• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Sallie Borrink

Sallie Borrink

Thoughts On Faith, Truth, Culture & Beauty

  • Start Here
  • Blog
  • Subscribe
  • Categories
    • Bible Readings & Christian Devotionals
    • Christian Faith
    • Gracious Christian Parenting
    • Homemaking
    • Homeschooling
    • Learning Themes & Unit Studies
    • The Library
    • Our Cozy Family Life
    • Rebuilding America
    • Simple Living
  • The Shop
    • Explore The Shop By Category
      • All Products For Women
      • All Products For Children
      • Clip Art & Digital Papers
      • A Full Year Shopping Pass
      • A Quiet Simple Life Series
      • Editable Homeschool Planners
    • Cart
    • Digital Products Terms of Use
    • Your Account Details
      • View Your Orders
      • Go To Your Downloads
      • My Account
    • Lost Password Help
  • More
    • The Video Library
    • Find Content By Tags
    • Recommendations
    • Donate
  • Podcast
You are here: Home / Holidays & Traditions / Simple Thanksgiving Meal Planning




Post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure statement.

Simple Thanksgiving Meal Planning

July 2, 2021 by Sallie Borrink
Be The First To Comment
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Hosting a successful holiday meal is almost all in the planning and this includes the Thanksgiving feast. If you are hosting Thanksgiving this year, here are five simple Thanksgiving meal planning steps to ensure you have an organized and enjoyable holiday.

This post will walk you through how to plan your menu, compile your shopping list, write out your cooking timetable, prepare your Thanksgiving meal, and enjoy your meal with family and friends.




Table of Contents

  • Plan Your Thanksgiving Menu
  • Compile Your Shopping List
  • Write Out Your Cooking Timetable
  • Prepare Your Thanksgiving Meal
  • Enjoy Your Family and Friends
  • Thanksgiving Music for a Meaningful Celebration

Plan Your Thanksgiving Menu

Brainstorm what to serve by looking through your recipes, cookbooks, magazines, and online recipe collections. Take into consideration:

  • family traditions
  • individual favorite foods
  • food allergies
  • the amount of time you have to prepare

Next, narrow down your menu by choosing foods that compliment each other in color, texture, temperature, and taste. Aim to have a colorful plate with a variety of sensory experiences. Offering a selection of choices helps ensure that everyone can find several foods they enjoy.

If any of your guests have offered to bring a specific dish, accept their kindness. If a guest offers to bring something in general, ask her to prepare an item that will be well-suited considering her time, traveling distance, and budget. Consider asking guests to bring a dish that is easily replaced rather than one of the primary foods. Always have a Plan B in mind in case a guest is not able to come at the last minute.

Put a photocopy of each recipe in a folder so they are all in one place. This way you will only have one folder to keep track of instead of a dozen or more cookbooks, recipes cards, magazine clippings, and online bookmarks.

Compile Your Shopping List

Once you’ve planned your menu, compile your shopping list. First, take an inventory of what you have on hand. Check expiration dates and physically check each ingredient in your pantry, including spices that you assume you always have on hand such as:

  • cinnamon
  • nutmeg
  • thyme
  • parsley
  • sage
  • poultry seasoning

Planning a special holiday meal is too important to go by memory! If anything you need is past dated, buy another one. This isn’t the time to take a chance on an old ingredient.

As you check each item, decide if it is something that can be purchased right away and stored or if it must be purchased closer to the actual holiday. Make one list of things to buy immediately and another list for the few days before the holiday.




Don’t forget to include any special items you need to pick up such as:

  • cooking utensils
  • Thanksgiving decorations
  • Thanksgiving napkins
  • flowers
  • gourds

Add these to the appropriate list.

Write Out Your Cooking Timetable

Using a calendar, decide when to prepare each item. If anything can be made ahead and frozen, by all means do so.

After making a general timetable for November, make a timetable for each of the several days before Thanksgiving. Make notes as to which foods to prepare each day, when to take the turkey out to thaw (if using frozen), and any other specific tasks such as polishing silver, unpacking special Thanksgiving dishes, etc.

Finally, make a timetable for Thanksgiving Day. Write down the times you need to prepare dishes in order for all of them to be done at the appropriate time. Make sure to take into account which dishes need to go in the oven and at what temperature. You might discover you need to adjust your menu if you have too many things to bake or roast in the oven at the same time at different temperatures. If it would make it easier, roast the turkey in a roaster such as one of these.

Nesco 18 Qt Professional Stainless Steel Roaster Oven with Porcelain CookwellNesco 18 Qt Professional Stainless Steel Roaster Oven with Porcelain CookwellOster 22-Quart Roaster Oven with Self-Basting Lid, Stainless Steel FinishOster 22-Quart Roaster Oven with Self-Basting Lid, Stainless Steel Finish




If you will need help in the kitchen, determine in advance who you would like to help and what you would like them to do. Make a note of it.

Prepare Your Thanksgiving Meal

By Thanksgiving morning you should be in great shape since you have already mapped out all the details ahead of time. Follow the timetable you prepared and troubleshoot any unexpected developments.

Although little glitches may arise, remember that your guests will probably never even notice unless you make a big deal out of it.

A happy and relaxed hostess makes everything taste better!

Enjoy Your Family and Friends

You’ve made it! Your reward for all of your planning is the ability to enjoy this special day and make some great new Thanksgiving memories.

Enjoy!




Thanksgiving Music for a Meaningful Celebration

Create a wonderful mood with lovely Thanksgiving music.

We Gather Together: 14 Thanksgiving HymnsWe Give Thanks: 15 Thanksgiving Hymns On PianoA Thanksgiving of American Folk HymnsHome to Thanksgiving - Songs of Thanks and Praise

Ready to get a start on your Christmas planning as well? Download my helpful A Cozy Christmas Planner!

 




10        
10
Shares
 
10
Shares
10       
Category: Holidays & TraditionsTag: Thanksgiving Celebrations

More Helpful Reading For You

5 Tips For A Great Christmas Letter

Free Printable Christmas Gift Tags Pin 2

Free Printable Christmas Gift Tags

Quiet – 5 Days of Christmas Peace

When Christmas Isn’t As It Should Be

Previous Post:Simple Thanksgiving Traditions for Families
Next Post:Simple Thanksgiving Learning Projects

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 

The maximum upload file size: 128 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop file here

Thank you for your comment. I read and appreciate each one even if I am unable to respond.

Sidebar

I’m Sallie, Christian wife, mother, homeschooler, and homebody. Current events analyst. One of the weird sheep. Frequently contrarian. Traditional and conservative both theologically and politically. I value liberty to live quiet and simple lives. If you are looking for a Pollyanna with normalcy bias, you are in the wrong place. Please start here. Welcome! ♥ 

Chit Chat

~ Okay, I figured out the answer to my experiment. It took ten days of trying to figure out the root problems, but it came to me this morning. Answer is in motion at the moment even though you can't see it yet on the public side. I think it will make everyone happy. ♥

~ I'm in the midst of My Two Week Experiment so if things look a bit off from time to time with the website design or layout, that's why. Thank you for your patience!

~ If you are new to my blog, please note that I often add additional information to the comments of posts. If a particular subject interests you, be sure to check the comments. 

~ Did you put on the Armor of God this morning? Ephesians 6:10-20

~ If you turn off your adblocker, I truly appreciate it. ♥

~ Don't miss The Video Library!

~ This website is funded by ads, donations, monthly supporters, sales in my shop, and affiliate purchases.

 

Only $47!

Categories

Popular Right Now

  • Home Page
  • What Was In The Envelopes At President Bush’s Funeral?
  • Why I Reject Minimalism
  • The Cozy Life In America (and Why I Prefer It To the Danish Hygge)
  • Copywork Printables in Print & Cursive
  • The Ultimate List of AIP Comfort Food Recipes
  • Learning Geography With Gardening
  • Planning Our Relaxed Homeschooling Kindergarten
  • A Fancy Nancy Birthday Party – Planning Ideas On A Budget
  • History Timeline for Relaxed Homeschoolers From Homeschool in the Woods
  • Being a Berean – Using Wisdom and Discernment Online
  • 100 Books From Our New Home Library




Join The Discussion

  • Sallie Borrink on My Two Week Website & Blogging Experiment
  • Leah on What Was In The Envelopes At President Bush’s Funeral?
  • Sharon on Our 26th Wedding Anniversary!
  • Sallie Borrink on The Press and Government Know These Excess Death Numbers and Aren’t Telling the Public
  • Sallie Borrink on The Press and Government Know These Excess Death Numbers and Aren’t Telling the Public
  • Sallie Borrink on The Press and Government Know These Excess Death Numbers and Aren’t Telling the Public
  • Sallie Borrink on The Press and Government Know These Excess Death Numbers and Aren’t Telling the Public
  • Sallie Borrink on The Press and Government Know These Excess Death Numbers and Aren’t Telling the Public
  • Sallie Borrink on The Press and Government Know These Excess Death Numbers and Aren’t Telling the Public
  • Sallie Borrink on The Press and Government Know These Excess Death Numbers and Aren’t Telling the Public
  • Sallie Borrink on The Press and Government Know These Excess Death Numbers and Aren’t Telling the Public
  • Sallie Borrink on The Press and Government Know These Excess Death Numbers and Aren’t Telling the Public

Our Favorite Timeline

Providential History

Mighty Works of God - Not Memorizing Facts

Check Out The Many Free Resources!

All About Learning Press




Receive new post notifications from A Quiet Simple Life

Powered by follow.it

Archives

My Blogroll

  • Adventures In Keeping House
  • The Blessed Hearth
  • The Bluebirds Are Nesting On The Farm
  • By Sun and Candlelight 
  • Coffee Tea Books and Me
  • Creekside Cottage
  • Elefantz
  • Exquisitely Unremarkable
  • Generations Before Us
  • Heavenstretch
  • Homemakers Thoughts
  • Hope and Thrift 
  • A Housewife Writes
  • Jane Austen's World
  • The Legacy of Home
  • Like Mother, Like Daughter
  • Love My Life
  • Mama's Learning Corner
  • Mountain Housewife
  • The 1940s Experiment
  • North Ridge Farm
  • Rural Revolution
  • Something From Almost Nothing
  • Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth
  • Stories of an Unschooling Family
  • Sugar Pie Cottage
  • Thinking About Home
  • Thrive On One Income
  • Upon Hope
  • Vox Popoli
  • A Working Pantry 

Contact Me • Privacy Policy • Disclaimers & Affiliates

Copyright © 2023 · Sallie Borrink · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Mai Theme

Scroll Up