The Preachers Wife

It’s that time of year again, a time of thanks, giving, family, friends, cooking, baking, and the doubled grocery bill. My husband does have to work Thanksgiving day (he’ll get 2 hours or so to spend with family and I can visit him at the firehouse at any time during the day) so we’ll only get to see each other a few hours. In response, I’ve decided this year we would have our own Thanksgiving. We’ll spend time with family on the holiday but Friday after (no, I do not fist fight for the “Black Friday” deals, I can’t deal with it) will be our celebration. My hopes are that when children come along, we’ll have a day without chaos and running around to truly appreciate the blessings and give thanks for what we have been given.

So in preparation for our Thanksgiving, I started early. Here’s the deal, we all know Thanksgiving and Christmas is coming, if the Lord tarries, it’ll be here again next year so plan early. We’ve had an abundance of apples this year thanks to our neighbor. So, with anticipation of apple pies, fried apples, and apple butter I’ve cut them up and froze them with specific instructions on the bag. This one is saved for Thanksgiving fried apples.

And the apple butter saved for our neighbor to say thank you:

 Next, I’ve taken advantage of the stock-up sales our local grocer has offered. I’m aware not everyone has an IGA or Houchens but they’ve had a fabulous deal, canned green beans, corn, or peas 39 cents a can. So, I stocked up. We’ll use some of these for our Thanksgiving.

We also had a garden this year. I can’t tell you how many pints of green beans or corn I’ve put away. Not to mention all of the other goodies I’ve froze and stored for the holidays.

Making stuffing? Grab the ends out of the bag (or if you make your own the scraps) of bread and freeze for stuffing later on. Need onions? Buy in bulk when they are on sale and dehydrate them. Store in a pint jar and use as needed. What about seasonings? Grow your own. When it turns chilly, dehydrate those as well.

Planning ahead has lightened the load in terms of finances this year. With last minute Christmas shopping and end of the year bills, it’s nice not to have to worry about buying enormous amounts of food for the holidays.

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