Can you believe that it’s almost Thanksgiving already? I swear, this entire year just flew by! We no longer host Thanksgiving dinner at our house so instead, my husband’s family rents out a clubhouse at the apartment complex his cousin lives at. It definitely saves me from having to clean up a mess, but we no longer get to enjoy all of the yummy leftovers. So this year, my husband asked me to make a Thanksgiving dinner early so the guys would have leftover turkey sandwiches for deer camp. When I saw that many of the items I needed were on sale at Pick ?n Save, I quickly obliged.
Pick ‘n Save offers the best selection for fresh ingredients and they’re new every day, so I don’t have to ever worry about getting yucky produce, like at another store that shall remain nameless. They even share meal inspiration on their Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter channels. So if you’re unsure what to make one day, definitely check their ideas out. A couple of my recipes have even been featured on their social pages – how exciting!
The menu for our early Thanksgiving dinner included the following:
- Turkey & Stuffing
- Twice Baked Potato Casserole
- Corn
- Crescent Rolls
Since I’m all about saving, I checked the weekly circular along with digital coupons before I shopped. I found some digital coupons for cereal, so decided to load those to my Fresh Perks card – which takes mere seconds online. With all these boys, I have to keep a stockpile of cereal! Most of the other things I needed were already on sale too, which is a huge bonus!
One of the tips I’ve learned to choosing a turkey is that size does matter! If you don’t have a lot of people to feed, you’ll want to choose a smaller one. Or if your family is like mine, then even just for the 7 of us, a big once is needed so they can have turkey leftover for sandwiches.
When it comes to making the turkey, you definitely want to season it with your favorite seasonings. We used salt, pepper, a little bit of garlic and some seasoning salt. I prefer to cook my turkey in a bag as well because it helps to hold in some of the juices. You’ll also want to use a pan that has a rack for the turkey to sit on. This will make it easier to remove the turkey from the pan.
So there you have it, a full Thanksgiving dinner – minus the crescent rolls that I forgot to bake, oops! It turned out wonderful and since I bought such a big turkey, there was over half leftover for sandwiches for the guys!
Now, onto the part that you’ve been patiently waiting for, my Twice Baked Potato Casserole recipe! Here’s what you’ll need to feed 8. You can half, double or even triple this recipe depending on how many guests you’re having. To make a healthier alternative, you can also use turkey bacon as well as reduced fat cheese and sour cream!
Ingredients:
- 6 larger sized potatoes
- 1/2 lb of bacon
- 8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
- 8 oz sour cream
You’ll start by washing, then baking your potatoes, but not completely through. I do this in ziplock bags in the microwave – so much quicker! Then fry up your bacon and crumble it up. Once the potatoes are done, dice them into bite size pieces, leaving the skin on. Add the potatoes, bacon pieces, cheese and sour cream to a bowl and combine until it’s all evenly coated in sour cream and cheese.
You’ll then spoon the mixture into one large casserole dish, or a few smaller ones like I used. Bake it in the oven on 300 degrees for about 20 minutes and voila – instant deliciousness that your guests will rave over! You can even top it with more shredded cheese after it comes out to make it look “prettier”. As you can see, I forgot that step!
Twice Baked Potato Casserole
Ingredients
- 6 large potatoes
- 1/2 lb bacon
- 8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
- 8 oz sour cream
Instructions
- You’ll start by washing, then baking your potatoes, but not completely through. I do this in ziplock bags in the microwave – so much quicker! Then fry up your bacon and crumble it up. Once the potatoes are done, dice them into bite size pieces, leaving the skin on. Add the potatoes, bacon pieces, cheese and sour cream to a bowl and combine until it’s all evenly coated in sour cream and cheese.
- You’ll then spoon the mixture into one large casserole dish, or a few smaller ones like I used. Bake it in the oven on 300 degrees for about 20 minutes and voila.
