The Frugal Home wishes you a very Happy Holiday and hopes that you enjoy your leftovers as much as you enjoy the main meal! Wishing you a very happy and frugal weekend!

Here are the recipes I made this year with the leftovers from Thanksgiving :

Turkey and Rice Soup –  I’ll need to look this recipe up and add it layer, I don’t think I got a picture yet either!

Tex Mex Corn Chowder

Turkey Burgers

Turkey Enchiladas

Whatchagot Soup

Turkey Leftovers from prior years:

Thanksgiving Turkey Leftovers

Moo Shu Turkey Tostadas

Thanksgiving Personal Layer Pie

Turkey Noodle Soup

Frugal Tips for Turkey Burgers with Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey

This may be my new favorite way to use up leftover turkey. I’m sure it would work for chicken as well but I don’t know if it would have as much flavor. These freeze well too.

Turkey Burgers

Gather It Up!

Leftover Turkey

Leftover Dressing or Stuffing

Onions

Cook It Up!

Grind the turkey up in a food grinder if you have one, I just used my blender. Mix the onions and turkey with the leftover dressing and form into patties. Fry in a little bit of oil or bake in the oven.

Serve It Up!

I’m sure these would be great on a bun but I just wrapped mine in a lettuce leaf.

For More Recipes:

2 Month Meal Plan
Cheap Healthy Recipes
Great Breakfast Recipes
Frugal Lunch Recipes
Cheap Dinner Recipes
Leftovers Recipes
Frugal Soup Recipes
Frugal Sides, Snacks and Appetizers

Setting the table is one of my favorite Thanksgiving activities. I have spent many years gathering my Thanksgiving dishes and decor through flea markets, antique malls, and heirlooms from various family members.  Shopping each year has helps me create a beautiful table each year on a budget and because we have a different guest list each year this gives me a great chance to pick and choose which of my Thanksgiving items I will use that year.

Here is our Thanksgiving table setting with decor for this year :

I alternated my yellow wheat leaf plates with my white, silver trimmed plates.

Each of these plates has one of two variations of some beautiful brown and white plates I got a few years ago.  The boxes are my Thanksgiving favors for this year and are filled with chocolate (I just wish they were clear or a fall color instead of Christmas themed!)

Each year I try to buy something new for my table. Previously I haven’t picked up something as simple as a small plate for 25 cents (the sugar bowl in this picture was inherited from my grandmother).

This year I got a beautiful glass decanter and glassware set for $9 at a local antique mall.

I used some silver plates from my mother-in-law and my grandmother to display the glassware as well as some Thanksgiving decor that I picked up on sale after the holiday a few years ago.

What do you do to create your frugal Thanksgiving table?

In case you are in the same spot I am in and need to quickly catch up on your Thanksgiving planning, here are some tips and advice to get you ready for the Big Meal come next Thursday.

Thanksgiving : Frugal Tips and Stress Reducers

Frugal Thanksgiving Menu

Tips to Keep the Stress Out of Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving Planning Part I

Thanksgiving Planning Part II : Share the Work

Thanksgiving Planning Part III : Timing

Thanksgiving Planning Part IV : Make it Special

Thanksgiving Gifts for Your Guests

Thanksgiving Recipes and Thanksgiving Leftover Recipes

Thanksgiving Layer Personal Pie

Dairy Free Green Bean Casserole

Chicken Broth

Turkey Noodle Soup

Moo Shu Chicken (Turkey!) Tostadas

And for after the meal . . .

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Seven Things You Can Do After Thanksgiving Dinner

I am thankful for the new house that we have now been in for a little over a year. It has been a much happier, and healthier, year in this home than it was in the last one.

I am thankful for my family, friends, and pets. I am thankful everyone is happy and (mostly!)healthy and that they all let me be a part of their lives.

I am thankful for my job and my husbands job. I am grateful that my husband still has a job even though his work is affected by the auto industry. I am grateful that I am able to work from home.

I am thankful I was able to attend the family reunion this year with my family. I had not seen most of them for two decades and it was wonderful to see everyone again.

I am thankful for the dental insurance I was able to acquire this year.

I am thankful for all the soy based products on the market so that even someone like me, with a dairy allergy, can enjoy many of the same foods as everyone else.

I am thankful for my husband and the love and life that he shares with me.

I am sure that I could come up with many more but I have a large group of people coming today that I have to get ready for! And I am thankful my in-laws will be spending Thanksgiving Day with us!

1. Go for a walk – this used to be one of my favorite traditions of Thanksgiving at my grandparents house. A nice, leisurely walk is good for everyone as it gets everybody up and burning some of the massive amounts of calories you just ingested. Take along a camera and take pictures of everyone on the walk and pictures of the nature around you.

2. Give Thanks – When everyone sits down to dinner go around the table and have everyone say what they are thankful for this year. Write down or video tape to watch next year!

3. Play a game of touch football – Don’t just watch football on tv, get outside and have a game yourself! Just another way to burn some calories while having a great time! For those who can’t play give them some pom poms and make them the cheerleaders!

4. Volunteer your time- take family time to a local shelter or soup kitchen and let everyone give back to those who are not having a traditional Thanksgiving Day or hold a food or clothes drive and have everyone who visits that day bring something to donate.

5. Record your memories – Set out a scrapbook and have everyone leave a note or set up a video camera so everyone can tape a video message.

6. Put on a play – get all the children together (and any adults that are brave enough!) to put on a play of the first Thanksgiving, or let them make up their own. Let the kids make their costumes then put on the show.

7. Go sledding – While not common every where, if there is snow on the ground then put together a sledding party. Those that don’t want to sled can build snowmen or have a snowball fight. Make sure there is plenty of hot chocolate available when you all get back!

Don’t let the turkey get you down after Thanksgiving dinner! Get up and get moving and make traditions that your family will always remember!

What Thanksgiving traditions do you, and your family, have?

Thanksgiving Cards – Create a card for each person in your family. Inside the card tell them why you are thankful that you have them in your life and why you are grateful that they are the person they are.

Recipe Books – This is a great idea for everyone but the one that I received from my Grandmother a few years before she died means a great deal to me now. I love recipes and tend to gather them from everywhere, the internet and people I know. I also often create my own or change the ones I get to make them dairy free, cheaper or healthier. A recipe book is always fun because it gives you insight into what others like to eat and what dinners are like in their home. There are places online where you can make professional looking recipe books but it is more fun, and will mean more, to make them yourself as you would a scrapbook, or print them off your computer and make a book.

Mini- scrapbooks – In the Thanksgiving Planning Post Make It Special, I suggest setting up a photo corner for pictures and video messages. Once the day is over you can create mini scrapbooks to send to your family as a memento of their day or send a DVD with a video scrapbook of the day.

What small gift ideas do you have or have you done one of these at your family’s gathering?

Many families go around the table during dinner and state what they are thankful for this year but there are many other special ideas you can do when planning for the day.

Set up a photo corner with a digital camera on one tripod and a camcorder on the other. Families can take pictures of themselves as a memento of the day and can use the camcorder to video tape a Thanksgiving message. After the day you can make a regular scrapbook and a video scrapbook to preserve your memories.

Hold a food drive at your house and have anyone who drops in bring food that you can donate later to a local charity.

Use photos you have of your guests to make personal place cards that each person can take home with them.

Eat your lunch very early or late and spend the rest of the time helping out at a local soup kitchen or charity event.

What special event are you planning for your Thanksgiving guests? Share them with us!

To save your sanity (and your money!), make it clear ahead of time when people can show up and when they have to leave. Be prepared that those coming from out of town may have to stay the night or several nights. If you have the space but not the cash to take care of someone for several nights, let them know that they can stay but that they will have to pitch in for groceries or explain that you can handle one night but no more.

Do not let yourself feel guilty about what you are financially, and mentally, prepared to do. Feelings will be hurt less if the rules are known ahead of time. So many live such hectic lives, and are short on cash, that you may be surprised just how many understand.

I often say that you are welcome to stay the night the night before or the night of but no more as this is one of the few times during the year that my husband and I take time off. I love Thanksgiving. I love cooking all the food and inviting family and friends over. This is the one holiday in which the husband and I stay home instead of traveling all over the state to see our families but the long weekend is also why I set time limits so we can also enjoy some time at home. We see our families often so if Thanksgiving is the one time a year when you all get together you may wish to make a several day event out of it.

Does your Thanksgiving planning involve a set start and stop time? Do you have tips for reducing stress with Thanksgiving planning?

An easy aspect of Thanksgiving planning is to prepare many of the dishes ahead of time. Side dishes such as dressing, sweet potato pie, and mashed potatoes can all be made ahead of time, some several weeks in advance.

Have your husband and children help you prepare these meals in advance as well as putting them to work getting the house in order before the big day. If you need to get the dressing prepared and the kids area underfoot, give them a closet to clean out or have them go through their toys for items to donate to get ready for Christmas.

A few days before Thanksgiving, keep your planning in place. Have each member of the family clean a certain area of the house or set the table so that the entire house is clean and ready for the big day.

For Thanksgiving Day plan out how you will finish cooking the meal. Make a list so you know when the turkey goes in, when the sides go in, and when everything comes out. I prepare note cards ahead of time and tape them to the cabinet above the oven. The note cards give a time line of the day along with how long each dish should cook and at what temperature. This is a good way to make sure you have all the ingredients and dishes you will need so that you don’t have to run out the day of and spend money on the only green beans available when you could have bought the generic the week before.

Thanksgiving planning extends to the day as well. Family and friends will be crowding into your house and while many will be socializing or watching football games you want to have jobs for those who wish to help. For those who come very early you can have them put together appetizers or set the table if it isn’t already done. You may also put someone on pre-dinner dish duty so that dishes are not piling up.

Do you plan to share the work for Thanksgiving? Do you have any Thanksgiving planning tips? Share them with us!