (This year we will probably be at Grandma's for Halloween, so that means us too.) It has been my experience that as the month of October rolls on there are more sales and discounts available at Old Navy. If you wait until the last Friday of October, that is when they usually have their big 50% off everything sale (for the first 50 customers). And by then the costumes will be marked down to only a few dollars each. The problem is that if you wait that long the selection diminishes. As it was today I grabbed one of only 2 dragons and the only one in his size. But the hamburgers are cute too and there were plenty of those.

This morning while we were at Target (picking up Beauty and the Beast!) we checked out their costumes too. They also had several good options ranging from $12-$40. They seemed to have more of the "St George weather" variety of costumes.

Happy Memorial Day!

Hooray for summer holidays! I would like to encourage everyone to take a moment from your burgers, watermelon and holiday sales to remember why we celebrate this holiday. I come from a long line of military servicemen. My brother is in the Army Reserve. My dad was in the Air Force. Four of my grandparents served in World War II. The list goes back to the Revolutionary War. I am proud of my heritage and the sacrifices that my ancestors made. They worked and struggled for a great cause. I am grateful for the countless other soldiers and their families who have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice for the freedoms that we enjoy. Yes, I am well aware that there is a lot going on in America that should be better than it is. Sometimes our political leaders do things that I am very much ashamed of and make me want to vomit and/or clean something. Even so I am grateful for this beautiful land that I live in and the freedoms I enjoy. Often I get frustrated with the health care system, but then I remember my study abroad experience and think "Oh yeah, it could be much, much worse."
 Today I challenge you to do something to show your gratitude for the freedoms you enjoy. Teach your children what Memorial Day is all about, send your expired coupons to military families overseas, tell a Vet "Thank You", pay attention to the news or do anything to make this country a better place to show that you recognize that what we have is good and it is worth making better.

Easter Tips

Easter, Easter, I love it, but what I don't love is the excess of candy. And I know some members of my family (cough, meat-loving man) would start a revolt if we completely went without Easter candy,  but I do try to limit the gobs of sugar that can be found in my house at this season. Here are few tips on making Easter memorable without all of the candy.

• Hide things on your hunt other than candy. This year I'm hiding a Littlest Pet Shop set for my daughter and a Melissa and Doug tool set for my son. Yes, more pricey than candy, but I got a great deal on each of them, they last longer and lack the sugar rush.
• Hide puzzle pieces in eggs and put the puzzle together as a group when all of the pieces are found. (I found that tip in Family Fun Magazine.)
• Decorating and dying Easter eggs. Here are tons of creative ideas.
• Cascarones! I used to make these with my mom when I was a young. I didn't do them this year, they do require quite a bit of planning ahead. But they're great fun, if somewhat messy.
• Finding a new dvd has become an Easter tradition at our house.
• Lower priced items that I'm hiding: stamps (found 2 for a $1), bunny ears, sticker books (both $1 items from Target) and small story books. Check out Target or your local dollar store for other small toys and items.
• Do without the Easter grass. It just makes a mess and I hate it.If you must have basket filler, use tissue paper.
• Make sure that you take time to talk to your kids about the real reason we celebrate Easter.

Rainbow Cupcakes

I found this festive idea in the March 2010 issue of Family Fun Magazine. They were fun, and my daughter loved them, but they turned out to be a little more work than I expected. It was worth it, but not something I would do on a regular basis.

1. Prepare your favorite white cake mix, then divide the batter evenly among six small bowls. (About 1/2 cup of batter per bowl.) Following the chart below, dye each bowl of batter a rainbow color.
   
   
   

   RAINBOW COLOR	DROPS OF FOOD COLORING
   Purple	9 red and 6 blue drops
   Blue	12 drops
   Green	12 drops
   Yellow	12 drops
   Orange	12 yellow and 4 red drops
   Red	18 drops

   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Line 16 muffin pan wells with baking cups. Evenly distribute the purple batter among the cups, then the blue, and so on, following the order shown. As you go, gently spread each layer of batter with the back of a spoon to cover the color underneath.
   
3. Bake the cupcakes according to your recipe directions. Before serving, remove the paper wrapping, and if you like, top each cupcake with a whipped-cream cloud.

Corned Beef and Cabbage with Mustard Custard Sauce.

I thought I would try making something traditional for St Patrick's Day, but then I have to work on St. Patty's and the last thing I feel like doing after working 12(+) hours is making a large meal. Nor is my family to keen on waiting for said large meal that late in the evening. Instead I made this yesterday and it turned out really well, plus it was very easy. (My husband loved this meal and my daughter ate it as long as the yellow stuff didn't touch her food.) I found the recipe on Cooks.com and adapted as I saw fit. (Sorry no pictures, because my camera batteries are dead and as I was preparing to take one I discovered I don't have any more batteries of the appropriate size either. :S)

Corned Beef and Cabbage
4 large carrots, washed and cut into four pieces each
3 lb corned beef briscuit with seasoning packet
1 large onion, quartered
1 tsp chopped garlic
1/3 cup water
1/2 head of cabbage, cut into wedges
Layer first four ingredients plus seasoning in crock pot in order given, carrots on bottom. Pour water over top. Cook on low for three hours. Add cabbage. Cook for three more hours.

I found this next recipe on That Went Well, and I have to say it is pretty tasty. The real reason I decided to make corned beef and cabbage is so I could try this sauce. My husband happily ate every vegetable that I put on his plate because he was dipping them in this sauce. That's extremely high praise in my house.

Mary Helen's Mustard Custard Sauce

2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp plain yellow mustard
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
6 tbsp white vinager
4 tbsp water
Low heat stir till thickened. It should have a pudding consistency.

Valentine's Day on the Cheap

 This year for V-day I made beef jerky for my beloved. He will know this truly a sign of my love because I HATE touching raw meat, which is an unavoidable downside of making your own beef jerky. (Although it's very tasty, and super easy and inexpensive to do if you have a dehydrator and a jerky gun.) Including the cute container to put it in, it cost me less than $4. For my kids I found some cute V-day socks at Old Navy for 70 cents each and a couple books for a few dollars each.
 In the past we have made it a point to not go out to dinner on Valentine's Day. Even the places that are usually empty are packed. When it's so busy service seems to decline and you spend a large part of your evening listening to each other's stomach's growl as you wait for your food. So we have made it a tradition to make dinner together, and then go out a few days before or after. And Valentine's is the one day of the year that I make his favorite dessert, that I hate. This year we'll make heart-shaped pizzas as well as a few batches of cookies. Showing your love doesn't have to cost a lot of money.

How to Have a More Stressful Holiday Season

Here's what my holidays have been like and here are several things I don't recommend based on personal experience. (Especially doing them all in the span of one month.)
1. Travel (as in 4 hours each way) multiple times for various events with small children in a tiny car.
2. Cram in some big family events like a wedding for a close family member or LDS mission fairwell.
3. Move into a new house on Christmas Eve.
4. Pack and move with less than a week's notice. {But I'm happy that getting a new house is happening much faster than predicted. ;)}
5. Do some major home repairs.
6. Go without ALL major appliances for any amount of time.
7. Have your children get sick a few times, so you stay inside until you get cabin fever.
8. Go without exercise for the entire season (mostly because we don't want to share our germs with the other kids in the daycare.)
9. Throw some crazy family in the mix.
10. Volunteer to deliver a dessert as part of the 12 Days of Christmas for a family on Dec 17th and don't pay attention to the fact that that is the 5th Day of Christmas until the night before, which means that you really need to bake FIVE DESSERTS for them. (And no, a plate with 5 cookies wouldn't cut it for a family that big, or I might have tried to pull it.)
 On the plus side I had all my shopping done really early and went without 90% of my Christmas decorating to make things simpler. Otherwise things really would have been stressful. Even with all this craziness going on, we're doing ok. I have my family and am so grateful for every moment I have with them at this time of year. Sure this month is crazy, but I'm grateful to have a home and a job and generally healthy kids. Just having that is such a great blessing. And I love having the chance to celebrate the birth of our Savior. I didn't put a Christmas tree this year, but that's not what it's about. It's about the birth of Child who was filled with enough love and power to change the world. And that love can bless me even if I don't have a picture perfect Christmas. I hope that you and yours each have a Merry Christmas.

How to Have a More Worshipful Christmas

I came across this great list today and just had to share it. It was found at http://www.lds.org/topic/christmas/christmas-ideas.html Enjoy.

• Replace some holiday decorations in your home with reminders of Christ.
• Politely decline requests that will take you away from family.
• Play more Christmas music.
• Donate gently used items to a thrift store.
• Go Christmas caroling.
• Avoid “mad rush” shopping times.
• Say thank you as often as possible.
• Schedule a night to help another person or family.
• Call someone you normally wouldn't to wish him or her a Merry Christmas.

• Delegate some holiday preparations to children or other family members.
• Trim the gift list.
• Simplify a traditional activity.
• Find quiet time to pray.
• Write down great memories as they happen.
• Set and stick to a holiday budget.
• Forgive a grudge.

My Favorite Christmas Traditions

Here are some of the things I enjoy most about the holiday season, many of which you can do with your children on a low budget.
1. Baking cookies!
2. Decorating. This can get expensive, but it doesn't have to be. Some of my favorite memories as a child were making our own decorations. We made paper snowflakes and festive paper chains that we hung from the ceiling around the borders of the room. And to this day my mom's favorite Christmas tree ornaments are the ceramic mice that we painted when I was three. Decorating the tree and home and creating ornaments can lend itself to dozens of holiday activities.
3. Looking at Christmas lights. It's always fun to see the displays that your neighbors have up.
4. Reading the Christmas Story Found in Luke 2:1-20, also Matthew 1:18-25, Matthew 2:1-14, & Luke 1: 26-35
5. Reading Christmas Books One tradition that I have started with my kids is that every day starting December 1st we read a different Christmas book. I have collected several through the years from after Christmas sales, but the library also has a wide selection to supplement my own.
6. The Twelve Days of Christmas This is a favorite tradition from my husband's family, something that was passed down from his mother's family. Starting December 13th we put our shoes out and every morning "the Christmas elf" puts a tiny gift in our shoes. As a general rule I try to keep the items under a dollar. I find that the earlier I start on this the better, otherwise my kids just end up with a whole bunch of crap from the dollar store. (Don't get me wrong, there are a few good deals to be had at the dollar store, but you know what I mean.) Some shoe gift ideas: candy, coloring books, crayons (bought a few boxes at the back to school sales), lip gloss, small toys, socks, finger puppets, hats and mittens.
7. Visiting Family What would the holidays be without family? Even if they may drive you a little crazy. ;)
8. Serving Others This is the most of fun if it is done in secret. Growing up we were poor, but I didn't realize to what extent until I was older. You don't miss what you don't know. Frankly if my friends now knew they would be shocked and amazed, for that matter my friends from back then would be shocked and amazed. Despite this my mother made it a point each year we would pick someone in need to serve. Often we would find someone in our neighborhood who lived alone and drop gifts on their doorstep for The Twelve Days of Christmas. They were simple things, a 6-pack of ginger-ale, 5 cookies, 4 fresh oranges, etc., but there were times when we learned that it really made a difference to the person that we were serving. And it was such a thrill to try to deliver them without getting caught. There are many other ways to serve other this season and there are many in need. Toys for Tots, Sub for Santa and the Food and Care Coalition are just a few organizations that appreciate donations. Even if you don't have money to give you can still serve. Donate old coats, donate your time. Find someone out there who needs some cheering and share the Christmas spirit with them!
9. Christmas Shopping I love shopping for Christmas. Buying stuff for my kids is always fun. Finding a the perfect gift for a friend or family member fills me with excitement. Finding a good deal is even more thrilling, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to lose any sleep over it and risk being trampled. Not when there's Amazon.
10. Singing Christmas Carols Whether you do this with friends, family, neighbors or by yourself, it really makes the season.

10 Tactics for a Cheaper and Saner Thanksgiving

I adapted this list from one I saw posted at The Simple Dollar.com. He has some good ideas for simplifying your holiday
"Quite often, I’ll see people spend exorbitant amounts of money on lavish Thanksgiving spreads. While I completely understand the reason for doing this – often, it’s the one time in the year that we can gather around one table with a lot of people we love – there’s still a lot of simple things we can do to reduce the financial outlay and the stress of the meal without reducing the quality of the day in any way (and often improving it). Here are ten ways to do just that.
Cook and slice the turkey on Tuesday. What? No beautiful turkey on the table? Whatever will we do? In truth, though, the turkey on the table during Thanksgiving dinner often results in lots of problems: it keeps someone away from the meal because they’re carving the bird, the bird is often dry because it hasn’t had a lot of time to rest, and the finished bird often arrives later than expected, delaying the whole meal and often reducing the quality of the other food. Solve all of these problems by cooking the bird on Tuesday or Wednesday, slicing it at your own pace, then putting all of the meat on a platter along with all of the juice and a few pats of butter. Cover the serving platter and put it in the fridge, then just turn on the oven (or the electric roaster) on Thanksgiving to thoroughly warm the meat.
Use nature for your decorations. During the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, there are thousands of colorful leaves all over the place, free for the taking. Be picky – go outside and look for some nice, clean, colorful leaves. All you need is a plain tablecloth and a row of colorful leaves sprinkled down the middle to create a very festive setting.
Get the slow cooker into the act. Many Thanksgiving side dishes can easily be prepared in a slow cooker. Slow cookers consume less energy and quite often can be used in a “fix-it-and-forget-it” mindset. It’s the perfect tool to make cranberry sauce, for example.
Be creative with your Thanksgiving dinner leftovers. By the third day, turkey sandwiches start to get tired. Instead of allowing that to happen, share some of your extra food with people in need (for example, make a couple plates of food for shut-ins you know and deliver the plates) or make something interesting, like kugel or tetrazzini, out of the leftovers.
Round up when you estimate. I’ve been to two different Thanksgiving dinners in the past three years where there was just barely enough food to make ends meet for the number of guests (to put it politely). People showed up bringing unexpected dining companions and estimates for how much each person would eat were strangely low. Don’t fall into that trap. Estimate high, but estimate realistic. After all, you can always eat leftovers, but you can’t undo unhappy guests.
Don’t be afraid of potlucking it. Ask your guests to bring a dish or two with them so that you can focus your time, energy, and money on a few key dishes. Most people are quite willing to help (provided, of course, that they’re not coming from out of town).
Save the bones. Seriously. Put the entire carcass in a large Ziploc bag and save the bones and small pieces of meat for a day or two. Then, take all of the leftover vegetables (potatoes, corn, non-glazed carrots, etc.) and the carcass, stick them all in a crock pot, then add enough water to just cover the bones. Turn it on low overnight (this is perfect to do on Saturday evening after Thanksgiving). Then, in the morning, save the liquid. What will you do with this delicious turkey broth? Freeze it (along with a pound or two of leftover diced turkey meat). Then, in a few weeks, use it as the base for an amazing soup – just add vegetables and/or dumplings to the stock and the turkey (along with perhaps a bit of water to thin it).
Have appetizers. Inexpensive appetizers – like a selection of vegetables – helps people keep the edge off of their appetites and keeps them from over-eating during the main meal. Not only does this make the overall meal more healthy, it often makes it cheaper, since a vegetable tray can be really inexpensive. Much like the turkey, this can also be assembled the day before.
Save your recyclable containers for leftovers. Instead of just tossing large containers of items like margarine or whipped topping, save the containers. Then, on Thanksgiving, fill the containers with leftovers and give them to your guests. There’s no responsibility at all for them to return the container and it gets an extra use out of the items that would normally be tossed. "

Take time to remember what the holiday is all about Make sure you take a few minutes from all the preperation and hostessing to remember why we celebrate this holiday. Don't get too stressed out. This holiday wasn't created to make your life complicated, frantic and expensive, although it can feel that way. Thanksgiving is about being thankful for our blessings, for our families, friends, food to eat and the freedoms that we enjoy. Be thankful for what you have and for this occasion and don't get too anxious if things aren't perfect.