Wednesday Budget Tip: Quick Easy Thanksgiving Recipes

I'll admit it, I'm disorganized. While a lot of people have established traditional recipes to pull out each Thanksgiving to cook, I'm just not there yet. And I tend to procrastinate too, so I'm usually scrambling looking for some last minute fast and cheap Thanksgiving recipes beyond the turkey. I thought there might be some others out there in a similar situation, so here are some recipes I've found that can be put together fast and have only 3-5 ingredients each.

Caramel Apple Dip

Ingredients

• 8 oz package cream cheese, softened


• 1 cup packed brown sugar


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Blend ingredients together in a bowl, then cover and refrigerate overnight. Serve cold with red, green, or yellow apples

Yield: 2 cups
Prep Time: About 5 minutes
Cook Time: None

Sweet Potato Apple Cranberry Bake

Ingredients

• 29 oz can sweet potatoes


• 21 oz can apple pie filling


• 16 oz can whole berry cranberry sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 2 quart casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Carefully fold ingredients in the casserole. Bake until sweet potatoes are heated through, about 30-45 minutes.

Yield: About 4 servings
Prep Time: About 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30-45 minutes

Baked French Onion Rice

Ingredients

• 1 cup long cooking rice, uncooked


• 14 1/2 oz can beef broth


• 10 1/2 oz can French Onion soup


• 4 oz can muchroom stems and pieces, drained


• 1/4 oz cup butter or margarine

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine rice, broth, soup, and mushroom pieces in an ungreased 2 quart casserole dish. Dot mixture with butter and bake for 50 minutes.

Yield: About 4 servings
Prep Time: About 5 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes

Easy Berry Crumble

Ingredients

• 4 cups berries (blueberries, blackberries, etc)


• 1-2 tablespoons sugar


• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened


• 3 1 1/2 oz. packages maple and brown sugar flavored instant oatmeal

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix berries and sugar together in an ungreased 9 inch pie pan. Put the oatmeal packages into a separate bowl, cut the butter into the oatmeal until coarse crumbs form. Sprinkle the crums iver the berries and sugar. Bake until topping is golden brown, about 30-35 minutes.

Yield: About 5-6 servings
Prep Time: About 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30-35 minutes

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Wednesday Budget Tip: Thanksgiving Dinners

No matter how you coordinate the family/friend gatherings this year, someone's probably going to end up doing most of the cooking, with only a few guests maybe bringing one special dish. Why not share the burden, and the expense, by getting everyone to agree to bringing one thing. Assign people to the side dishes and desserts, even drinks and decorations for those who don't cook. That way everyone contributes something unique, and no one feels overwhelmed.