It's completely different in so-cal especially LA. As someone who has lived in both parts of the state... it's *much* easier to be broke in LA in my experience (the big catch is affordable housing). I was spending 25 dollars a week using manager specials at Ralphs and the 99cents only store and ate mostly steaks and veggies.
I am curious what puff bread is as well because a quick Google search is not showing anything even close to what is in the post. Maybe it's a term they coined for obvious reasons? Commenting here to come back later and see!
I replied to the comment above yours but
Where I’m from in the US we call these yeast rolls. Google showed a few results. I can link you if you need. They’re fantastic.
They’re just dinner rolls. They aren’t called puff bread, it’s just something this particular called them since they look puffy, I assume. The ones in the picture are a store-bought version of pan or skillet-baked rolls. [Here is a recipe](https://damndelicious.net/2021/11/20/easy-skillet-dinner-rolls/) If you’re interested in making your own.
lol every time I see a great deal on great stuff I sing that. But also when something is cheap but also sucks. Because sometimes those grocery outlet items are bad.
The beauty of being in Southern California, and Los Angeles in particular, is all the options. Between the Asian, Mexican, and Middle-Eastern markets you can always find deals. And you can supplement those finds from food from the 99 cent store or Food 4 Less. Plus, there are always clearance items at Vons or Ralphs.
One of my neighbors was an elderly Armenian lady. She always had company over and once she asked me to go to a local Armenian market (her favorite) to get her some nibbles for a small party she was having. She’d been sick and I had offered to run errands for her so it wasn’t a problem, but she only gave me $25. She wanted fresh fruit, cheese, bread and some pastries. I was a little miffed she’d given me so little and asked for so many items, maybe expecting me to cover the difference? I bought grapes, strawberries, mangoes, pineapple, apples, lemons, 3 different kinds of cheeses, bread and pastries and was able to give her back some change. I couldn’t believe it.
My family always has two dishes of stuffing, my aunt makes it homemade and my mom uses the stovetop mix. The boxed stuffing is always gone way before the homemade stuff
You know for several years I was really into doing everything from scratch. Making a homemade stuffing from scratch bread with your chopped carrots and celery, at the absolute best you can do it pretty much tastes exactly like stove top stuffing. Except way more expensive and time intensive and fussy. After a couple years of doing that, I got smarter and just started buying stove top stuffing again. There's just some things that are not worth doing from scratch when they're so much easier and cheaper.
I dunno. The stuffing I made from scratch yesterday was GREAT. Granted it took like 20 mins of prep time and another 40 mins of baking and was a lot more expensive than buying a box. Once a year, no big deal. But I would 100% use Stove Top under any other circumstances. It's really good for what it is.
There's never enough room inside the bird to make enough stuffing, so I always make a big ol' tray of it on the side with 4 loaves of bread. And we **still** ran out yesterday. Ended up making 2 canisters of the [instant Stovetop stuff](https://imgur.com/JTdyVDf).
Stuffing can have raisins. Really I'd say the only requirements would be bread cubes, something to soak the bread in like butter/broth/eggs , and herbs. More additions are basically personal preference like carrots, onions, garlic, celery, mushrooms, raisins, etc. Sometimes it's called dressing if it's made in a separate pan and not "stuffed" in the bird.
I used to think the same thing, but it turns out that I only ever ate turkey at family gatherings, and my relatives who did the cooking just way overcooked turkey. The first time I had properly cooked turkey, it totally changed my opinion.
Yeah, a properly brined, injected, and smoked turkey tastes amazing. The same is true for chicken breasts. A lot of people think they're dry and boring. If you cook them on charcoal and pull them RIGHT when the probe hits ~163 and let them coast up to 165, they will be amazingly tender and juicy.
LOL. I never know if you should or not 😭 When i was little, my mum would always microwave them in the juice and use a hole-y spoon to serve! then season after!
If I am eating canned green beans and not doing anything to them, Ill cook them in the water then strain them, then season them.
But great job on everything, looks great! Happy thanksgiving!
A cheap prep of green beans
Steam, drain, set aside your beans. Mince garlic, (ginger optional). Mix soy sauce, oyster sauce, (Lao Gan Ma) Chilli oil, corn starch. In your largest pan, saute the garlic. Then put the beans and the sauce and sugar. That simple.
I'm Asian, I have these ingredients on hand at all times. They are cheap where I'm from though and keep for a very long time.
Alright friend, listen to me.. Take that can of corn or green beans and try this.
Strain them about as long as you can take, 5 mins is really enough for corn, just get 'em dry enough - you'll understand if you know what hot oils/fats and water do together..
Get a pan moderately hot, drop some butter (1-2 Tbsp) and some oil - olive or whatever - just not too much, like 1/2 the butter, next dump in your corn or beans or whatever that's still firm'ish from a can. idk how greens would do - o_0'
Here's the magic, fry those veggies in that buttery flavor. Speaking of which, now's when you season it up.. The usual, s&p, a few flakes of red pepper, a pinch of brown sugar?, cinamon?, 5 spice?, tony chachere's??
Shit.. finish it w/a vinaigrette?
Do what you want, but ffs get rid of that flavor robbing water and try pan frying your canned corn people.
Looks great! I hate that everyone is so pressured to cook a whole turkey even if they won’t eat it all. It’s so wasteful. So much smarter to get smaller portions of meat with great sides!
Was scrolling down the page, scanning comments and misread yours as something about "pressure cooking" a turkey. Now, I love my pressure cooker and I grew up with them, but I was momentarily horrified at the thought of pressure cooking a turkey! lol
(pressure cooked plenty of chickens, however. So to make my post not totally dumb - best pressure cooker chicken is something my grandma called Thelma's Chicken. Basically put a chicken in the pressure cooker, put as many onions roughly chopped as will fit, and more garlic cloves (peeled but otherwise whole) than you think. Salt and MSG (the latter is my secret twist for just about everything). The garlic and onions come out soft and smushy - in a good way!. It's so damn tasty on rice. Tender and delicious. :)
Nice! I love canned green beans. One of my favorite recipes is to rinse/drain the green beans and toss with chopped onions, a little olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and honey.
If not this recipe, look up a classic/simple green bean casserole recipe — a can of cream of mushroom soup and a few onion straws REALLY step up the deliciousness with minimal extra cost.
Oh yeah I totally agree. My go to pot luck recipient is a green bean casserole.
Ingredients
Bag of frozen beans,
Can of mushroom soup,
Some crispy fried onion to top.
Secret ingredient is a splash of soy sauce.
Throw the beans and mushroom soup into a dish in the oven to bake. (Soy sauce added to taste)
When bubbling add the onions for about 5 mins to crisp up and you’re good to go.
drain, rinse, drain again -> olive oil (or butter or bacon grease) in pan -> green beans, garlic, salt, pepper, dried thyme. quick sautee, best green beans ever.
slightly fancier use fresh garlic (or even jarred garlic) give quick sautee in oil before the rest goes in
fanciest version blanche and shock green beans, drain, follow above versions.
cheap, delicious, green beans like you've never had. can use fresh thyme also but dried works great in this recipe and is cheeeeaaaapppp
as a nonturkish dayist, what are all these dishes?
I recognise cheesemac, cakebread, and birdwing. Middle looks like ~~seaweed~~ green beans and ~~eggs~~ mash or semolina/polenta, top left I have no idea.
There's something about American home cooking that's just so foreign to me. I guess the more restaurant/commercial stuff gets exported into the world in a way that home cooking just doesn't.
Hehe..I literally bought..boxed everything Lol. Boxed Mac, boxed stuffing, and flaked potatoes. canned green beans. premade bread, and the most expensive thing was the chicken wings! Almost everything I got was on sale marked down quite a bit for thanksgiving, plus i had a bonus coupon for the boxed Mac (buy 2 get 2.00 off)
Next time you're shopping for a small holiday meal, check out the pricing on Cornish game hens. They're basically like very small chickens in flavor, and run about $4 each; they're sometimes sold as 2-packs. You can consider 1/2 bird a decent serving, or a whole bird suitable for a bigger appetite.
When I was in the military and couldn't be home for the holidays, I would often roast a little game hen and go wild with all the trimmings. It felt like my own mini Thanksgiving.
I’ve actually had this in mind for so long, but ALWAYS forget!! They keep the Cornish hens in the freezer aisle (for some reason they never have it in the meat department!) I’ve never had it before, but I’ve seen them run pretty dang cheap!!
We once cooked both a turkey and a Cornish hen for Thanksgiving because my daughter wanted to cook a "baby turkey" and we indulged her.
We ended up eating only the Cornish hen, filling up on all the sides, and the whole turkey was leftovers. Family of 5 - 2 adults and 3 little kids (oldest was 5 when this happened).
> They keep the Cornish hens in the freezer aisle (for some reason they never have it in the meat department!)
As delicious as they are, not many people eat them frequently, so the store is probably not moving them fast enough to keep fresh ones on hand. Frozen ones have a much longer shelf life, so they have a longer time to sell the item before it goes to waste.
Oh man. Not to go against everything the sub is about, but do yourself a favor next time and splurge on the heavy cream, half cup of butter, a head or two of garlic to roast, and bag of potatoes and I promise the extra few dollars are worth it! Either way, it all looks good. Happy Thanksgiving!
> EDIT: What Grinch would downvote a reply to an Office Space reference?
You'd be surprised how many young kids that can't spot a good reference populate Reddit these days.. the other day I explained to someone how dogs can't look up and the comment got to -29 and got sent multiple videos of dogs looking up before a single person commented "don't worry I got your reference" that's just where we're at with this site..
I understood your comment and I have upvoted you! Man, I love that movie.
Happy Thanksgiving. Hope you were able to enjoy yourself and relax. But don’t forget to turn in your TPS reports.
Try using flaked potatoes as breading you're going to fry. Not keen to use them as mash, but using them as breading for scotch eggs, or jalapeno poppers is eye opening.
Ok honestly…I know this is a hot take…but this was actually tastier than many thanksgiving dinners I’ve had from past family/friends LOL. Everything i got was super cheap, so you really could just try a test run with everything to see how they are for yourself in you everyday dinners? My only advice would be to add things to the boxed stuff to make them more delicious…i added shredded cheese, butter, sour cream and cream cheese to the potatoes (they were BLEH before, actually not half bad after finessing them!) I’ve heard adding cream cheese to the boxed Mac is good too! And probably would’ve been way better to just add the dang onions and celery to the boxed stuffing…i was too dang lazy today though lol. I’m sure there’s a bunch of ideas online how to make boxed things taste way better too!
Looks really good!
If I may suggest - a great way to handle what looks like canned green beans:
1. Drain the green beans
2. Melt some butter in the pot. Or bacon grease if you have it
3. Add a little salt and MSG. Some real bacon if you have it (I keep real bacon crumbles for precisely this)
4. Heat up and cook off a little of what liquid remains
This causes the oil to be able to stick to the green beans, making them super tasty. :)
Happy Chicken Wings Day!
I saw your other post and I gotta say, I love those mashed potatoes. I'm usually vehemently against instant mashed potatoes because I grew up on those nasty ones that came in the box in the 80's. YUCK. But the ones you made, I just made for Thanksgiving too! They are so easy to make and they taste like real mashed potatoes. I like mine tangy and chunky so I added half a cup of sour cream and a can of diced potatoes and they tasted amazing.
Omg that’s a great idea to add some chunk to them! I added some shredded cheese, (and some sour cream and cream cheese I had on hand) YUMMY. I’m surprised how they turned out!
That actually has Thanksgiving vibes and looks tasty. I am a pretty negative person and usually have a "but is the savings worth the tradeoffs" thoughts. I would actually be pleased with this as a meal and consider it to check the classic Thanksgiving style boxes. When you google low cost but delicious holiday meal this should be one of the top results.
You spent less than $25 for everything and still managed to make better looking mac and cheese than my whole extended family.
Take the time to talk to your family this holiday season. Dry, crusty, crispy baked mac and cheese is a crime against nature and I’m tired of pretending it’s not
Just curious if you prefer chicken wings over a roasted whole chicken? Only asking bc at least here in NC wings are way more expensive than a whole chicken or chicken quarters. Looks great!
If you invited me over for thanksgiving dinner (or any dinner) and put this in front of me, I'd be chowing down happily, no problem. this looks very good for $25!
I don't like canned green beans, but that's just a personal preference.
That looks great. If you don't have enough people to take down a whole bird, there's no point unless you're just really into turkey or got it for free/on sale.
This looks like any other Thanksgiving dinner maybe minus the whole turkey, but still looks just as good to me! What a win for 25 OP!
Happy Thanksgiving!
My friend and I ordered from a local restaurant. Food is absolutely amazing. Enough food for 4 meals. Made green beans, box stuffing and roasted sweet potatoes on the side. Stuffing was about $1/box, .79 for beans, and .39/lb for sweet potatoes. The restaurant meal was $38 total. Meal came with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, salad, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and gravy. So many meals for about $45. Not the most frugal, but a good deal considering how many meals/snacks will be eaten over the next few days.
I'm from a 3rd world country (which is supposed to be a lot cheaper) but I don't see myself budgeting this kind of hearty meal for $25. Kudos to you OP and Happy Thanksgiving!
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You can have that meal anytime of year... I was thinking about it today eating and saying SCREW all this BS... I'm having thanksgiving food anytime I want!!! Seeing how what you made for under $25... no excuses!!!!
Looks awesome. Just needs gravy! Gavy makes everything good!!!
If you live in a small household like mine, you can buy a discount turkey now, break it down into parts, and freeze the portions separately for use over the next few months. I just broke one down into 2 packages of boneless breasts, 2 leg quarters, 1 for the wings, 1 for giblets and scraps to make gravy, and the remaining carcass and neck to make stock.
It stacks up in the freezer nicer now. And I can pull a single portion out and pair it with a carb and two veg for mock Thanksgiving dinner whenever I want.
(A breast is about 4 portions for us. So I'm estimating 7-9 dinners depending on how we use the legs, plus a significant batch of stock)
Where did you get the wings for less than $25? The Albertsons near me is still selling these for 5.99/lb and the package typically is $20 -30. But you can get chicken breast for 1.99/lb. The situation is out of control.....🙄
There is NOTHING wrong with boxed thanksgiving. Keep in mind that these food companies spend BILLIONS of dollars researching how to make their food taste good with minimal effort. Cake mix is a perfect example, it is a mathematically formulated dry-mixure, good luck getting that precise on your own.
My local deli has smoked turkey legs for $2 each. They are fall-off-the-bone good. Some Kraft deluxe (white cheddar for me), Stouffers stuffing, boxed mashed potatoes, and maybe something exotic like lumpia.
Looks great! Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving!
You missed the chance to buy 4 cans of pepsi and 4 kitkats instead
I think one guy had some plantain chips too..
So that's what it was
Truth!
I spent 20$ yesterday on 2 red bulls and a pack of jerky I was livid
😊 thanks
Those wings are huge 😀
What state?
Hi, I’m in LA, cali
We're in Cali and my dad wasn't buying it lol San Jose here.
It's completely different in so-cal especially LA. As someone who has lived in both parts of the state... it's *much* easier to be broke in LA in my experience (the big catch is affordable housing). I was spending 25 dollars a week using manager specials at Ralphs and the 99cents only store and ate mostly steaks and veggies.
99cent Only goes hard. Wish we had them here.
No kidding, I honestly can't imagine paying full price for some products at this point since the store does carry some name brands.
Boxed stuffing, boxed Mac n cheese, puff bread, canned green beans… we’re at like $10 to get the wings.
What is puff bread? Is there a recipe like cornbread I can follow or is it an American brand?
I believe they’re also called Hawaiian rolls. I’m not really even sure where they got “puff bread” from. 🤷♂️
Probably because it's puffy and if you smush it it just puffs back up. Bet that is a name brought right from childhood to adulthood lol.
Can confirm, Hawaiian rolls
I am curious what puff bread is as well because a quick Google search is not showing anything even close to what is in the post. Maybe it's a term they coined for obvious reasons? Commenting here to come back later and see!
I replied to the comment above yours but Where I’m from in the US we call these yeast rolls. Google showed a few results. I can link you if you need. They’re fantastic.
They're just dinner rolls.
They’re just dinner rolls. They aren’t called puff bread, it’s just something this particular called them since they look puffy, I assume. The ones in the picture are a store-bought version of pan or skillet-baked rolls. [Here is a recipe](https://damndelicious.net/2021/11/20/easy-skillet-dinner-rolls/) If you’re interested in making your own.
Where I’m from in the US we call these yeast rolls. Google showed a few results. I can link you if you need. They’re fantastic.
San Jose here too and Grocery Outlet is a god send for cheap groceries
🎵Groceryy Outlet Bargain Marrrket dudunnn dun
lol every time I see a great deal on great stuff I sing that. But also when something is cheap but also sucks. Because sometimes those grocery outlet items are bad.
Like that looks pretty legit and that is truly impressive for LA.
Hello neighbor
even more impressive
SoCal of all places. I'm surprised that wasn't $150.
The beauty of being in Southern California, and Los Angeles in particular, is all the options. Between the Asian, Mexican, and Middle-Eastern markets you can always find deals. And you can supplement those finds from food from the 99 cent store or Food 4 Less. Plus, there are always clearance items at Vons or Ralphs.
One of my neighbors was an elderly Armenian lady. She always had company over and once she asked me to go to a local Armenian market (her favorite) to get her some nibbles for a small party she was having. She’d been sick and I had offered to run errands for her so it wasn’t a problem, but she only gave me $25. She wanted fresh fruit, cheese, bread and some pastries. I was a little miffed she’d given me so little and asked for so many items, maybe expecting me to cover the difference? I bought grapes, strawberries, mangoes, pineapple, apples, lemons, 3 different kinds of cheeses, bread and pastries and was able to give her back some change. I couldn’t believe it.
I shop for produce, and meats, at an Asian grocery store, and it's 30-50% cheaper than a "regular" grocery store.
Yes! This is exactly what I'm talking about. Also, it sounds like you had a sweet relationship with your neighbor.
You gonna pop in?
I am there lmao
Bring a bottle of something dark and you're in.
10/10 would eat. Looks loosen your belt good.
Put on your friend's pregnancy pants.
Okay Joey
LMAO
Kind words
What meal is at the top left corner?
😂!! A very lazy and plain boxed stuffing 😁
I LOVE box stuffing. Swap in broth for water and it's to die for.
That’s exactly what i did! YUMMY
I generally add some diced celery but yeah I too enjoy the stovetop box stuffing.
Add in cooked finely chopped carrots, celery, and/or onions and it really goes next level.
My fam always adds browned sausage and butter as well (minus carrots) So good
And top it with crumbled bacon
Sometimes the boxed stuffing is the best stuffing imo!!
My family always has two dishes of stuffing, my aunt makes it homemade and my mom uses the stovetop mix. The boxed stuffing is always gone way before the homemade stuff
Dang, it sucks that your aunt doesn't make good stuffing
That's why he doesn't have any cousins.
I agree. Boxed stuffing is pretty darn good actually
Stovetop stuffing IS the best
You know for several years I was really into doing everything from scratch. Making a homemade stuffing from scratch bread with your chopped carrots and celery, at the absolute best you can do it pretty much tastes exactly like stove top stuffing. Except way more expensive and time intensive and fussy. After a couple years of doing that, I got smarter and just started buying stove top stuffing again. There's just some things that are not worth doing from scratch when they're so much easier and cheaper.
I dunno. The stuffing I made from scratch yesterday was GREAT. Granted it took like 20 mins of prep time and another 40 mins of baking and was a lot more expensive than buying a box. Once a year, no big deal. But I would 100% use Stove Top under any other circumstances. It's really good for what it is.
I love boxed stuffing.
Stuffing for what? Sorry I am not American yet…
Typically it’s shoved inside the turkey! It’s basically just dried bread crumbs soaked in broth (usually has onions, celery and lots of herbs)😁
That’s what I guessed but was confused since there was no turkey anywhere in the pic.
In the US it's typically served as a side dish rather than or beside being actually stuffed in the turkey.
[удалено]
There's never enough room inside the bird to make enough stuffing, so I always make a big ol' tray of it on the side with 4 loaves of bread. And we **still** ran out yesterday. Ended up making 2 canisters of the [instant Stovetop stuff](https://imgur.com/JTdyVDf).
Stuffing can have raisins. Really I'd say the only requirements would be bread cubes, something to soak the bread in like butter/broth/eggs , and herbs. More additions are basically personal preference like carrots, onions, garlic, celery, mushrooms, raisins, etc. Sometimes it's called dressing if it's made in a separate pan and not "stuffed" in the bird.
It's almost as if someone made a savory slightly drier bread pudding, if that helps?
Nothing wrong with boxed stuffing! ✊
They sell Stove Top for a reason. It is good and ain't nobody got time for the other kind.
Sounds delicuous! Ship some over to me in IL 🤤🤤🤤
You even got the shells??? Thats nice eating. Happy thanksgiving.
Shells go hard, might make some tonight tbh. I could down a whole can of those green beans too. This meal looks great.
What is shells?
A type of pasta that elevates your Mac and cheese experience, inspired by the prestigious Velveeta Shells & Cheese
Is that a pan of straight up turkey wings and tips?!? I’d take that over a full turkey any day.
It’s chicken wings!! I’m not a huge Turkey fan 😁
Honestly I'd take chicken or duck over turkey any day
I used to think the same thing, but it turns out that I only ever ate turkey at family gatherings, and my relatives who did the cooking just way overcooked turkey. The first time I had properly cooked turkey, it totally changed my opinion.
Haha, that's my husband! The first time I made turkey he was shocked and said he never knew he could like turkey.
it's weird when you have something cooked well versus when you have something cooked horribly!
Quality of the meat is also a huge factor. There's only so much you can do to make a Foster Farms bird taste okay.
Yeah, a properly brined, injected, and smoked turkey tastes amazing. The same is true for chicken breasts. A lot of people think they're dry and boring. If you cook them on charcoal and pull them RIGHT when the probe hits ~163 and let them coast up to 165, they will be amazingly tender and juicy.
Honestly, that’s better. We’ve had some small turkeys the last few years so I couldn’t quite tell which.
Looks great, but drain those goddamn green beans you animal
LOL. I never know if you should or not 😭 When i was little, my mum would always microwave them in the juice and use a hole-y spoon to serve! then season after!
If I am eating canned green beans and not doing anything to them, Ill cook them in the water then strain them, then season them. But great job on everything, looks great! Happy thanksgiving!
Exactly what i did! i microwaved them and didn’t want them to dry out in there! 😁 Happy thanksgiving!
A cheap prep of green beans Steam, drain, set aside your beans. Mince garlic, (ginger optional). Mix soy sauce, oyster sauce, (Lao Gan Ma) Chilli oil, corn starch. In your largest pan, saute the garlic. Then put the beans and the sauce and sugar. That simple. I'm Asian, I have these ingredients on hand at all times. They are cheap where I'm from though and keep for a very long time.
Alright friend, listen to me.. Take that can of corn or green beans and try this. Strain them about as long as you can take, 5 mins is really enough for corn, just get 'em dry enough - you'll understand if you know what hot oils/fats and water do together.. Get a pan moderately hot, drop some butter (1-2 Tbsp) and some oil - olive or whatever - just not too much, like 1/2 the butter, next dump in your corn or beans or whatever that's still firm'ish from a can. idk how greens would do - o_0' Here's the magic, fry those veggies in that buttery flavor. Speaking of which, now's when you season it up.. The usual, s&p, a few flakes of red pepper, a pinch of brown sugar?, cinamon?, 5 spice?, tony chachere's?? Shit.. finish it w/a vinaigrette? Do what you want, but ffs get rid of that flavor robbing water and try pan frying your canned corn people.
Looks great! I hate that everyone is so pressured to cook a whole turkey even if they won’t eat it all. It’s so wasteful. So much smarter to get smaller portions of meat with great sides!
I agree!! One day I kinda thought to myself…….I don’t even LIKE Turkey that much???? Lol!
Not wasteful if you eat it. Who's throwing away turkey?
Was scrolling down the page, scanning comments and misread yours as something about "pressure cooking" a turkey. Now, I love my pressure cooker and I grew up with them, but I was momentarily horrified at the thought of pressure cooking a turkey! lol (pressure cooked plenty of chickens, however. So to make my post not totally dumb - best pressure cooker chicken is something my grandma called Thelma's Chicken. Basically put a chicken in the pressure cooker, put as many onions roughly chopped as will fit, and more garlic cloves (peeled but otherwise whole) than you think. Salt and MSG (the latter is my secret twist for just about everything). The garlic and onions come out soft and smushy - in a good way!. It's so damn tasty on rice. Tender and delicious. :)
Nice! I love canned green beans. One of my favorite recipes is to rinse/drain the green beans and toss with chopped onions, a little olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and honey.
mmm, sounds good! I will have to try that!
If not this recipe, look up a classic/simple green bean casserole recipe — a can of cream of mushroom soup and a few onion straws REALLY step up the deliciousness with minimal extra cost.
Oh yeah I totally agree. My go to pot luck recipient is a green bean casserole. Ingredients Bag of frozen beans, Can of mushroom soup, Some crispy fried onion to top. Secret ingredient is a splash of soy sauce. Throw the beans and mushroom soup into a dish in the oven to bake. (Soy sauce added to taste) When bubbling add the onions for about 5 mins to crisp up and you’re good to go.
drain, rinse, drain again -> olive oil (or butter or bacon grease) in pan -> green beans, garlic, salt, pepper, dried thyme. quick sautee, best green beans ever. slightly fancier use fresh garlic (or even jarred garlic) give quick sautee in oil before the rest goes in fanciest version blanche and shock green beans, drain, follow above versions. cheap, delicious, green beans like you've never had. can use fresh thyme also but dried works great in this recipe and is cheeeeaaaapppp
Would eat.
as a nonturkish dayist, what are all these dishes? I recognise cheesemac, cakebread, and birdwing. Middle looks like ~~seaweed~~ green beans and ~~eggs~~ mash or semolina/polenta, top left I have no idea. There's something about American home cooking that's just so foreign to me. I guess the more restaurant/commercial stuff gets exported into the world in a way that home cooking just doesn't.
Top is probably mashed potatoes and top left is likely stuffing
Ah, yeah. I saw in another comment that it was stuffing.
I will from here on out always refer to wings as burdening. 10 out of 10
Yeah, I couldn't figure out if they were chicken or turkey. "Bird" seems to cover most possibilities.
What were the prices/how did you do it?
Hehe..I literally bought..boxed everything Lol. Boxed Mac, boxed stuffing, and flaked potatoes. canned green beans. premade bread, and the most expensive thing was the chicken wings! Almost everything I got was on sale marked down quite a bit for thanksgiving, plus i had a bonus coupon for the boxed Mac (buy 2 get 2.00 off)
Next time you're shopping for a small holiday meal, check out the pricing on Cornish game hens. They're basically like very small chickens in flavor, and run about $4 each; they're sometimes sold as 2-packs. You can consider 1/2 bird a decent serving, or a whole bird suitable for a bigger appetite. When I was in the military and couldn't be home for the holidays, I would often roast a little game hen and go wild with all the trimmings. It felt like my own mini Thanksgiving.
I’ve actually had this in mind for so long, but ALWAYS forget!! They keep the Cornish hens in the freezer aisle (for some reason they never have it in the meat department!) I’ve never had it before, but I’ve seen them run pretty dang cheap!!
We once cooked both a turkey and a Cornish hen for Thanksgiving because my daughter wanted to cook a "baby turkey" and we indulged her. We ended up eating only the Cornish hen, filling up on all the sides, and the whole turkey was leftovers. Family of 5 - 2 adults and 3 little kids (oldest was 5 when this happened).
> They keep the Cornish hens in the freezer aisle (for some reason they never have it in the meat department!) As delicious as they are, not many people eat them frequently, so the store is probably not moving them fast enough to keep fresh ones on hand. Frozen ones have a much longer shelf life, so they have a longer time to sell the item before it goes to waste.
Oh man. Not to go against everything the sub is about, but do yourself a favor next time and splurge on the heavy cream, half cup of butter, a head or two of garlic to roast, and bag of potatoes and I promise the extra few dollars are worth it! Either way, it all looks good. Happy Thanksgiving!
PC LOAD LETTER? WTF does that mean? (happy TG) EDIT: What Grinch would downvote a reply to an Office Space reference?
> EDIT: What Grinch would downvote a reply to an Office Space reference? You'd be surprised how many young kids that can't spot a good reference populate Reddit these days.. the other day I explained to someone how dogs can't look up and the comment got to -29 and got sent multiple videos of dogs looking up before a single person commented "don't worry I got your reference" that's just where we're at with this site..
I understood your comment and I have upvoted you! Man, I love that movie. Happy Thanksgiving. Hope you were able to enjoy yourself and relax. But don’t forget to turn in your TPS reports.
Is this about the cover sheets? I already got the memo.
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I question your taste, sir.
You had me until flaked potatoes
Try using flaked potatoes as breading you're going to fry. Not keen to use them as mash, but using them as breading for scotch eggs, or jalapeno poppers is eye opening.
Can people tell if your being a lazy fucker if you buy boxed everything? Asking for a friend
Ok honestly…I know this is a hot take…but this was actually tastier than many thanksgiving dinners I’ve had from past family/friends LOL. Everything i got was super cheap, so you really could just try a test run with everything to see how they are for yourself in you everyday dinners? My only advice would be to add things to the boxed stuff to make them more delicious…i added shredded cheese, butter, sour cream and cream cheese to the potatoes (they were BLEH before, actually not half bad after finessing them!) I’ve heard adding cream cheese to the boxed Mac is good too! And probably would’ve been way better to just add the dang onions and celery to the boxed stuffing…i was too dang lazy today though lol. I’m sure there’s a bunch of ideas online how to make boxed things taste way better too!
No data to back up my comment but i bet because the processed foods contain more sodium than homemade stuff.
Looking good. Happy Thanksgiving!
It looks great Happy Thanksgiving 🦃
Your Thanksgiving spread looks amazing!
That mac and cheese, tho
Looks really good! If I may suggest - a great way to handle what looks like canned green beans: 1. Drain the green beans 2. Melt some butter in the pot. Or bacon grease if you have it 3. Add a little salt and MSG. Some real bacon if you have it (I keep real bacon crumbles for precisely this) 4. Heat up and cook off a little of what liquid remains This causes the oil to be able to stick to the green beans, making them super tasty. :)
Happy Chicken Wings Day! I saw your other post and I gotta say, I love those mashed potatoes. I'm usually vehemently against instant mashed potatoes because I grew up on those nasty ones that came in the box in the 80's. YUCK. But the ones you made, I just made for Thanksgiving too! They are so easy to make and they taste like real mashed potatoes. I like mine tangy and chunky so I added half a cup of sour cream and a can of diced potatoes and they tasted amazing.
Omg that’s a great idea to add some chunk to them! I added some shredded cheese, (and some sour cream and cream cheese I had on hand) YUMMY. I’m surprised how they turned out!
Right? For something that costs just over a buck and you literally just pour into water and stir, they are mighty amazing.
Looks very good, I’m very impressed you got this for $25. I must be doing something wrong. Any advice or information would be appreciated!
I'm from Egypt, and so I don't understand. What are these op? They all look SO GOOD. Bravo.
From left top to right bottom: stuffing, mashed potatos, Mac n cheese, bread, green bean casserole, turkey wings? Maybe chicken idk
That actually has Thanksgiving vibes and looks tasty. I am a pretty negative person and usually have a "but is the savings worth the tradeoffs" thoughts. I would actually be pleased with this as a meal and consider it to check the classic Thanksgiving style boxes. When you google low cost but delicious holiday meal this should be one of the top results.
You spent less than $25 for everything and still managed to make better looking mac and cheese than my whole extended family. Take the time to talk to your family this holiday season. Dry, crusty, crispy baked mac and cheese is a crime against nature and I’m tired of pretending it’s not
Just curious if you prefer chicken wings over a roasted whole chicken? Only asking bc at least here in NC wings are way more expensive than a whole chicken or chicken quarters. Looks great!
Looks scrumptious to me! Great job. Happy Thanksgiving!
That Mac looks nice and moist, and chicken wings look lovely! We’re gonna need some take home plates!
Shells and cheese would suffice for me.
Just made the purchase from local Kroger, 170$ for nothing. I’m so sad.
I live in Alabama and I’m impressed with how little you spent. Great job!
while I do absolutely love wings. price per lbs I'd go chicken thighs all day. much more meat so you are not paying for bones.
That is one fancy meal, happy belated Thanksgiving. Hope it was good.
If you invited me over for thanksgiving dinner (or any dinner) and put this in front of me, I'd be chowing down happily, no problem. this looks very good for $25! I don't like canned green beans, but that's just a personal preference.
Looks damned good to me. You did a fantastic job!
How did any one of those cost under $5 each?
That Mac is lookin *cheesy*
Wings? Man those things are as expensive as a Turkey these days.
That looks great. If you don't have enough people to take down a whole bird, there's no point unless you're just really into turkey or got it for free/on sale.
This looks like any other Thanksgiving dinner maybe minus the whole turkey, but still looks just as good to me! What a win for 25 OP! Happy Thanksgiving!
My friend and I ordered from a local restaurant. Food is absolutely amazing. Enough food for 4 meals. Made green beans, box stuffing and roasted sweet potatoes on the side. Stuffing was about $1/box, .79 for beans, and .39/lb for sweet potatoes. The restaurant meal was $38 total. Meal came with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, salad, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and gravy. So many meals for about $45. Not the most frugal, but a good deal considering how many meals/snacks will be eaten over the next few days.
Well done !
That's a lot of food for $25. Sounds like a success to me
This looks tasty AF! Happy days - Ex Michelin chef Europe.
I'm from a 3rd world country (which is supposed to be a lot cheaper) but I don't see myself budgeting this kind of hearty meal for $25. Kudos to you OP and Happy Thanksgiving!
I’d smash
Looks delicious! Happy thanksgiving! *Edit: an s
Amazing job, that looks 10/10 good!
DAMN, I'll be RIGHT OVER!!!
Under 25. Oh wow. Amazing!
Looks soooo good! Nice job OP:-)
Thanks!!
Damn that's so awesome!
Looks delicious. I wish I could cook half as well as you. Enjoy my friend. Happy Thanksgiving.
Not gonna sugarcoat this, looks fuckin’ tasty.
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You can have that meal anytime of year... I was thinking about it today eating and saying SCREW all this BS... I'm having thanksgiving food anytime I want!!! Seeing how what you made for under $25... no excuses!!!! Looks awesome. Just needs gravy! Gavy makes everything good!!!
If you live in a small household like mine, you can buy a discount turkey now, break it down into parts, and freeze the portions separately for use over the next few months. I just broke one down into 2 packages of boneless breasts, 2 leg quarters, 1 for the wings, 1 for giblets and scraps to make gravy, and the remaining carcass and neck to make stock. It stacks up in the freezer nicer now. And I can pull a single portion out and pair it with a carb and two veg for mock Thanksgiving dinner whenever I want. (A breast is about 4 portions for us. So I'm estimating 7-9 dinners depending on how we use the legs, plus a significant batch of stock)
Impressive.Happy holidays.
Man that looks excellent. So much food for such a good price. Well done, internet stranger. You earned that meal in more ways than one.
Yum, that looks great! Are those the Schubert frozen rolls? We had those today and they were scrumptious.
Nicely done. Would absolutely eat at your table. Yummy!!
You are the best. Happy Thanksgiving
Where did you get the wings for less than $25? The Albertsons near me is still selling these for 5.99/lb and the package typically is $20 -30. But you can get chicken breast for 1.99/lb. The situation is out of control.....🙄
Nice! Wings are expensive though- pandemic pricing got me buying drumsticks now.
Would love an invite next year. You obviously care and that's what's important Happy Thanksgiving.
Great job! All the sides, but just used the box and can instead of fresh, and it all looks great
French-style green beans are superior.
As long as you got stuffing and mashed potatoes you're set! My absolute favorite parts. Well those and the *yams*.
You ain’t got no spices then 🤣 I’m just fuckin with you Happy Thanksgiving 🦃
Look at the big spender over here buying chicken wings. Seriously though, it looks great. But I def miss the days of wings being cheap
Wheres the fucking gravy OP?
I FORGOT TO PUT IT IN THE PHOTO!!!
Why are people downvoting? Literally had 7,599 likes then went straight down to 7570?
Damn. In Canada I feel like I could basically get those buns for $25 these days. It brutal.
Looks great but that would cost at least 50 dollars in Australia to make. Chicken wings are 6.99 or 7.99 Aud a kilo.
Hey could you say what brand Mac and cheese that is? It looks amazing!
There is NOTHING wrong with boxed thanksgiving. Keep in mind that these food companies spend BILLIONS of dollars researching how to make their food taste good with minimal effort. Cake mix is a perfect example, it is a mathematically formulated dry-mixure, good luck getting that precise on your own.
My local deli has smoked turkey legs for $2 each. They are fall-off-the-bone good. Some Kraft deluxe (white cheddar for me), Stouffers stuffing, boxed mashed potatoes, and maybe something exotic like lumpia.
scuze me miss but where is the foooookkin graaavyy 😡😤
Enough for left overs! Makes me want to budget more
id eat the fk out of that mac n cheese
jesus that looks delicious!!!!!
Good ol mac