Thanksgiving is one of the most joyful (and busiest) holidays of the year. It’s also my favorite holiday. Between planning the menu, hosting family, and making sure everything comes together on time, it can feel a little overwhelming. The good news? With a few simple tips and tricks, you can take the stress out of Thanksgiving and focus on what really matters — enjoying good food and quality time with the people you love. Here are some practical Thanksgiving tips to help your holiday run smoothly from start to finish.
Related: Cost Effective Appetizers
Make a plan
Include which dishes will be prepared in what appliance and served in which dish. Include cleaning the house and getting yourself ready for the event. Check cooking temperatures and times and plan when different things can go in. Take into account time to preheat the oven to a different temperature. I like to have my plan planned out about 1 month in advance.
Shop early
When you make your plan be sure to plan when you will shop for ingredients. It’s best to get all of the ingredients at least by Monday otherwise the stores can get pretty hectic. Don’t forget to bring your list- or have your husband send you a picture of it!
Try to make some dishes in advance
Mashed potatoes can be made a day or two ahead and then reheated the day of. Find a new recipe that works well being made ahead. Make desserts ahead of time. These tend to last well for a few days.
Chop veggies ahead
Chop carrots, onions, mushrooms, celery, peppers, anything except potatoes (unless you plan to cook immediately). Having all of your veggies chopped saves you time and counter space on the big day.
Have back up recipies
In case one recipe doesn’t work out, have one or two back up no fail recipes that are quick and easy to throw together. If you don’t want the stress of throwing together a last minute recipe, make a few extra dishes so there is plenty of food to go around.
Entertain kids
Put butcher paper on the kids table to keep them entertained. Add some crayons or even stickers and they will have a blast. If you want to go all out, have a simple craft with picture instructions and an example out for them. Along the same lines if you have kids, when you are preparing your meal, consider hiring a baby sitter. We discovered having a babysitter the night before around 5 pm was fantastic to keep us focused on prepping food.
Sous vide your turkey to save oven space!
If you’ve never heard of sous vide it’s a cooking method where you seal your food in bags and submerge it in water that is kept at the perfect temperature. It does require you get a cooking gadget, but it will make your day less stressful.
Related: Sous Vide Turkey
Other tips
- Don’t use an immersion blender for mashed potatoes
- Set named timers on your phone or with a home speaker
- Put a pan under the Turkey while defrosting in the fridge
- Double recipes for favorite dishes- Mac & cheese
- Double check that you have enough of all condiments you need for recipes- and that they are not expired or rotten!
- Have food items labeled
