ZipList Giving Away $600 to Lucky Wise Bread Readers!
Editor's Note: The contest has ended! We're picking the winners right now. Please keep an eye out for a prize email from Wise Bread or KillerAcesMedia (our parent company). Congrats to comment winners Addrienne Mertens ($150), Anne Mostella ($150), Cynthia C ($50), and Kelsey ($50). Congrats to Twitter winner @Shawnamichelle2 ($100). ZipList User registration winner is Brenda B.
To help us celebrate Thanksgiving, ZipList is helping us give away $600 in prizes!
ZipList is a free online and mobile shopping list and recipe organizer that lets you save all your favorite recipes and automatically organizes your grocery lists. I'm a big fan of this service because:
- You can create and share lists with your family, and allow them to add items or check them off in real time. No more duplicate dishes on Turkey Day!
- ZipList has over 300,000 recipes from hundreds of popular food websites, like Woman's Day, Martha Stewart, and $5 Dinners.
- You can access your list online or via free apps from iPhone or Android. You always have your list with you so no more wasted trips to the supermarket.
3 Easy Ways to Enter $600 Giveaway
1) Comment Entry: $400 Prizes
Simply leave a comment below before end of 11/23/11, answering the question: What's your favorite Thanksgiving budget dish or comfort food? (Answer must be at least two sentences long.)
We'll randomly select 4 comment winners. Prizes are 4 Visa Gift Cards: $150, $150, $50, $50 -- perfect for your holiday grocery shopping spree.
2) Twitter Entry: $100 Prize
To enter, simply do this before end of 11/23/11:
- Tweet this message: Retweet to win $100 from @Ziplist & @WiseBread giveaway http://bit.ly/ziplist2 #zipwin
- Follow @ZipList and @WiseBread so we can contact you if you win.
We'll randomly select 1 Twitter winner. Prize is 1 $100 Visa Gift Card.
3) ZipList User Registrant: $100 Prize
To enter, simply click this link - http://zipth.is/@ztq8dy to save The Ultimate Budget Thanksgiving Dinner checklist to a ZipList account, where you can then create a grocery shopping list, search for personalized recipe recommendations and discover other helpful checklists.
One lucky person will be chosen at random to win a $100 Visa Gift Card.
General Rules
Limit to one comment or tweet per day per person. You can enter all 3 contests to increase your chances but you can only win 1. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Legal residents of the 50 United States (D.C.) 18 years or older. Ends at 11:59 pm Eastern on 11/23/11. Winners will be randomly selected and announced on Wise Bread before December 15. If winners do not respond to prize notification within 3 days we reserve the right to select another.
5 Ways to Save Big on Thanksgiving
While Thanksgiving may be the biggest meal of the year, with a little simple planning you can have a stress-free and budget-friendly Turkey Day!
1) Use Checklists to Keep Track of What You Need: Save a checklists to help you make sure you have all of your Turkey Day essentials, like stuffing mix, sweet potatoes and green beans. No need for extra, costly trips to the supermarket. Check out this budget dinner checklist created just for the holidays:
Ultimate Budget Thanksgiving Dinner Checklist Get the most out of your budget by opting for some pocket friendly Thanksgiving grocery items.
2) Make Less Than You Think You Need:
Take a headcount, but then make less. There are so many must-have side dishes - mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole - that guests won't be taking their usual helpings. Make less of each dish and you should still have plenty of food.
3) Save on Side Dishes
It's easy to modify traditional favorites to save money. For green bean casserole, mix frozen green beans with frozen corn. Once cooked, top with Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. You can also see big savings by opting for brown-and-serve rolls over crescent rolls.
4) Buy a Frozen Turkey
Believe it or not, you can save 30-40% (or more) by choosing a frozen turkey over a fresh, organic or free range turkey. Just be sure to give yourself 4-5 days for the turkey to thaw in your refrigerator. If you choose to thaw your turkey in cold water, allow 30 minutes per pound.
) Bake Your Own Pies
Pumpkin pie is cheaper to make than to buy (and it's so easy to make!). Plus, frozen pie crusts can often be found on sale. Here are a couple of our favorite pumpkin pie recipes to add to your recipe box:
Double Decker Pumpkin Caramel Pie Recipe This pie took first place in a local Fall Harvest Festival pie contest!
Traditional Pumpkin Pie Betty Croker Recipe A traditional favorite made fuss-free with an easy pat-in-the-pan crust!
Good luck with the contest! I look forward to reading all your yummy entries.
Tagged: Food and Drink, Giveaways
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NY STRIP WITH GRILLED SHRIMP @ SCALLOPS WITH CHERRY TOMATO AND SOUTHERN GREEN PEA SALAD. ALSO GERMAN RED POTATO SALAD WITH BALSAMIC VINEGAR. NO TURKEY OR DRESSING PLEASE.
My favorite budget dish for Thanksgiving is the classic green bean casserole. All you need is a can of Cream of Mushroom soup, green beans, french fried onions, some milk and a little bit of soy sauce. It's so easy!
I enjoy having the baked sweet potatoes. I add a bit of butter and cinnamon and not care if there is anything else on the table (perhaps except for some roasted chestnuts)
My favorite comfort dish would have to be sweet potatoes! I love them with butter, cinnamon and brown sugar! Mmmm...
My favorite Thanksgiving dish is Banana Wafer Pudding, bananas, vanilla wafers, pudding mix and cool whip on top. Mouth watering yummy!!!
We make pumpkin pie from our Halloween pumpkins which we grow in our summer garden. The flavor is great. The cost is minimal for the milk, eggs, sugar, spices. We love the fact that the pies are homegrown.
I love the mashed potatoes I make, I roast garlic and mash it right in with it. It's so yummy!
I love Hot Turkey Noodle soup...made with leftover turkey and veggies. It is a great comfort on the cold days.
My favorite comfort dessert is the chocolate cream pie!! No matter how much I stuffed myself , I have have to have the chocolate pie!
My favorite side dish is definitely broccoli cheese casserole. To make it more budget friendly, I simplified the recipe to just three ingredients: broccoli, condensed broccoli cheese soup, and crushed butter crackers for the topping! Bake @350 until the casserole is bubbly and the cracker topping is crisp....I'm obsessed!
Comfort food: Sis's broccoli casserole.
Budget food: definitely stuffing. We all contribute our saved bread and we end up with mounds of it!
Green bean casserole with fried onions on top is both economically pleasing and crowd pleasing. It be just be me but I could eat fried onions straight out of the canister so if anything can liven up green beans, it would be these.
My favorite Thanksgiving budget dish is mashed potatoes. Right now, many grocery stores have B1G1 Free deals on 5 or 10 lb bags; which can make a lot of potato dishes! I also enjoy making home fries (I use 2 peeled/sliced potatoes, 1/4 cup chopped onion with a tad of oil and fry it on the pan) - GREAT side dish for any occasion!
I love all Thanksgiving food, so it's hard to pick a favorite. I think that my favorite would have to be dressing. I'll eat any kind, and I could eat a whole pan of it if I had no self-restraint. Can't wait for next Thursday!
My favorite budget dish is stuffing. Bread is cheap, and there are so many ways to prepare it. Everyone can be happy with stuffing.
I look forward to my mom's pumpkin pie. She puts a pecan glaze over the top and it perfectly tops off the Thanksgiving meal.
My favorite comfort food for Thanksgiving is Daddy's Green Dressing. Sadly, this is our second Thanksgiving without Daddy and his famous dressing. I miss them both!
My favorite dish is my Mom's Thanksgiving Sweet potatoes. Its an especially sweet dish that we only indulge in at the holidays. - @Karenmp31
Everything pumpkin! Pumpkin pie, bread, soup, stuffed pumpkin even ice cream. I've even found a recipe for pumpkin guts bread, which uses the stringy stuff you scoop out of the pumpkin, minus the seeds. It's delicious!
My budget dish and favorite comfort dish are one in the same. Mashed potatoes are to die for!
For sure it's the mashed potatoes. Creamy with lots of butter and gravy. Delish!!!
My favorite Thanksgiving side is both a comfort food and frugal-schnitzel beans. The recipe is simple. Fresh green beans are sauteed with onion and garlic and then simmered with any type of canned tomatoes for about a half hour. To finish, sprinkle with crumbled crisp bacon. The tomato based sauce is a nice contrast from the regular Thanksgiving sides and at the same time compliments them deliciously. Try it!
My favorite Thanksgiving dish is mashed potatoes with homemade gravy from the turkey drippings. Delish!
My favorite Thanksgiving comfort food would be stuffing! Sage; cornbread; and oyster stuffing are the best. I love everything about Thanksgiving, but stuffing is the best!
Favorite comfort food has to be stuffing; it definitely is not a budget buster, even if you use pretty decent bread as a base to start out with. Budget wise, I think it's important to be a good host and offer variety, but it is so easy to waste food. I like to be aware of my guests and make sure I'm making things that everyone likes and will eat, not making food that I just think compliments other dishes or looks like it belongs (no one in my family really likes green bean casserole, even if there is an inordinate amount of commercials on the TV for it right now...)
The comfort foods that are "required" for any meal involving Roasted Turkey, in my house are mashed potatoes, stuffing (bread and sausage based) and gravy! These are must haves around here. One time I didn't have the stuffing and you would have thought the world was going to end - never again. These are always together
My favorite comfort food is mashed potatoes. It is also budget friendly because I can buy a bag of potatoes on sale.
My family loves date bars. They are simple to make, a tribute to my late Grandmother and delicious!
I think home made applesauce is an economical comfort food. It seems to complement any menu.
Stuffing and macaroni & cheese are my favorites. And they both have to be homemade, of course.
tweet: https://twitter.com/#!/js22222222/status/137934866867159041
Mashed potatoes and gravy can't be beat! Simple, Cheap, and Easy is always good.
Tweet! https://twitter.com/#!/lexiquin/status/138029861825544192
Delightful mashed potatoes with butter and milk.
My favorite Thanksgiving budget dish is deviled eggs. They're delicious and cost hardly anything to make.
My favorite Turkey Day comfort food is pecan pie.
Stuffing, even though we just use boxed!
My favorite Thanksgiving comfort food is cranberry sauce! I love the sweet taste and contrast to turkey flavor.
my favorite budget food is the turkey. It was 59 cents a lb. I bought 2 because I am also bringing one to work, all sliced up on Christmas day. I should have bought more. I always get the smallest ones I can find. I freeze some for later, share some with friends, and make soup. My turkey soup requires the bones with a little meat on them, lots of cooking time, and onions, celery, parsnips, and carrots. Sometimes I add egg noodles. I also freeze my soup, and share it with friends.
My favorite budget Thanksgiving dish is Green Bean Casserole! Only a few ingredients to purhcase, plus it is super quick and easy to make!
My favorite Thanksgiving comfort food is mashed potatoes with giblet gravy.
My favorite Thanksgiving budget dish or comfort food is candied yams! I love them with heaps of brown sugar, pecans, and toasted marshmallows on top! It makes me happy!
My favorite menu to make that costs less than 3 dollars is corn casserole.. Its just two cans of corn (one regular and one creamy) stick of butter, box of corn bread and 8 ounces of sour cream.. Cook at 350 for about 1/2 hour. Easy and perfect for Thanksgiving
@pontowd
Soup is always an economical choice. Pumpkin soup is festive and adds a little panache to the holiday meal without straining the budget.
I am not really sure how much of a budget dish it is, but I love just regular mashed potatoes. As long as they are done right, they are one of the best side dishes. Potatoes are usually pretty cheap this time of year, and all it really needs is some milk (or better yet cream) and butter and then mashed nice and smooth. They are even better if you add a bit of roasted garlic!
Sorry. I had added more to my original post but it sounded like too much complaining so I deleted it right before posting, having momentarily forgotten the 2 sentence requirement. Here's my original sentiment.
My favorite Thanksgiving dish has always been cranberry sauce. Its so disappointing that every store bought cranberry sauce seems to have high fructose corn syrup in it because I've started having a very bad reaction to that ingredient. I guess homemade cranberry sauce is my only recourse for Thanksgiving dinner.
Love pumpkin pie as a budget recipe, you can buy all the ingredients (except the eggs) in advance so you can get your pie fix anytime. It costs maybe $5-7 total for a fresh delicious pie that will run circles around anything you buy ready-made. If you slice it into 8 slices for a 9-inch pie, it's about .75/slice.
tweet: https://twitter.com/#!/js22222222/status/138379779144548353
My favorite comfort food is chicken pot pie. It's the perfect thing to have when it's cold outside, after a rough day, or if you need something that tastes great.
green beans cooked with an onion and bacon, mmmm
The best TG comfort food are the sweet potatoes like my grandma used to make. They're not for the foodies, and have those little marshmallows on them, but still yummy and reminds me of her :)
My favorite would be Cranberry Salad.
It's a recipe that my mom has passed down and it reminds me of home. So for me it is definitely a comfort food. And very simple to make.
It is made of raspberry jello, diced apples, oranges and pecans. And a small can of cranberry sauce. Simple yet delicious. Yet it yields enough to feed a small army.
i love cranberry bread!!
Hard choice, but mashed potatoes and gravy wins over dressing and gravy as my holiday budget dish
tweet- https://twitter.com/#!/js22222222/status/138637898168803329
Pasta salad is a great side which is economical and filling. There are so many variations that it can suit any group.
My comfort food is white rice and Lentil soup mixed together. Generally in Asian Indians, this is considered comfort food for quite a big population and I am no different:).
Hmm. I would say my favorite Thanksgiving dish is Popcorn. This may seem like a weird choice, but some historical recordings have referenced a food that resembled popcorn. So, why can't we have it for thanksgiving as well? It's cheap, it's tasty, and it's easily prepped.
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My favorite Thanksgiving comfort food is Mashed potatoes. I love how my mom makes them with mashed up garlic.
My favorite dish is sweet potatoes, either with the traditional marshmallow topping, or without marshmallows and tossed with nuts, cranberries and a sweet glaze. Most places here in town have them on sale this week, so buying enough to feed a large group of people is pretty feasible.
My absolute favorite Thanksgiving dish is homemade cornbread dressing, that is stuffed inside the turkey. This allows is to absorb all those wonderful flavors from the turkey, and it's always moist!
My favorite budget side dish is sweet potatoe yams. I only make this at Thanksgiving time. It is so easy to make and also delicious the next day. I have a sweet tooth so it satisfies my sugar craving.
My budget dish would be mac & cheese with a touch of bacon. I also love the mash potatoes. I back them in the oven along side the turkey. I can't wait for Thanksgiving. I also looking forward to the desserts!
My favorite Thanksgiving budget dish and comfort food is green bean casserole. I believe I can make it for less than $3 for the whole dish.
http://www.marthastewart.com/331745/maple-whipped-sweet-potatoes?czone=f...
I am not a martha stewart fan particularly, but I found this recipe last year for Thanksgiving and it was a hit! I love my sweet potatoes, and this is definitely one of the tastiest treats I've served around Thanksgiving!! Super cheap & easy to make!
It is so easy to make economical T-giving dishes. Mash turnips with ginger, cream and fennel. Corn pudding is another easy fun cheap dish.
My absolute favorite is green bean casserole. We always buy the French's french fried onion rings, and follow the recipe on that's on the can. There's only five ingredients, all of which are inexpensive, AND it's delicious!
my favorite is stuffing.every year i make my home made stuffing.i eat it for left overs for days.thats my comfort zone :)
My favorite Thanksgiving comfort food is the mashed potatoes and gravy plus stuffing that my mom makes. These things together on a fork make the perfect bite that I look forward to every year.
Candied sweet potatoes are my favorite inexpensive Thanksgiving dish. It's not Thanksgiving without them to me.
Mostly I love homemade bread and lots of veggies on Thanksgiving.
I love mashed potatoes.. so good... perfect comfort food.. Oh also home made mac and cheese.. YUMMY! I guess I'm for carbs LOL
my favorite comfort food is macaroni and cheese. my favorite thanksgiving budget dish is mashed potatoes and gravy.
I would go with homemade stuffing as the budget dish. If you think about it, you use bread to make stuffing. The bread has to be dried out. So buy stale bread, day old bread, any kind of old bread, just not moldy old. It's not hard to find discounted at just about any store or bakery.
For dessert, my favorite Thanksgiving budget dish or comfort food: tied between Pumpkin Pie and Persimmon Pudding. My Grandma Kelley always made both, and she made the best Persimmon Pudding ever, with a glaze on top I've never been able to duplicate.
I can't get good persimmons here in the south like they grow in the midwest, so I always try to buy persimmon pulp when I go to Indiana and freeze it. It's still not quite the same, but it's like a little slice of home when I'm so far away and missing my family.
Both are cheap, but persimmons literally grow on trees, so they have to be the most budget-friendly to work with.
My favorite budget friendly Thanksgiving dish is canned cranberry jelly - it may look odd, but it's the perfect sweet-but-not-overpowering side :)
My favorite comfort food at Thanksgiving is the "dressing"...not stuffing. At least thats what we call it, when it is not stuffed in the bird. I have never stuffed the bird, and probably wont ever will, lol...My family loves dressing with some sage sausage, cubed bread crumbs, some chicken stock, onion, celery, spices and some granny smith apple chopped up...so good!
Made from scratch dinner rolls can be made for very little and elevate the meal to a comfort level that can't be matched with store bought.
mashed potatoes! Very cheap, filling and so good! (but not so good for, a holiday indulgence)
My favorite Thanksgiving comfort food is homemade mashed potatoes! I love to eat them all week especially on a turkey sandwich. Now, I'm hungry. Mmm, I can't wait for Thanksgiving!
I don't have much of a budget favorite. SO my favorite dish is my grandmothers bourbon sweet potatoes
I love sweet potato casserole. It's healthy, cheap, and yummy!
My favorite Thanksgiving budget dish is green bean casserole. I love that it is so inexpensive and easy to make. It essentially, just involves opening a few cans, mixing the items together and then baking it for 30 minutes. Yummy!
Mashed potatoes are definitely my comfort holiday food. I probably eat more of that than turkey!
My favorite (easy and inexpensive) Thanksgiving dish to make is spinach squares. They are pretty much cheese, flour, and spinach, and a great way to get my kids to eat spinach.
My favorite Thanksgiving comfort food is my Aunts sweet potato casserole. Its sooo good! I usually put a lot of the casserole on my dinner plate, then I have more for dessert. JUst thinking about it has me excited for thanksgiving!
I didn't comment two sentences so I am amending my previous comment. My favorite Thanksgiving comfort food is mashed potatoes. I like them with butter, not with gravy. I recently bought a "ricer" and am going to try to use that this holiday. Wish me luck!
Sweet potatoes can be budget friendly as a Thanksgiving side dish. Right now they're on sale 67c/lb and we usually get the big ones, bake them, then cut them up and serve them with butter. This is a simple, cheap, favorite of my family.
My favorite Thanksgiving dish is sweet potato casserole that is only available during the holidays because it is made by grandma. It is the only thing that the entire family enjoys that has sweet potatoes in and it is my absolute favorite.
Home made mashed potatoes are my favorite budget and comfort food at Thanksgiving. Potatoes aren't expensive and I always have milk and butter on hand. Mashed potatoes are filling and delicious!
Squash ravioli are a favorite. They take some time to prepare, but it is a holiday after all.
my favorite budget dish of all time, has to be green bean casserole. I love it!
I would have to go with my in laws stuffing. It has shredded turkey, gravy and it's baked until crispy. It's so yummy! thank you!
For me it's delicious stuffing piled high with loads of gravy. I've always enjoyed that or a sweet potato
I like my grandma's noodles. I didn't used to but now that I've moved so far away I really want some!
My favorite budget Thanksgiving dish is stuffing. It is very cheap but delish essential part of every Thanksgiving.
My favorite dish is dressing/stuffing. For me, it's a great comfort food and inexpensive - a little bread, few vegetables, chicken stock and it's done.
It's a toss-up between the mashed potatoes and the stuffing/dressing. Both so savory and comforting, I often start making them long before Thanksgiving rolls around!
Mashed potatoes and gravy are my comfort food. I make them from scratch using real butter and cream. I only make them like this at Thanksgiving because they are very high in calories but they are worth waiting a year for. I also make homemade turkey gravy. Yummy! I can't wait until tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
My wife just went shopping and bought a vegetable I love. Brussel Sprouts, we only seem to have them for holiday dinners. I'm not sure why, but if there was a comfort food for me this would be it.