I started my weekend shopping a day early as I tried to get in the end of last weeks Pathmark deals. If you remember, last week I was a bit burnt out with the couponing so I didn’t get to Pathmark. But, with a week of rest from coupons, I was raring to go and walked out of Pathmark paying only $.15 for everything here. Seems criminal doesn’t it. Only $.15 for $34.25 worth of groceries. Hehe, now I remember why I love couponing

This big shopping trip at ShopRite still didn’t qualify me for a FREE turkey. Oh well, mom came through with a FREE 26 lb (actually she probably had to pay a little bit for it) that we will have for our Thanksgiving feast.

This shopping trip was a combined weekly grocery trip and shopping for Thanksgiving. Some of you may wonder, how did I stay on my grocery budget. Well, I didn’t or actually I did stay on budget I just used money set aside for this. I have a hospitality budget that I put money in each month to use at times like this. This week, however, I didn’t even need to use it. I have been so much under my budget for the last few weeks that I had over $120 leftover. I wound up using that money to pay for Thanksgiving. And with mom getting the turkey and bringing an antipasto and other family members bringing desserts, it really cuts down on the cost.

So, at ShopRite I spent $73.25 with $37.03 being for my weekly groceries and $36.22 for Thanksgiving.

I made a boring trip to Costco for milk, etc. spending $10.50 on this weeks grocery items and $9.98 for Thanksgiving.
And then lastly I went to Pathmark again. Here I just purchased my regular grocery items and had a blast. I was so excited to snag the Activia for so cheap with their catalina deal and found an unbelievable price on the chicken. I have mentioned before about their manager’s specials. Like I have said, it is only good when the meat is already on sale. If it’s full price, taking $2.00 off doesn’t do squat.

Well today, for some reason, the chicken was priced at $1.50 per lb which is already an unbelievable price but then there was $2.00 off each package. I was getting 2.75 lb packages of Perdue for less than $2.25 each. That comes to less than $.85 per lb. I picked up 5 packages and was so excited. At that price, who wouldn’t be.
Here I spent $19.90 for $87.45 worth of groceries.

So all together for the week I spent $67.58 for my regular shopping. Of that amount I got 27 lbs of chicken so I’d say that was a pretty good shopping trip and I’m still under my budget of $75 per week.

For Thanksgiving, I have spent $46.20 but I still have to pick up some items and will probably spend another $25 which still leaves me with money leftover from my money leftover. Now, that is nice when that happens…extra money from extra money.

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As I mentioned in my Meal Plan post, we are having 18 people for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. Although, I don’t have Thanksgiving every single year, in the 25 years I’ve been married, I have had it quite a bit. I remember in the beginning, I wanted to try so many different recipes and searched and searched for different ideas, always interested in what others prepared. In the end, I always go back to our family basics because that is just what we love. I’ve tried fancy stuffings but always go back to the basic recipe on the bag of Pepperidge Farm stuffing. I’ve tried fancy veggies and not ones eats them. So, basics it is for us.

This year we are cooking up a 26 lb turkey. Yeap, a big one. I’m trying something different this year. I am actually considering cooking the turkey on Wednesday, slicing it, pouring some of the juice over it and then heating it back up on Thursday. A turkey that size would need around 12 hours of cooking and to eat at around 3:00, well I’ll have to start it around midnight. And I just don’t feel like doing that. So, I did a little research and have found people that actually like doing it that way better. So, I’m going to give it a go.

So, with all that said. I wanted to share our Thanksgiving dinner menu plans. A couple of items I’m still on the fence about so if anyone has any great recipes, please do share. Now remember, I am Italian, so my menu is based on holiday dinners I have had growing up. It’s fun to see how everyone celebrates.

The Livesey/Sabatino Family Thanksgiving Feast:

Appetizers:
Antipasto w/ bread
Chips w/ dip
Hummus with pita chips

1st course (the Italian part):
Lasagna
Meatballs & Sausage

Main Course (the basic menu):
Turkey
Gravy
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes w/ cheese and sour cream
Baked Sweet Potatoes
Steamed Broccoli
Salad
Cranberry Sauce
Dinner Rolls

Pre-dessert (put out while we are cleaning up):
Clementines
Nuts
Chocolates

Dessert:
Homemade apple pie w/ ice cream
Whatever else the family brings
coffee, espresso

If anyone has cooked their turkey ahead of time please let us know how it is and any tips.

Photo Credit: Microforum Italia

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A busy week ahead in the Livesey house. The girls are home on Wednesday through Sunday and we are having 18 people for Thanksgiving dinner. Here is what we have planned for the rest of the week.

Chicken Cacciatore over penne, salad (never had it last week)
Turkey mini meatloaf, mashed potatoes, broccoli
Breakfast for dinner
Leftover turkey dinner
Turkey soup
Breaded chicken, pilaf, broccoli
Thanksgiving dinner

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