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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Macaroni and cheese is an easy budget stretcher as a side dish on thanksgiving. It is one of the all time comfort foods
My favorite recipe is one my grandmother found a few years ago in Cooking Light. I have never been a fan of cranberries until this recipe. You boil the cranberries with orange juice, honey, cinnamon and all-spice. It tastes amazing and the whole house smells great. I like it so much I make it a few times a year.
It's so hard to pick just one Thanksgiving dish, but I'll have to go with dressing. My mother makes the best dressing from stale bread, chopped giblets, and plenty of onion, celery, and herbs. Best served with a dollop of turkey gravy.
The mashed potatoes and gravy is my comfort food. Even without the Turkey I could eat that alone.
A budget comfort food is most definitely those fall squashes -butternut squash, various pumpkins, gourds, etc. They are perfectly in season and thus inexpensive, and one can roast or stew them in chunks, then make soups, stews, pie fillings, or seasoned and made as a side.. all these warm and filling options make squashes my to-go comfort food for Thanksgiving.
My favorite turkey day (and beyond) foods are Turkey Enchiladas and Turkey Tamales. Take your favorite tamal or enchilada recipe and substitute left over turkey. :) Lots of good eatin.
My favorite budget/comfort Thanksgiving food is southern-style cornbread dressing. Warm, straight from the oven with crispy edges and sage-y aroma dressing (stuffing)takes me back to Thanksgivings as a child instantly.
Carrot + turnip mash - boil or steam 2/3 carrots, 1/3 turnip (or 1/2 and 1/2). Mash together with some milk, and, if desired butter or benecol, season for your taste.
My favorite thanksgiving budget as well as comfort food would be sweet potato pie. It is made from scratch using a family recipe that has been in our family for generations and we all inherit a copy of the recipe when we start our own household. During Thanksgiving every year we make at least 8-10 pies as everyone likes multiple servings of the pie.
Just good ole' mac-n-cheese, extra cheesy. Also, REAL mashed potatoes.
My favorite Thanksgiving comfort food and budget dish is Yorkshire Pudding. With only five ingredients (flour, eggs, milk, salt, and butter or drippings), not only is it budget-friendly, but super easy to make. The name is misleading, however. It is not a custard or pudding as we know it today (i.e. Jell-O pudding). Instead, it is a bread and insanely delicious.
I love pumpkin for my favorite holiday budget food. It is an inexpensive and very versitile vegtable that can be used in pies, soups, as well as bread recipies.
My favorite inexpensive Thanksgiving dish is green bean casserole. (It also happens to be my favorite dish overall, actually.) It's one of the fastest side dishes to make, which doesn't hurt either.
Our favorite Thanksgiving budget food is deviled eggs. Our chickens provide the eggs.
My favorite "budget" thanksgiving food is Turkey. What makes it budget is that after you're done eating on T-day, you can use leftover meat for other meals, and the carcass to make soup or stock!
My favorite Thanksgiving budget dish AND comfort food is mashed potatoes made from the potatoes we harvested from our own garden. Once I add some turkey gravy, I could (almost!) skip the turkey all together!
Some of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes are 1)Bread Pudding (easy to make with leftover bread and tastes wonderful for dessert), and 2) Corn Casserole, another easy to make with a moist cornbread texture. Perfect for a Thanksgiving feast!
Corn Casserole:
1 stick margarine (or butter), melted
1 cup sour cream
1 15 oz can creamed corn
1 15 oz can kernel corn, drained
1 box Jiffy corn bread mix
2 eggs
Mex all ingredients together until wet, place in 9x13 or 1 1/2 quart dish, bake at 350, uncovered, for 45 minutes or until crust is a light golden brown around the edge. Serve.
Also great with chili, or add mild chilis and serve with Mexican food. Our favorite with pork chimichangas and green salsa!
Stuffing! I love stuffing. And everyone looks forward to this dish.
OK, it's not an inexpensive side dish but I loooove making pecan pie. And making it myself is less expensive than store-bought pies. I buy the pecans when they're on sale, freeze them, then make as many pies as the pecans will allow for. I freeze any extras as they make great hostess gifts whenever we're invited anywhere for dinner.
My favorite frugal Thanksgiving budget dish is mashed potatoes. Potatoes are cheap and can easily be reheated for leftovers the next day.
My favorite Thanksgiving dish is mashed potatoes made from real potatoes and fresh made from scratch hot rolls. Nothing beats fresh homemade, reminds me of when I was little and got to have a buttered roll fresh out of the oven and lick the beaters when the mashed potatoes were done.
My (and my family's) favorite Thanksgiving comfort food would have to be my homemade stuffing (with a bite of turkey and gravy, of course!). I add chopped onions, pecans, mushrooms, and crispy sage sausage. :)
my favorite thanksgiving budget meal has got to be this awesome stuffing that my grandmother makes. It' s got pork in it and carrots and celery, and we always fight over who gets the last of it!
My ultimate Thanksgiving comfort dish would be Homemade Noodles and Mashed Potatoes. It is just not Thanksgiving in my family unless these 2 items are served. And the best way to eat these is to put the homemade noodles on top of your homemade mashed potatoes! Yummy :)
My favorite Thanksgiving comfort food has to be mashed potatoes with gravy. I look forward to Thanksgiving just for this food, since I don't eat it any other day of the year.
My favorite comfort food would have to be macaroni and cheese. It's not 'quite' traditional but it's my favorite for any holiday.
But my favorite budget Thanksgiving food is the turkey itself! Cooked perfectly (I use a modified version of Alton Brown's brining method) you have plenty of perfectly moist meat to last for days - and you can make stock/soup after, of course. We have actually run out of turkey before though!
For a Thanksgiving comfort food, it is hard to beat pumpkin pie. With alternative crusts, it can even be healthy.
I love Thanksgiving, and start craving the comfort foods weeks ahead! My ultimate favorites are the turkey and mashed potatoes...I always overeat!
My favorite Thanksgiving comfort food is definitely mashed potatoes and brown gravy. Of course you must first make the cup in the potatoes with your spoon and put a pate of butter in to melt first, then add the gravy. Mmmmmmm!
I love making roasted carrots in the oven. Just add cinnamon, ginger, and butter, and they're a great alternative to yams - I think sweeter, too!
My favorite Thanksgiving budget dish is simple mashed potatoes. So delicious! I can buy a large quantity of potatoes on sale for super cheap, and make several servings to freeze ahead of time.
My favorite Thanksgiving budget dish is actually an after the dinner pot of stewp/stoup (really thick soup or thin stew) made from the leftover turkey carcass. Been working on this for several years and it's a family favorite that lasts most of the following week. Especially awesome if the weather is cold and dreary. Nothing like a hot bowl of homemade stewp to warm a chilled body.
My favorite is baked sweet potatoes. They are grown locally and sold by farmers on the side of the road super cheap. They are also very healthy.
Our favorite is Green Bean Casserole. I believe the recipe came from Campbell soup. The casserole is cheap easy and quick, but most of all it tastes good.
Thank You
My favorite budget dish is stuffing. If you use reduced-price bread, on-sale broth and the spices you probably have on had, with a little celery and onion, it's a frugal side dish.
My favorite dish is bread stuffing with sausage. It just reminds me of my mom and Thanksgiving when I was little.
It has to be pie. When my family gets together we often have 1/2 pie per person.
Sweet potatoes are affordable and easy to prepare. Add a little brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice and they are delicious and nutritious!
My favorite Thanksgiving dish is my mother's oyster stuffing (she grew up in New Orleans). However now that I follow a low-carb diet I'm just going to stick with turkey and vegetables!
My favorite Thanksgiving budget dish and comfort food are one and the same. It's talent has been made abundantly clear to my family as they have yet to experience the same presentation of the "Potatoe". At times, The "Star of the Show" Mr. Turkey, has failed to make an appearance, not with Mr. Potatoe! Due to its affordability and versatility this humble, comfort food has ample creative and nutritional value. It also has a warm nostalgic, traditional place in our memories of Day's past. While possessing Star Quality, it prefers its' supportive role confident of its permanent place in our Thanksgiving Holiday Dinner.
My very favorite Thanksgiving side dish is green bean casserole. For some reason, even though it's super easy, I never make it at any time! But that's the one thing I'm really looking forward to this year at my Thanksgiving dinners. (I'm so lucky, I get two! One for family and "hipster Thanksgiving" with our friends a week before the real thing.)
I really like mashed cauliflower with cheese and butter as a neat alternative to mashed potatoes.
What's your favorite Thanksgiving budget dish or comfort food?
- This is difficult for me because I absolutely love turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, yankee pudding and pumpkin pie all equally and would never consider a holiday complete without any of them.
If I must pick one though, I would say turkey because you can reuse turkey for so many different dishes (hence the budget). The broth is used for yankee pudding, the turkey can be made into turkey croquets or turkey soup. Great healthy meal too because it is low calorie, high protein, no carb, and low fat :)
Must have Mom's sweet potatoes. Nobody makes them as yummy as she does!
My favorite thanksgiving dish made on a budget and very simple to make is my wife's homemade breen bean bake. Wow, so simple and tastes great.
I love making gourmet desserts, but they are not always budget friendly. I made a 4 layer pumpkin cake last year that was CHEAP and looked expensive! The recipe is here http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/luscious-four-layer-pumpkin-cake-659...
Comfort food is this great broccolli casserole my wife makes. Its primarily just frozen broccolli, velveeta, breadcrumbs and some spices, so it's pretty cheap too!
The best Thanksgiving dinner I ever had was the first one after my divorce. Prior to that, Thanksgiving was a hustle and bustle--making 35 dishes my former mother-in-law insisted were vital to our happiness. Clean-up was even more excessive. So, in year one of freedom, I made spaghetti with whole wheat noodles, ground turkey, and my special secret sauce. I stayed in my PJs all day long (something I'd never done unless I had strep throat); I savored my spaghetti and watched sappy holiday movies. I still smile when I remember that day!
My favorite comfort food has to be my mom's dressing and giblet gravy. My mom and dad spend a looooong time at the stove taking turns browning several cups of flour for the gravy base, taking care not to burn it! My dad has a gentle touch with the dressing and mixes it with his hands so it stays nice and light and fluffy. Oh....makes me hungry! Budget dish? An inexpensive turkey coated in butter and a thick coating of black pepper, baked in an oven bag....tastes like a gourmet!
Homemade noodles. It's a must have for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.
My favorite comfort food/budget dish is cheesy potatoes. They are so delicious and very inexpensive to make! (not too mention easy too)
Roasted carrots are a great side dish and cost next to nothing! Just drizzle a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake at 350 for about 30 mins (depending on the size of the carrots) and voila!
It sweet and savory, giving you a great alternative to sweet potatoes. Mash them up with regular potatoes for a twist on the usual mashed potatoes and gravy. I eat them year round!
Sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top has got to be my favorite side dish for Thanksgiving. It smells so good in the oven, looks wonderful on your plate, and is so comforting.
My favorite part of Thanksgiving has always been the green beans. My mom makes them extra delicious by adding crumbled bacon. Last year instead of pumpkin pie, I made a layered pumpkin cheesecake which was delicious and used the leftover pumpkin!
My favorite budget thanksgiving dish is Pumpkin Soup. I make a thai spice version with by taking fresh pumpkin, baking, puree-ing and red curry paste and a can of coconut milk. It's super cheap, goes a long way, adds a bit of exotic flavor and is delicious!
I like mashed potatoes with turkey. Chocolate is my fave comfort food.
My favorite thanksgiving dish is actually a side - cranberries! I like getting whole ones, boiling them with sugar until they pop and adding orange juice and zest. YUM! Good with turkey, stuffing, potatoes, anything!
My favorite Thanksgiving dish is scalloped potatoes. I prefer them to mashed, and only indulge in them a few times a year! Potatoes are easy on the budget, too, which is great.
My favorite Thankgiving dish is the pumpkin pie. The crust is homemade and the pumpkin is made from baking a pumpkin (not from a can)
My favorite Thanksgiving budget dish has always been stuffing. It's warm, spicy and filling! You can add it to turkey, chicken, ham, pork chops or eat it alone. It's just yummy. Speaking of budget dishes, I have found two ways to budget your entire Thanksgiving dinner if you are up to trying something non-traditional versus making your entire Thanksgiving dinner from scratch. The first way is to go to your local grocery store and see if they have a deal on a basic Thanksgiving dinner. They usually do and it will include your Turkey, potatoes, dressing, a vegetable and dessert for a great price. It covers a meal for 2-4 people depending on how much you eat. The second budget saver (and you'll need to research this) is a local restaurant serving a Thanksgiving buffet or dinner for the family at a budget price. It can be a nice change, especially for the cook of your house to be able to sit back and enjoy being served Thanksgiving dinner without having to do all of the work.
My favorite comfort food is Zucchini Cakes. Not only are they tasty, but they also are inclusive of the vegetarians in the family.
My favorite comfort food is Skillet Macaroni and Broccoli and Mushrooms and Cheese. Nothing like a twist on an original for good eats.
I can't say I have a favorite food. It'd probably just be the side dishes in general. I'm not big on turkey.
Green bean casserole that is so easy & delicious! It's also very inexpensive! Great comfort food and healthy!
Thanksgiving is filled with comfort foods! My personal favorite is slow roasted turkey seasoned with sage that I grew myself. All the fixin's (side dishes) are great too, and let's not forget dessert. I can hardly wait!
Fresh cranberry sauce is my absolute favorite Thanksgiving dish. I used to buy the cans but now I figured out how easy and cheap it was to make it by myself and it's so good!
My favorite Thanksgiving budget dish is sweet potato casserole and turkey! Yams are inexpensive and make a delicious treat. So filling and so much to be thankful for!
My favorite Thanksgiving comfort food is definitely mashed potatoes (and gravy, of course!) Potatoes go a long way so it's easy to make more than enough for everyone and still have leftovers. They fill the stomach without emptying the wallet. I add milk, butter, garlic and salt and pepper to mine - doesn't get anymore tasty, simple and cheap than that!
Ditto on mashed potatoes. Such a simple, inexpensive dish, but so comforting. If you want to splurge you can add extras like smoked gouda cheese, but the dish can also just stand alone and be amazing.
Whipped yams with cinnamon, raisins and walnuts. My Dad makes it best.
My favorite Thanksgiving food is both a budget and comfort food. I love taking the homemade stuffing, and putting it on a roll with butter and gravy. No waste and delicious!
My favorite Thanksgiving budget dish is Green Bean casserole!! I never use canned soup (Campbell's Cream of Mushroom) except for this recipe this time of year! I always make my own because of how inexpensive homemade soup is per serving!! :)
My favorite budget recipe is for pumpkin pecan pie - the best of both Thanksgiving pie worlds! My husband loves pecan pie and my favorite is pumpkin, so rather than make more than we can both eat (if I'm not the one hosting Thanksgiving dinner, at least), it's the perfect solution.
Turkey is my favourite budget food. Sure, it costs more upfront, but apart from giving a large number of people an excellent Thanksgiving meal, I use leftover meat for chili and soup and boil the carcass for stock. Leftovers from one turkey can feed my household for a week.
Back when I was first on my own, I became a huge fan of the Reynolds cooking bags. They had recipe cards in the box and I tried everyone! Today I still make some of my favorite. Not always using the cooking bag, but just in a skillet or in a crock pot. I took one and created my favorite potato dish that's really inexpensive. I would quarter/slices/or cube potatoes, cream of mushroom soup, can of cheese soup, and onion and simmer together. I would switch it up occasionally, however, the cream of mushroom soup was the constant. I think I might try the cream of mushroom with garlic soup this year!
Squash soup is my budget friendly food. 1 onion, 1 squash, 1 apple, some pepper and chicken stock. It is fast, easy and is perfect for fall days.
My favorite Thanksgiving comfort food is sweet potatoes with marshmellow ontop. We use a simple recipe of sweet potatoes sliced in half. We fill a large pyrex dish with 1/2 cup water and place the sliced in half sweet potatoes in the dish and bake at 350 until they are soft. Then right before serving I put on mini marshmellows and broil until the marshmellows are lightly brown. The whole family loves these.
Thanks so much.
Stuffing. Hands down. Either grandpas cornbread and sage or dads sourdough & giblets. Yum.
I'm a huge fan of green bean casserole. I shop mainly at Aldi, so my ingredients are fairly cheap. I look for French's french-fried onions on sale! I LOVE this time of year, and I LOVE giveaways. Thank you!
I love creamed corn pudding. You take a couple cans of creamed corn, add in some butter and crushed crackers; then you bake it. Delicious :) And very inexpensive (corn is one of the least expensive vegetables and crackers are cheap as well)
Mashed potatoes are surely one of the least expensive, and most loved, Thanksgiving dishes. My favorite recipe involves red potatoes (skins on!) with lots of garlic and butter. Delish!
Your local grocers will run big ads on the Wednesday a week and a day before Thanksgiving with all the ingredients needed for the feast, including the bird, at reasonable prices. BUT (and this is a BIG 'but') they will more than likely run another ad on the Monday of Thanksgiving week wherein the turkey price will be slashed - as low as 29cents a pound, historically. It'll be a frozen turkey, so you'll need to use the cold water method to thaw it in time for dinner Thursday - or this can be an opportunity to stock up the freezer for Xmas or the New Year.
hands down is anything with sweet potatoes - mashed,in a pie or in a casserole - but no marshmallows on top, please. They are wonderful and so healthy for you!
As the little girl said, when asked HER favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner, "The bread the turkey ate."
My vote goes to stuffing, with mashed potatoes, and gravy over all. Nothing says "comfort" like carbs!
Indian pudding! Delicious, traditional, cheap, and easy. Corn meal, molasses, eggs and milk.
I have a favorite frozen salad that has been passed down for years in our family. It is marshmallows, cream cheese, walnuts. sour cream and pineapple. It is so refreshing!
Stuffing is one of my favorite budget dishes. You can use any kind of day old bread or cornbread, add some chopped onions, celery, carrots, veggie or chicken broth, your favorite dried herbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve it with turkey, with your eggs in the morning, in a sandwich with your left over turkey for lunch, or as a soup or stew thickener.
Canned asparagus, rolled in cracker crumbs and deep-fried. My family is the only one that I know of that eats this, but it's definitely comfort food for me.
Greeb Bean casserole is the ultimate thanksgiving go to comfort food- can make slight adjustments but dont know anyone who doesnt love traditional green bean casserole!!!!
I live in a different time zone than my family I'm related to, so I spend Thanksgiving with my family I'm not related to and I always bring pies. It's gotten so that one of the guys in the family is convinced that it can't be Thanksgiving without my crunchy caramel apple pie. One uncle has taken a liking to my French Silk pie and has been known to (mostly jokingly) threaten his sons if they take pieces that are too large and don't leave enough for him to have a second helping.
I've also contributed a family recipe for sweet potatoes that is one of my comfort foods and always reminds me of friends and family gatherings when I was growing up.
I'm a vegetarian, so my favorite cheap eats on Thanksgiving are green beans (because all it takes is a little bit of garlic salt to make them gourmet) and mashed potatoes from scratch--with skins, with butter, with salt... and then my awesome vegan gravy that tastes like the real thing.
My favorite Thanksgiving budget dish (and comfort food!) is green bean casserole! It's the one time of year that I make it and it reminds me of family get-togethers and the holidays.
Macaroni and cheese is the favorite comfort food. But the more thanksgiving variety comfort food would have to be the mashies or sweet potatoes.
The best thanksgiving budget AND comfort food is stuffing! Once you add the bread, you're really free to make it your own - just use up whatever is leftover from your other recipes. It seems no matter what you put in, it always ends up delicious! And of course, a $1.29 box of stove top works just fine in a pinch!
My favorite Thanksgiving comfort dish is Sweet Potato Casserole. It is so good with that crunchy topping. It is easy to make and budget-friendly and soooooo good. My husband waits all year for it.
My budget idea is to ensure there is no waste -- if you have more leftovers than your family will be eating over the few post-Thanksgiving days, freeze them so they don't go to waste and you have them to enjoy another day. Put mashed potatoes and stuffing/dressing in ziplock bags and flatten them to take up less space in your freezer. Mark bag with contents and date -- don't waste your time, oven energy, and food by throwing anything away after your feast.
My favorite Thanksgiving comfort food is stuffing. That's really what I look forward to -- the turkey is just incidental!!
Mmm, corn bread and pumpkin pie. I can't decide. They're both inexpensive and comforting.
My favorite Thanksgiving comfort food is a take-home, left-over package from ANYONE in my (small) circle of people that still cook on holidays! I am not ashamed to say--Hey got any food that you made too much of? I especially LOVE the carcass of the turkey---I love hunting thru the bones and finding all the chunks of meat that the knives failed to slice off! I have even made myself some Turkey Bone Soup from a (really large) bunch of bones!
As a vegetarian, my Thanksgiving meals are really focused on the side dishes. I love doing mashed potatoes the old fashioned way, with boiled potatoes, mashed by hand with sturdy pastry cutter, adding milk and butter as I go along. Trust me, it's cheap, rustic, and delicious.