30 days of straight posting has not been easy. Sure, I posted a few in advance, but it isn’t as easy as it looks and I’m sure, overall, my results have been lackluster at best. Still, it was fun to have that discipline this month… I’m wondering if I can keep this up on a Mon. – Fri. basis like I used to do a very long, long time ago? Let’s see, shall we?
So, here we are on day 30 and guess what I am already beginning to plan? That’s right, Thanksgiving. It takes the stress out of a holiday when you take a little time to plan ahead. Katie and I have a standard Thanksgiving menu and grocery list. Budgeting is important around the holidays so I tend to split my grocery list up into long-term pantry items and fresh ingredients. I buy all the things that can be stored in my pantry ahead of time and everything else I buy a couple of days in advance of when I’ll need it.
A few years ago I created a household binder. I have the holidays divided with tabbed dividers and my traditional recipes are printed out and kept in sheet protectors. I have my menu in a sheet protector and as things are prepped ahead of time or dishes are completed I check them off with a dry erase marker. When we are done I wipe off the sheet protector and it’s ready to go for next year.
Throughout the year, Katie and I will get ideas of dishes or desserts we might want to change up or add to a holiday meal, one of us usually just jots it on a post-it note and puts it into that holiday section of the binder. We never have to worry about forgetting anything and the meal usually comes off without a hitch because we are prepared.
There is nothing worse than stressing over the holidays. A little planning ahead can alleviate most of the headaches!