Easy Thanksgiving Dinner: Tasty Shortcuts to Old Favorites

Thanksgiving dinner is a lovely tradition for many families. Great food, football games, family time and fun. Of course for the person preparing the meal and cleaning up it is not always so great as there is a great deal of work involved.

Many families have gotten in the habit of letting one person do all the work while everyone else sits backs and enjoys the meal. If you are that person then maybe it's time you rethink how you do Thanksgiving for the family. Begin by making a list of all guest and then calling them and telling them you are planning to try something different this year. You want each person to bring their "signature" dish. Maybe Aunt Mary makes the best green bean casserole this side of the Mason-Dixon. Tell her how much you love this dish and how grateful you would be if she would be so kind to help you out by bringing that. Most are more than happy to help out. If someone is really a bad cook everyone in the family knows not to eat their cooking you can always ask them to bring something simple such as a vegetable or the salad.

To make your own Thanksgiving cooking easier try a few new tricks of the trade for busy people and still impress your family. Instead of going to all the trouble of making everything from scratch find out what you can make or buy pre-made that is just as good.

Many grocery stores now carry frozen bread dough. All you have to do is pull it out of the freezer, spray the bread pan with a non-stick spray and let it rise for about 6 hours. You can let it rise overnight so you aren't sweating it just before your Thanksgiving meal. Your family will be none the wiser that you didn't spend hours preparing the dough.

While pumpkin pie may be the traditional dessert for Thanksgiving dinner it is not always a favorite of everyone. Pepperidge Farms makes some wonderful cakes and Mrs. Smith's pies are as close to Grandma's pies as you can get with a lot less work than making them yourself. You still have warm pies fresh from the oven but you don't have the insanity of trying to prepare them all by yourself.

Mashed potatoes are a main staple on most Thanksgiving tables but they are also usually require a great deal of time to prepare. Nobody likes to peel potatoes but everyone goes back for seconds when it comes to mashed potatoes. Instant potatoes have a horrible taste but now you have several different brands of real mashed potatoes in the cooler section of your grocery store. These potatoes taste great and all you have to do is pop them in the microwave for a few minutes.

Clean up after these big family dinners can last for days if you don't have extra help. Most feel they need to pull out the good china for holiday meals such as Thanksgiving dinner but if you opt to use paper plates you will cut down on a great deal of cleaning time. If you still opt to use the good china then enlist everyone in the clean up after dinner. Have your kids clear the table the table and ask your siblings to help wash the dishes. You can even get your dad to take the trash out if you ask him.
Of course to reduce on the worst part of the clean the baking pans there is a better way than washing. Go to your local grocery store and buy the foil roasting pans and baking pans. They make for quick and easy clean up as these simply get tossed in the trash after the meal is over.

While it may feel like you are taking short cuts with the above steps, your family will still have a delicious meal and you will actually have the chance to enjoy your meal and your family this Thanksgiving.