Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes

Tired of the same old boring cranberry sauce and cornbread dressing? In my family, we look forward to the variations we've made over the years on traditional Thanksgiving recipes. If you want to change things up a bit, feel free to try out any or all of these family recipes.

Sausage Sage Dressing

Tired of cornbread dressing? Try this bread based sausage dressing for an alternative.

1 medium onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 sticks butter
2 lbs sage sausage
salt
pepper
2 tsp sage
1 loaf bread, cubed
water, as needed

In a large skillet, melt the two sticks of butter and saute the onion and celery until they begin to become tender. Crumble the sausage into the skillet. Add salt, pepper, and sage, and cook until the sausage is browned. In a large mixing bowl, combine sausage mixture with cubed bread. Stir until all ingredients are well combined. The mixture should be sticking together well. If not, add small amounts of water and continue to stir until it becomes sticky. Spray a LARGE baking dish with non-stick spray and spread dressing into the dish, pressing it down to make it compact. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake at 350-375 for about 30-35 minutes. Then remove the foil and cook an additional 5-10 minutes, until lightly browned on top.

Chile Rellenos Casserole

For a change with a bit of a Tex-Mex flair, your family will love this non-traditional casserole.

2 lbs Monterrey Jack cheese, grated
4 4.5 oz cans green chiles, diced and drained
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
salt
pepper

Spray a large baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Spread a layer of chiles across the bottom of the dish, then cover with a layer of cheese. Continue to alternate layers of chiles and cheese until it is all in the dish. Combine eggs, milk, salt, and pepper. Pour this mixture over the chile/cheese in the dish. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

If desired, you can use a combination of 50% Monterrey Jack cheese and 50% Sharp Cheddar cheese as a variation. Green chiles are fairly mild, but you can certainly adjust the amount of chiles down if you feel it is necessary. Some enjoy this with 1/2 tsp of dry mustard mixed in with the milk and eggs mixture.

Cranberry Candied Yams

These are not your mothers candied yams. A delightful twist on the traditional yam, complete with the bite of cranberries.

4 large cans yams, drained
1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup dry oats
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans
12 oz fresh cranberries, frozen
1 medium bag small marshmallows

In a very large, deep baking dish, pour in the yams. In a separate bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, oats, and cinnamon. Cut the butter in until well combined. Add the pecans and cranberries to the yams, then sprinkle the brown sugar/butter mixture over the top. Bake at 350 for approximately 35 minutes. Carefully pour marshmallows over the top and bake for few more minutes, until the marshmallows just begin to brown.

The best part about all of these dishes is that they cook at the same temperature and in approximately the same time. Begin to prepare these after you've put your turkey into the oven. You should be able to completely prepare each of them before your turkey is done. When you take your turkey from the oven, pop these in. By the time your turkey has been allowed to rest, your sides should be just about finished! It makes for a perfectly timed meal. A traditional green bean casserole also bakes in this time frame, so it would be an excellent addition. While they are all in the oven, you can be preparing mashed potatoes and gravy, a salad, or something else of that nature to round out your Thanksgiving feast.

Thanksgiving Insanity

We used to spend a fortune every year for this one meal. Just for Thanksgiving dinner in my family, we could easily spend over $100. That was for not only my immediate family, but for relatives, too. $100 is more than I spend on a weeks worth of groceries for myself these days, so that amount of money, to me, is simply astronimical.

My siblings and I have all grown up now though, and we all have jobs, and some of us aren't always able to make it together to eat Thanksgiving dinner. Our relatives all have families of their own, and not as many of them make it out to our home each year. This year, much like last year, it is likely just going to be my mother and my sisters and I eating together. Four people. That's it.

Last year, my Mom was worried about how we would manage Thanksgiving. She is on a very tight budget, as are my sisters and I. I told her that for one thing, we could make a lot less food. We didn't have to make as much of each thing as we used to make. Instead of making a whole turkey, we could make simply a turkey breast. Instead of making 7 or 8 different side dishes, we could each select our favorite *must have* side dish, and we would only make enough for the handful of us who would be eating, plus a little for leftovers. Thanksgiving dinner leftovers are great, but there is no reason we should all be eating on them for a week, at least in my opinion. In addition to that, I told her that I would make up a list of everything we would need, scour the grocery store ads, and do the shopping...and that I could do it all for under $40. She didn't believe me...but I did it. The four of us each chipped in $10, and I did the shopping and the cooking, and we still had an ample Thanksgiving dinner with enough leftovers of each of our favorite dishes.

Since we are likely going to be doing the same thing this year, my Mom asked if I thought I could work it all out again the way I did last year. Only this time, she wanted to come with me to do the shopping, to see how I did it. I got a little chuckle out of that. But I agreed. We went to the store yesterday and got everything we would need for Thanksgiving dinner. And once again, it came in at less than $40. Even though she knew that I had searched through all of the ads and knew where the best deals were, Mom was shocked when we got to the checkout and she saw the total. Our basket was nearly as full as she would have it be when she used to shop for Thanksgiving dinner when we were feeding 12+. We were planning to make nearly as many dishes as we did back in those days, and with some of those dishes, we were planning to make nearly as much of it as we used to do. But still, I managed to figure it out so that we spent less than half of what she used to spend. She was flabbergasted.

I think that I have now solidified myself as the official deal shopper in the family. Many years ago, I solidified my position as the official Thanksgiving Dinner cook. No one else really wants to do it, and I enjoy it.

Anyways, if you're looking for ways to cut some corners and save a few dollars when you do your shopping for Thanksgiving dinner, my best advice is to look at the ads! There are sharp differences between the different grocery stores in how much they charge for various Thanksgiving essentials. Make a thorough list, noting how much things cost and where...and then fight the crowds! It is nuts, but it is well worth the savings to simply go where the deals are.