Recipes

Simplify The Holiday Season With These Tips

Posted: 1/7/2012

You can make the most of your holiday meal-for less.

(NAPSI)—Have the holidays become more stressful than joyful? Want to simplify the season and actually have the time and energy to enjoy the holidays? It’s time to stop the insanity and get back to holiday basics. The experts at Grocery Outlet Bargain Market can help you stay focused on what’s really important this season with tips to prevent you from overstressing and overspending. You can save time, money and trouble and still celebrate in style. Here are hints that can help:

• Get ready. Inventory your supplies early on. Get wrapping paper, tape, ribbons, stamps, boxes and pantry staples (such as sugar and flour) well in advance of the holidays. You may find discounted items when you’re not rushed.

• Revisit family traditions. Think about holidays past. Which activities were most worth the effort? Focus on what makes you and your family happy and eliminate what doesn’t.

• Don’t overcommit. You don’t need to say “yes” to every invitation. Save room in your schedule for things that might pop up.

• Keep it simple. Don’t overdo the table settings and decorations. Your guests will enjoy themselves just as much even without a complicated, expensive centerpiece.

• Focus on gifts from the heart. Give gifts that show your love-not the size of your wallet. Grandparents will likely value a photo album or a framed piece of children’s art far more than expensive presents.

• Shop strategically. Sometimes, the places that save you the most money might surprise you. Extreme discount retailer Grocery Outlet, which purchases overstocks and closeouts directly from brand-name manufacturers, also sells body care products, toys, decorations and kitchen supplies-at prices up to half off retail.

Seven Tips for

the Big Holiday Meal

1. Make it potluck. Ask your guests to contribute an appetizer, side or dessert. Ask visiting relatives to make breakfast, so you can focus on the turkey.

2. Plan your menu and stick to your list. You’ll save money.

3. Quality over quantity. You don’t need seven vegetable sides and six pies. Keep it simple.

4. Prep ahead. Chop, measure and prepare as much as possible before the big holiday meal.

5. Fake it. Not everything needs to be made from scratch. Delicious cookies, desserts and candy can be bought premade.

6. Organize your grocery list by department to save time at the store.

7. Shop your own cupboards first to see what you already have.

Consider Grocery Outlet’s $3 Holiday Menu—it can feed a family of six for less than $20.

$3 Holiday Menu-Cost Per Serving

Traditional Roast Turkey $0.85

Pan Gravy $0.10

Apple and Sausage Stuffing $0.73

Mashed Potatoes $0.32

Cranberries $0.11

Apple Cider Carrots $0.24

Rolls $0.12

Pie $0.50

Total $2.97

Holiday Roast Turkey

$.85 per serving

Serves 10−12

1 fresh turkey (16 to 18 lbs), giblets removed, turkey brought to room temperature (no more than 2 hours)

1 stick butter, softened

Salt and Pepper

1 Tbsp. dried parsley

1 Tbsp. dried sage

5 cups stuffing

Preheat oven to 425° F, with rack in lower third. Pat the turkey dry with paper towels. Place on a rack set in large roasting pan. Blend 4 Tbsp. butter with 2 tsp. salt and dried herbs; season with pepper. Loosen skin of turkey and spread mixture under skin all over, reaching as far back as possible. Rub skin of turkey with remaining 4 Tbsp. butter. Sprinkle with 1 tsp. salt; season with pepper. Loosely stuff body cavity with 4¾ cups stuffing, and neck cavity with ¼ cup. Tie drumsticks together loosely with kitchen twine. Fold neck skin under body and secure with toothpicks. Tuck wing tips under wings. Roast turkey 30 minutes. Baste turkey, reduce oven temperature to 350° F. Continue to roast (basting every 20 minutes with pan juices) until a thermometer inserted into a thigh registers 180° F and stuffing registers 165° F, 3−3½ hours. If skin darkens too quickly during roasting, tent with foil. Let turkey rest 30 minutes before carving. Leave juices in roasting pan to make gravy.

For the complete $3 holiday menu, recipes, shopping list and money-saving tips, visit www.groceryoutlet.com/holidays.