Thrifty Thanksgiving 2008

Thanksgiving dinner can be very expensive if you're not careful.  I am hosting the dinner for my husband's family.  All together there will be 5 adults and 4 children.  I am also making 2 pies and bringing corn and green beans to another dinner at my parents house earlier in the day.  When I host, I like to provide a nice amount of food.  I know it's way more than any of us can eat, but I like to have everything there.  Here's the menu I have planned:

Turkey

Gravy

Dressing (stuffing)

Corn

Green Beans

Crock-pot Cranberry Sauce

Mashed Potatoes

Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows

Biscuits

Pumpkin Pie

Pecan Pie

Pilgrim Pies (yummy little pumpkin cakes made into sandwiches with cream cheese filling, our family favorite for 3 years now!!!)

Oatmeal Cookies (we omit the cinnamon and raisins and add walnuts!)

And for my parents House:

Pumpkin Pie

Butterscotch Pie

Corn

Green Beans

This is the compiled list of ingredients I need to accomplish this and their corresponding prices.  All of these were done using sales, coupons and shopping at Aldi's.  The orange colored items are things I had to specifically buy for this dinner.  Everything else I had on hand from my stockpile.  

• 12lb Turkey - 7.73 (.59 per lb)
  
• 5lb Potatoes - 1.25 (2.50 per 10lb bag)
  
• 3 Cans of Sweet Potatoes - 2.07 (.69 each can)
  
• 1 Bag of Marshmallows - .79
  
• 2 Bags of Frozen Corn - 0
  
• 1 Bag of Cranberries - .99
  
• 2 Boxes of Stove Top Stuffing - 0
  
• 1 Stalk of Celery .10 (.69 per bunch)
  
• 1 Carton of Chicken Broth - .67
  
• 4 1/2 C of Bisquick - .40  (1.50 per box)
  
• 4 1/2 C of Milk - .63 (2.25 per gallon)
  
• 2 Cans of Evaporated Milk - 0
  
• 4 Cans of Green Beans - 1.32 (.33 each)
  
• 3 Cans of Pumpkin - 2.37 (.79 each)
  
• 15 Eggs - .86 (.69 per dozen)
  
• 6 1/2 C Brown Sugar - .81 (.50 per 4C bag)
  
• 1/2 tsp Ginger .05
  
• 1/2 tsp Nutmeg .05
  
• 4 Refrigerated Pie Shells 3.40
  
• 6 sticks of Butter - 1.50 (1.00 per 4 stick box)
  
• 3 Tblsp + 1 Tsp of Vanilla - 2.67 (1.99 per 2oz bottle)
  
• 5 C Flour - .35 (1.33 per 5lb bag)
  
• 2 Tsp Baking Soda - .05
  
• 3 C Oats - 0
  
• 1 C Walnuts - 1.70
  
• 1 C Dark Karo Syrup - .30 (1.79 per bottle)
  
• 1 C Pecans - 2.10
  
• 4 Tsp Salt - .03
  
• 4 Tsp Pepper - .05
  
• 1 C Vegetable Oil - .48
  
• 1 Tblsp Pumpkin Pie Spice - .05
  
• 1 Tsp Baking Powder - .03
  
• 4 oz Cream Cheese - .13
  
• 4 C Powdered Sugar .50 (.50 per 4C bag)
  
• 1/2 C Orange Juice .07 (1.09 per frozen concentrate)
  
• 1/4 Tsp Cinnamon .02
  
• 1 1/2 C Sugar .13 (1.00 per 5lb bag)
  
• 1 Container of Cool-Whip - 0

Now the grand total for how much this dinner technically cost is 33.65.  That may seem like a lot for one dinner, but it's Thanksgiving!!  You could easily cut out a lot of this and halve the bill.  Like I said, I like to serve a lot of food!!  Most of the ingredients I already had on hand anyway, so it really only cost me 24.17 to complete the meal (and 7.73 of that was the turkey alone!!).  And remember two of the pies and half of the veggies are going to another dinner so that's probably 4 dollars or so of the total.  So if I subtracted 4.00 from 33.65  I'd have 29.65 for the big dinner which will feed 9 and that comes out to 3.29 per person, which is still cheaper than a Combo Meal at a fast food place!!  And I'm sure we'll have tons and tons of leftovers!!!

Well that's the plan for our dinner, feel free to share any tips, recipes or ideas you have for Thanksgiving dinner!!!