Top: Old Navy (on sale) | Jewelry: Old Navy (in store only) | Z’s Dress: Zutano | Leggings: Zutano
When you are Canadian and American you have two choices of when to celebrate Thanksgiving, this year we decided to do it somewhere in the middle and had a fun Thanksgiving dinner last night! We invited a few people from Kris’ class and enjoyed an easy-to-prepare Thanksgiving meal. Everyone seemed to love the food and the decor looked so good that I thought I would share a few of the ways I made a Thanksgiving party and meal in only a few hours.
Decor
Number one – I ordered the decorations in advance online, this can be much cheaper than in store if you know where to shop. I got everything from Oriental Trading because they have a great variety and very affordable prices for every holiday. I actually got my Thanksgiving decor last month just to be safe, but it shipped very quickly so I probably didn’t need to. All you need is a few festive items to make your dinner look extra special. I got this sparkly gold backdrop which looks fabulous in photos and make the whole room feel brighter and more festive. These faux fall leaves are only a few dollars and sprinkling them over the table really brought the fall vibe home. All the other decor in my pics was from them as well and it was all for under $100!!
Dinner
For the dinner I wanted to make it easy on myself since I am SUPER busy – like I am sure most moms with full time jobs are… I bought everything from the grocery store in easy to make or pre-made kits. I know it sounds lame to admit that I did not make the stuffing or the gravy from scratch… BUT everyone loved the food and I was still able to have a productive day working and not spend the entire day slaving away in the kitchen.
I am not a huge turkey fan so this year I opted to do chicken as our turkey replacement. It is a great turkey alternative because it fits right into the Thanksgiving meal. I bought two rotisserie chickens, which fed four men with big appetites, I ended up not eating any even though I love rotisserie chicken… I am just not a big meat eater in general and I stuffed myself with stuffing. There was a little left over though so I think I could safely say it serves 5-6 people.
Dessert
For dessert I bought some pre-made ginger snaps and iced them, easy-peasy. I also made the easiest pumpkin spice muffins in the world. All you do is get a regular white cake mix, follow the directions to make the batter, then add 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. cloves and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Bake according to directions and ice! I got the most darling cupcake boxes and they were perfect for people to take home since everyone was stuffed after dinner.
I almost didn’t want to share my easy Thanksgiving meal because writing it out makes me sound so lazy, but it was so inexpensive, delicious and fun that I just knew someone else out there with a crazy schedule and a tight budget could use it.
Happy belated Thanksgiving Canadians, to my American friends – happy early Thanksgiving. xoxoxo
*I received free products to facilitate this post, all opinions are my own.
