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How to Have an Easy Thanksgiving

October 31, 2021 by Laura Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Want to have an easy Thanksgiving? I’ve shared these tips for years, but every year I feel like they need to be shared again!

How to Have an Easy Thanksgiving

The key is to get ahead. Start making food ahead of time (yes, even the turkey!!) so that you can enjoy people on Thanksgiving day instead of spending so much time in the kitchen. Here are my tips and tricks, and of course, recipes!

One Week Before Thanksgiving

  • Pies made and frozen
  • Cheesy Mashed Potatoes made and frozen (OR wait and make this amazing Instant Pot Mashed Potato Recipe the day of!)
  • Stuffing Muffins made and frozen
  • Green Bean Casseroles made and frozen
  • Sweet Potatoes baked, mashed, and frozen
  • All remaining groceries purchased

Two Days Before Thanksgiving

  • Turkey baked and de-boned (yes, you CAN make your turkey ahead of time!)
  • Turkey Broth made
  • Cranberry Sauce made 
  • Prepared frozen food moved from freezer to fridge

One Day Before Thanksgiving

  • Tea brewed and chilled
  • Sparkling cider chilled
  • Pineapple Fluff Salad made and chilled
  • Cream whipped
  • Tables and chairs set up

Thanksgiving Day

  • Enjoy a large cup of steamy coffee in my recliner for a very long time (because I can)
  • Everyone on their own for breakfast (probably cereal)
  • Mix dry ingredients together for Stir-and-Pour Rolls (for easy, no-brainer mixing about an hour before meal time)
  • Put Cranberry Apple Cider into a crockpot to heat (this is a huge hit with guests!)
  • Set out butter to soften for rolls
  • Plates, silverware, cups, and napkins set out

About 1 1/2 hours before serving time, I will bake or re-heat prepared foods. Then I will make gravy and bake the rolls. Easy peasy!

Here are the quick links to all the recipes you’ll need:

  • Make-Ahead Turkey
  • Stuffing Muffins
  • Cheesy Mashed Potatoes
  • Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot
  • Oh Good Gravy
  • Green Bean Casserole
  • How to Make Frozen Pies
  • Simple Whipped Sweet Potatoes
  • How to make Whipped Cream
  • Whole Wheat Stir-and-Pour Dinner Rolls
  • Cranberry Sauce
  • Simple Cranberry Apple Cider
Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Why You Should Bake Your Turkey Ahead of Time

November 15, 2018 by Laura 5 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Did you know? You can bake your turkey ahead of time!

For me, this is the only way.

Now, of course, this means that at our house we don’t have a fancy “carve the turkey” tradition on Thanksgiving or Christmas day. But the trade-off is that I don’t have to walk into the kitchen and deal with a tepid, saggy turkey carcass after enjoying a special holiday meal. Worth it? A million times over.

Why should you bake your turkey ahead of time?

Let me count the reasons…

  1. Because of the tepid, saggy turkey carcass, but we’ve already been through that already.
  2. But speaking of the turkey carcass, when you make your turkey ahead of time, you’ll be able to save the said carcass and make incredibly Rich Broth and fantastic Turkey Gravy. So long live the turkey carcass (so to speak).
  3. Not only will your turkey be baked ahead of time, but you’ve also already made several gallons of broth too. And it’s not even Thursday yet.
  4. When you follow these methods of baking your turkey before the big day, your pre-cooked turkey will be perfectly moist, juicy, and tender at serving time.
  5. Instead of slaving over meal preparation on a holiday, YOU WILL GET TO ENJOY EATING THE ACTUAL HOLIDAY MEAL. That was me yelling to share the good news. I am so happy about this. Come one. Come all. Bake your turkey ahead of time!

I’ve shared before, but it’s worth sharing again…

How to Bake Your Turkey Ahead of Time

2.0 from 1 reviews
Why You Should Bake Your Turkey Ahead of Time
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 1 beautiful bird
Ingredients
  • 1 Turkey
  • 1 Large Roasting Pan
  • Foil if necessary
Instructions
  1. Place the turkey in the refrigerator for 3-4 days until thawed.
  2. Remove the bag of giblets from the inside of the turkey.
  3. Empty the giblets into your roasting pan as they help make a good, rich broth.
  4. Place the bird, breast side up, into a large baking pan or roaster.
  5. Cover with foil or with your roaster lid.
  6. Cook at 325° for 15-20 minutes per pound.
  7. You know your turkey is done cooking when the red thing pops up, or when the legs start to pull away from the body. It should be golden brown and slightly crisp looking.
  8. Be sure to save the broth that formed naturally!
  9. Allow the turkey to cool, then de-bone completely. Store meat in baggies or in covered pyrex dishes in the refrigerator.
  10. Save turkey carcass to make another round of broth for gravy, soup, and other nourishing meals.
  11. On serving day, drizzle a liberal amount of broth (one-two cups per 9x13 inch pan of meat) over turkey, cover and warm in 300°-350° oven for 30-45 minutes or until meat is hot and steamy.
  12. Serve right away.
3.5.3229

What about the rest of your holiday meal?

Indeed, you can prepare your entire holiday meal ahead of time!! Turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cream cheese corn…the list goes on.

Here’s a run-down of how to prepare all your holiday dishes ahead of time. And even better? Grab our Holiday Prep Guide Packet filled with 9 fun printables to help you get ahead for the holidays! Sign up here to receive it for free!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Getting Ahead for the Holidays ~ My Food Prep Timeline and Checklist

November 15, 2015 by Laura 37 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

If I think about it too hard, I will realize that prepping for a holiday meal is an enormous amount of work to put into one forty-five minute eating session. Thankfully there will be fellowship, gratitude reflection, and best of all: leftovers. This work is all worth it because of the leftovers. (I mean fellowship. I only do this for the fellowship.)

Getting Ahead for the Holidays means that most of my hard work is complete by Thanksgiving morning. I can simply rewarm food, put together last minute dishes, and enjoy all my people. That’s the point, after all. Enjoying our people. Reveling in all God has given. Totally being thankful for leftovers. (I can’t help it.)

This year, we will be hosting Thanksgiving with some dear friends, gathering as many into our home as can fit (and then some). I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks. I’ve already started cooking. Sharing the Getting Ahead for the Holidays series with you has helped with my own planning – so thank you! This has been fun!

Getting Ahead for the Holidays Food Prep Timeline and Checklist

Below, I’ve outlined my ideal plan for knocking out everything on my to-do list. Will it all happen exactly according to plan? It never does. At least the list helps keep all my thoughts in one place!

One Week Before Thanksgiving

  • Pies made and frozen
  • Cheesy Mashed Potatoes made and frozen
  • Stuffing Muffins made and frozen
  • Green Bean Casseroles made and frozen
  • Sweet Potatoes baked, mashed, and frozen
  • All remaining groceries purchased

Two Days Before Thanksgiving

  • Turkey baked and de-boned
  • Turkey Broth made
  • Cranberry Sauce made (this recipe is coming soon)
  • Prepared frozen food moved from freezer to fridge

One Day Before Thanksgiving

  • Tea brewed and chilled
  • Sparkling cider chilled
  • Pineapple Fluff Salad made and chilled
  • Cream whipped
  • Tables and chairs set up (thanks, boys)

Thanksgiving Day

  • Enjoy a large cup of steamy coffee in my recliner for a very long time (because I can)
  • Everyone on their own for breakfast (probably cereal)
  • Mix dry ingredients together for Stir-and-Pour Rolls (for easy, no-brainer mixing about an hour before meal time)
  • Set out butter to soften for rolls
  • Plates, silverware, cups, and napkins set out

About 1 1/2 hours before serving time, I will bake or re-heat prepared foods. I will make gravy. I will bake the rolls. I will speak complete sentences and have actual conversations while doing this. I will. (Well, I’ll get back to you on that.)

Here are the quick links to all the recipes we covered in this series:

  • Make-Ahead Turkey
  • Stuffing Muffins
  • Cheesy Mashed Potatoes
  • Oh Good Gravy
  • Green Bean Casserole
  • How to Make Frozen Pies
  • Simple Whipped Sweet Potatoes
  • How to make Whipped Cream
  • Whole Wheat Stir-and-Pour Dinner Rolls

I would love to hear what all you are planning to prepare ahead this holiday season!

Getting Ahead for the Holidays

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Make-Ahead Turkey ~ Yes You Can!

November 3, 2015 by Laura 71 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Make-Ahead Turkey? Oh yes, indeed!

turkey22sm

There are people who wake up in the middle of the night to begin cooking their turkey for a holiday meal. There are people who baste and stuff and rub down their bird. These people are so very nice and dedicated to poultry perfection.

And then there’s me.

huge turkey 1

That is one huge bird.
Read the whole tale here.

I cannot find it within myself to do any of this to my turkey. I’m just not as devoted of a holiday baker as some. I’m a plop the bird in a pan, add nothing to it, cover it, put it in the oven, and take it out a few hours later kind of girl.

And…my favorite turkey baking tip of all: I cook my bird before the holiday. Like, two days before, usually.

I bake it, de-bone it, prepare all the broth, dispose of the carcass – basically I do all the messy, tedious, laborious turkey work ahead of time. Then on the day of the holiday feast, I take out my big dish of cooked meat, pour on a little broth, cover it, rewarm it, and we eat it. This is stress-free turkey baking.

My turkey always still tastes delicious.

That’s why I keep doing it this way.

No, our table doesn’t hold a big un-carved turkey. There is no turkey carving tradition at our house. For those who love traditions like this, I say go for it! Baste and carve and enjoy that special tradition.

But for those who find the turkey to be tedious, you might instead consider making it ahead of time.

But won’t the meat be dry?

Not if you don’t over-bake it in the first place.

The trick is to drizzle broth over your cooked, de-boned meat (I’d say one-two cups of broth per 9×13 inch dish full of meat), then cover the dish well. I warm it on Thanksgiving day for 30-45 minutes in a 300-350° oven along with other dishes that are baking. I pull it out and have a steaming, moist, delicious pan of turkey.

Make-Ahead Turkey

Yum

4.8 from 4 reviews
Make-Ahead Turkey
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Ingredients
  • 1 Turkey
  • 1 Large Roasting Pan
  • Foil if necessary
Instructions
  1. Place the turkey in the refrigerator for 3-4 days until thawed.
  2. Remove the bag of giblets from the inside of the turkey.
  3. Empty the giblets into your roasting pan as they help make a good, rich broth.
  4. Place the bird, breast side up, into a large baking pan or roaster.
  5. Cover with foil or with your roaster lid.
  6. Cook at 325° for 15-20 minutes per pound.
  7. You know your turkey is done cooking when the red thing pops up, or when the legs start to pull away from the body. It should be golden brown and slightly crisp looking.
  8. Be sure to save the broth that formed naturally!
  9. Allow the turkey to cool, then de-bone completely. Store meat in baggies or in covered pyrex dishes in the refrigerator.
  10. Save turkey carcass to make another round of broth for gravy, soup, and other nourishing meals.
  11. On serving day, drizzle a liberal amount of broth (one-two cups per 9x13 inch pan of meat) over turkey, cover and warm in 300°-350° oven for 30-45 minutes or until meat is hot and steamy.
  12. Serve right away.
3.4.3177

Simple Make-Ahead Turkey ~ Easy, Moist, Delicious

Additional Turkey Tips:

  • Adding a few onions to the turkey while baking is an effortless way to add more flavor.
  • Be sure to save the broth that forms naturally while your bird bakes.
  • Do not wait until your turkey is cold to take the meat off the bones. This makes the job much harder!
  • After you’ve taken all the meat off the bones, save the bones and put them into a stock pot. Fill the pot with water, carrots, onions, and any other veggies you like. Salt liberally. Cook on low for 4-6 hours to create a wonderful broth. Strain out bones. Blend the veggies until smooth and stir them back into the broth for added richness.
  • Use turkey broth for gravy. Use it to make Turkey and Noodles a few days after Thanksgiving. Use it for any soup or recipe that calls for chicken broth.
  • While making your turkey ahead of time is wonderfully helpful in cutting down work on your holiday meal serving day, you don’t want to make it too far in advance! I recommend making it on Tuesday or Wednesday, then serving it on Thanksgiving Thursday.

What’s your turkey tradition? To carve, or not to carve? To baste, or not to baste? Ever made a turkey ahead of time?

Here are the quick links to all the recipes we covered in this series:

  • Make-Ahead Turkey
  • Stuffing Muffins
  • Cheesy Mashed Potatoes
  • Oh Good Gravy
  • Green Bean Casserole
  • How to Make Frozen Pies
  • Simple Whipped Sweet Potatoes
  • How to make Whipped Cream
  • Whole Wheat Stir-and-Pour Dinner Rolls

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