Custom Search

Friday, November 22, 2013

I Will Not Be Buying A Bargain Turkey, Or Any Turkey, this Year

Announcement: I will not be buying a turkey this year. This statement is a shocker, no doubt, not only because it is positively un-American to say NO to turkey, but also because the Thanksgiving turkey is the frugalista's friend, providing tons of food for weeks to come at a ridiculous sale price. Why then, why?

First of all, Miss Em is in Serbia. Second, Frugal Son wangled an invite to a friend's house, where he will feast on deep-fried turkey. So Mr FS and I will be solo. This is not an occasion for despair; we communicate with our kids all the time. We used to invite people over, but stopped about five years ago. Guess what? No one EVER invited us over. I'm cool with that.

OK. So why no turkey? Our freezer is stuffed with stuff. Our pantries are full. One store we frequent changed its store brand and had ridiculous sales on the items marked Best Yet, which have now been replaced by Best Choice. We really need to use our stockpile. We don't want to be like our colleague (one we used to invite each year for Thanksgiving): he bought a turkey a year on sale. After Katrina, with no electricity, he donated SEVEN TURKEYS to the Food Bank. I guess that's ok, but I prefer a more gradual approach!

And besides: the best part of Thanksgiving is leftovers. I already have all the fixings for the best of the best leftover choice: gumbo. On Thanksgiving, Mr FS and I will be having turkey and sausage gumbo. When that's gone, I'll make my second favorite leftover meal: pot pie.

I'm hoping that by next year, we will have enough room in the freezer to justify a turkey and its attendant leftovers. Right now, I feel a big burden lifted off my shoulders: the burden of the bargain-priced turkey.

6 comments:

SewingLibrarian said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
SewingLibrarian said...

Oops, I commented before reading carefully what you said. I still think you are smart. Lots of leftover turkey can be a burden. We're buying our dinner from our local grocery, Sprouts. We've had edcellent results with their dinners in the past.

Anonymous said...

We're having duck this year!

Shelley said...

I'm starting my cooking today with cornbread for the stuffing and I've made some blackberry and apple crisp which will go into the freezer until the weekend. The blackberries we picked in France and in fields near two friends' houses here in Britain. The apples came from my friend's trees in her back garden. Brits make 'crumble' which only has flour, white sugar and butter; I prefer the American crisp which includes oatmeal and brown sugar. We're expected 28 for dinner. Most are neighbours who do have us around at the New Year and friends who do tend to reciprocate - though not all. Can't say I'd bother with all this if it were just for Bill and me. I think your choice makes perfect sense; turkey and sausage sounds delicious!

The Frugal Shrink said...

Sounds good to me!!! Turkey is actually my least favorite part of the meal anyway. I prefer the side dishes. :)

Frugal Scholar said...

@SL--the leftover turkey is welcome! The TURKEY is a burden.
@nm--Use the bones for stock. Duck gumbo is much-loved in these parts.
@Shelley--Very impressive meal!
@FS--My fave is the potatoes. i go into a food-induced coma from all the starch.