What My Simple Thanksgiving Looks Like

 

As someone who is a homebody, a hermit, and enjoys a simple life, I really don’t enjoy going big for holidays. I like to enjoy the good parts of the season without the stress and chaos. So today I figured I would give you a glimpse of what my simple Thanksgiving looks like year after year.
I keep it small.

It’s only my parents and brother and the myself and my husband. This means I already have a big enough table, I only have to bring one chair up from the basement, and I have plenty of space to host and let everyone mill about the house.

I keep a simple menu.

I usually do the same thing each year when it comes to the meal – turkey breast (my mom usually makes this or she’ll carve a small turkey), crockpot stuffing, corn casserole, green bean casserole, canned cranberry, and a pumpkin pie. The cranberry being in a can makes it easy to simply open and slice. The pumpkin pie I buy premade and frozen and I can make it the night before and let it sit in the fridge overnight. We don’t do rolls because we have stuffing and we don’t need more carbs, and it’s one less thing to shove in the oven.

I host it at 3 pm.

This is before dinner which could stretch it too far into the evening but it’s late enough in the day that I can still enjoy my day and not be rushed around until after noon when I start preparing items. I tell my family to come over at 3 and we eat by 4. Everyone’s usually gone by 7.

Everyone brings containers.

I have my mom bring her own containers over so we don’t buy any or have to loan them out. I make a reasonable amount of food where there is enough leftovers for them and us to have for about 3 days afterwards. Beyond that we’re usually tired of the same meal.

I have a cooking schedule printed out.

I use the same schedule each year that tells me exactly what to do at what time. It’s sooo easy to follow and if I stick to it I don’t have to worry about setting multiple timers for different items.

I keep prep easy.

I make some casseroles the night before or even earlier in the day then can refrigerate them and pop them in when it’s time to make. But I also don’t buy fancy table settings. I use my thicker plates, my regular utensils, and I use paper napkins. I used to go all out but I realized no one remembers those little details and it’s mostly the taste of the food. Keeping prep easy means it’s so easy to clean up afterwards too. I put the table cloth in the wash and put my extra chair in the basement and then the dishes get done like normal.

Maybe this will inspire you to simplify your own holidays!

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