Be brave enough to be bad at something new
Jon Acuff
Everyone starts somewhere. Thanksgiving can be a difficult holiday to be on your own. You want that home cooked childhood nostalgia but it’s all so overwhelming. Here you will find everything you need to cook a Thanksgiving meal with only a few hours of kitchen time. The best part, it’s so simple anyone can do it. It will feel like a lot of information but take it one step at a time. Serve 6-8 people for under $100 (depending on your area and which stores you shop). Of course, feel free to add in your childhood favorites if not listed or leave out anything you don’t like. If your turkey comes with a gravy packet you can use that and subtract mine from the list. One other tip is to get real salted butter, no substitutes.
Side note, this is not going to be perfect pictures on grandma’s china with homemade everything. This is real life on a budget with less stress for the beginner. Enjoy.
Happy cooking
The menu:
- Turkey
- Dressing/stuffing
- Gravy
- Mashed potatoes
- Green bean casserole
- Cream corn
- Sweet potatoes (with marshmallows on top)
- Cranberry sauce
- Pumpkin “pie” you will actually like
Getting ready
(about 3 hours before meal time)
Get the sweet potatoes in.
Take an oven safe pan, line it with foil, place 3 large sweet potatoes on it. Heat the oven to 375F and you will cook them about an hour. When you can poke a fork in it and its soft to the middle they are done.
Start rising the rolls.
Using a cookie sheet or one of the 9X13 pans purchased spray the pan with oil or line with parchment paper. Place the frozen rolls about 2 inches apart. Put as many as will fit in the pan leaving room to rise. Spray a sheet of foil with oil and lightly lay over the rolls. Put the pan toward the back of the stove and leave alone for now. The heat from the oven and help warm the rolls and assist in rising.
Prep the turkey breast.
First read the instructions on the packaging completely. Based on the size you purchased (I found 7 lbs. to be a good size) it will probably say to cook about 325F for around 2 hours. Please default to any package directions on the turkey. Put the turkey in an oven safe pan or in one of the 9X13 pans if you purchased them. (Check to see if there were any gravy packets included and remove if present.) Sprinkle the turkey with a generous amount of the Greek seasoning (or your preferred multipurpose seasoning).
When the sweet potatoes come out, set them aside to cool, adjust the oven temperature and put the turkey in. If you have a double oven, you can go ahead and put the turkey in the second oven rather than waiting on the sweet potatoes. Put 2 sticks of butter on the counter to soften for use later when cooking the sides. Now go do something else for about an hour. Don’t leave for safety reasons but you can leave the kitchen. Set those timers on your phone!
About 1 hour before the turkey should be getting done….. start the sides.
The green bean and sweet potato casseroles can go in the square pans if you chose to buy them. Once the turkey comes out they can go in the oven to broil/toast at the same time.
If your turkey came with a gravy packet you can skip the gravy.
Finishing up
The turkey should be about ready to come out of the oven. Remove when done and adjust temperature to 350 degrees. Put the rolls in for 15-20 min while the turkey rests. While that’s cooking open the cranberry sauce and put it in a bowl. Once the rolls come out put the sweet potato casserole and the green beans in to toast. If the pan from the rolls was needed for the pumpkin “pie” go ahead and finish prepping that now. Once the sweet potatoes and green beans are done put the pumpkin in. Put all the food on the table and cut the turkey.
YOU DID IT!
Happy Thanksgiving
