The high winds we had yesterday did strip many of the leaves from their trees. About half! But no down trees or interruption of electricity.
So, I wasn't going to talk about food again today until I read an article on the lack of turkeys for Thanksgiving due to bird flu which in turn makes the average cheap turkey around $1.25 per pound. Next, I thought, well, how about a whole chicken but an inexpensive whole chicken is almost $2.25 per pound!
Now, if you can afford a turkey, you will get many more meals than just the main Thanksgiving meal. Boil the carcass for the beginnings of soup. And really clean it of meat for meals using small pieces like pot pies or casseroles.
But, if you can't afford the high layout for a turkey but still want poultry how about a big pile of chicken legs or chicken leg quarters. These are 99 cents a pound right now in most places and you can purchase several for a lot less than a large turkey. If you have a freezer, I would purchase them now because the prices will probably increase.
As a matter of fact, purchasing the items now for your Thanksgiving meal makes a lot of sense. Things that do not need special treatment like canned goods and boxed goods and that may be sold out by the time Thanksgiving gets here.
Stuffing? If you don't make your own, house brand stuffing boxes are around a dollar and all you add it water. House brand canned or frozen vegetables are a lot less than name brand. Take the green bean casserole, for instance, which uses a can of french cut greens (house brand around a dollar), mushroom soup (house brand 70 cents) and crispy fried onions (house brand around $2.75 - but you get two to three meals out of this). Using house brands will generally cut the cost by half and in some cases even more.
What else can you purchase early. Canned yams, cranberry sauce, the makings for pies, etc. That will leave only fresh produce like potatoes, squash, salad fixings, etc. what ever you make.
Also, by spreading out purchasing items, you won't have a big layout of money all at one time and you can take advantage of sales.
Okay, enough of food items for now. I was going to show a really nice, inexpensive fabric tree ornament today but I will save that until tomorrow. For some of you, fabric may not be something you keep on hand. And let's face it, fabric is also very expensive now-a-days.
If you are near a fabric shop, craft shop or some place like Walmart you can purchase fat quarters (18" by 22") for between $2 and $4. Check for sales. If you want to make fabric decorations or ornaments, I would purchase two in contrasting colors.
Another place to get inexpensive fabric is the thrift store. No, most do not sell fabric by the yard. However, you can look at women's clothing like skirts and dresses, or sheets, curtains, throws for fabric. I have purchased all of these at one time or another, taken them home and cut them apart, washed and dried and the used as fabric. You want sturdy fabric like cotton rather than see through fabrics or t-shirt fabric.
Actually, you can make really nice, sturdy bags and clutch purses out of jeans.
Another place is your own closets. Do you have any pieces of clothing that are no longer worn, or doesn't fit, or needs mending? Or sheets that are no longer used...even old tablecloths.
Be creative in looking for things. When you do that you can generally find less priced options. And also save things like toilet paper rolls and small boxes (i.e. food items like stuffing or pudding boxes), magazines and books you no longer need. You'd be surprised at how you can use these items turning them into decorations or presents, etc.
That's all for today. Tomorrow you will need two pieces each of two contrasting color fabric (four altogether) each 4" by 15". If these are not available, paper will also work, either plain or even magazine pages.
Have a wonderful day...
Talk with you tomorrow...