Countdown to Turkey Day: Grocery Planning

Welcome back, once again, to the Countdown to Turkey Day, where we are getting ready for Thanksgiving without overwhelm.

If you are joining us, here is what we have covered so far:

While your menu plan is not final, you certainly have a good idea of what you will serve on Thanksgiving. With this in mind, you can create a general list of your upcoming grocery needs.

Groceries are expensive. I know, tell me something I don’t know, Heather.

Thanksgiving Grocery Planning 101

Adding the cost of a big holiday meal to your budget can be stressful. It can be helpful to spread the cost of Thanksgiving dinner over several weeks rather than adding it to one grocery trip.

To do this takes planning, which is exactly what we are doing.

We want to ensure we can take advantage of every sale over the next few weeks. This isn’t about overbuying. It’s about knowing what we need and being ready.

Enter the Thanksgiving Day Spreadsheet

To create the bones of your Thanksgiving Shopping List, take your Soft Menu Plan and open a spreadsheet. (Go ahead and print out that list, you may need a second copy before we are done.)

I like to use Google Sheets as it’s easy to share with collaborators.

At the top of each column, place the dish’s name or recipe. If the item is not something you make regularly, you will also want to include a link to the recipe in that column to ensure you can easily find it when needed. If you have a backup option you are considering, put it in a column beside the frontrunner, but do not list its ingredients. You don’t want to end up overbuying.

Save this spreadsheet, as we will return to it several times in the next few weeks.

Please note that at this point in our countdown, menu items can still be changed as your guests have not been invited nor confirmed, so we still need to be flexible with our planning if necessary.

Under each menu item, list the recipe’s ingredients and don’t forget to include the spices. They are critical. Apple pie without cinnamon isn’t the same.

Take the printable shopping list and list the items not in your pantry or freezer. One way to arrange your list might be to start with your shelf-stable and frozen items that can be purchased now to perishable items that can only be purchased a few days ahead.

Remember to double-check the amounts as you create your shopping list from your spreadsheet. For example, if you have butter for multiple recipes, make sure that your shopping list accounts for the total amount of butter needed.

Keep Track of the Purchased Ingredients

As you shop for Thanksgiving Dinner items over the next few weeks, mark them off of your shopping list. However, it is very important that those ingredients, like the butter mentioned above, are marked and set aside for Thanksgiving.

This is especially true for those of you who live in homes with either communal fridges (roommate situations) or if you have teenagers who may not consider that the butter in the freezer might not be available for their midnight batch of cookies.

A sharpie and some masking or painter’s tape may go a long way to prevent frustration leading up to Thanksgiving Day.

How is your Thanksgiving planning coming along? Is your table clear?