thanksgiving dinner ideas, cheap thanksgiving dinner, affordable thanksgiving dinner ideas

Once again, I have to ask myself what in the hell have I gotten myself into. I’m pretty sure that I have set myself up for a disaster waiting to happen (for those of you who may have somehow forgotten, I don’t know how to cook), and I’m already terrified of what this is going to all look like in the end. At this point, if I can come through with something edible while not burning the house down, I will consider it a success

I went to visit my sister and her kids this weekend which inevitably resulted in her asking how my list of the things I want to do this year is going. This, of course, lead to me once again bragging about how I succeeded in the eating well on $1 a day for 100 days challenge. Eventually this lead to the following conversation:

Sister: “Whatever…But could you prepare a meal for others spending so little?”

Me: “Sure – I had plenty of left over food after the hundred days. I could have made a group meal no problem.”

Sister: “No, not with what you had. What about a set menu?”

Me: “What are you talking about?”

Sister: “I bet you can’t make a full Thanksgiving meal for six people for $1”

Me: “$1 per person?”

Sister: “No, $1 for the entire meal.”

Me: “What?!?”

Sister: “You ate 3 meals on less than $1 a day. You should have no problem fixing one meal on $1”

Me: “It’s a bit different. Having a set menu rather than what becomes available makes it a lot more difficult. I think I can probably pull off a $5 Thanksgiving day meal.”

Sister: (looking at me like I am afraid to take the challenge) “I figured. You aren’t really up for a challenge.”

Me: “…”

Sister: (pushing the buttons that she knows will work) “Just admit it. You can’t do it. There is no shame in being a failure…”

Me: (desperately thinking if it might be possible) “Do I get to create the menu?”

Sister: “Yes, but it has to be a proper Thanksgiving meal.”

Me: “What does that mean?”

Sister: “Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, pumpkin pie, etc.”

Me: “All that for $1?”

Sister: “For six people.”

Me: “OK, I’ll give it a shot.”

This, of course, brought a surprised look to my sister’s face that I would actually take the challenge. That surprise only lasted a split second and immediately turned to a “you’re a total sucker” satisfied smile to my sister’s face — which I think was doubling pleasing to her because not only do I now have to try and create a $1 Thanksgiving meal, she managed to get herself out of cooking Thanksgiving dinner since I am now the one in charge of it. I am already beginning to regret taking on this challenge…

At this point, I desperately need all of your help. I need to come up with a complete Thanksgiving meal menu so that I can begin trying to make it all come together — plus good, easy recipes since I will undoubtedly be judged on the taste of the food as well. While I am not at all confident that I will be able to pull this off, it should make for an interesting challenge that will cause far more than a few surprises along the way. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated…

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