thanksgiving trimmings

The past few years we have hosted Thanksgiving dinner with Mother and my stepfather and grandmother. Worried that I would ruin dinner and trying to help make things go smoothly, Grandmother would insist I buy a boxed dinner at Kroger and give me a check for the amount. I did insist that I could make my own mashed potatoes, green beans, sweet potato muffins, and the world's best secret ingredient pumpkin pie. It was always a wonderful meal and evening, and having the premade gravy helped out a great deal. With Mother gone and being 3 hours away we decided to keep the day simple and focused on the blessings God has given our little family. We aren't football fans so if you walked up to the front door and peered in the glass you would find us playing board games, scooping turkey and mashed potatoes onto plates, and spooning pumpkin pie into Timmy's mouth. This year I planned ahead, trying to reduce our grocery bill, so I think every item on our table this year was bought combining sales and coupons.

turkey: bought 3 weeks ago (frozen) when on sale for .19/lb
stuffing: onions were on sale $3 for 2 bags and chicken broth was on sale with doubled coupon for .45. I have been cutting up leftover bread for weeks and putting in freezer too.
green beans: on sale and doubled the fried onion coupon
potatoes: 10 lb bag for $3
pumpkin: on sale for .79, bought 6 (I do so love pumpkin pie)
Parker House rolls: 2/$5 and with doubled coupon for $1.50
yams: on sale for $1.25

The only thing I need left is some whipped cream and milk from Whole Foods. We will do school today and start baking and cooking in earnest Wednesday morning. Thursday I am going to run an 8K at 8am so the turkey will go in the oven when I get home.
I will post my Thanksgiving memories of childhood later this week, but mostly we will be spending time together, not blogging.

May God shower us with many blessings, may we thank him for all he has given us, and help us thank each other for the love and kindness we have received. Amen.