Prepare for Thanksgiving with Butterball, Ocean Spray, and a Little Patience

Getting ready for thanksgiving can be a chore or a pleasurable event. There are some things you can do to help things go smoothly. A typically thanksgiving meal includes a main entrée, starches, vegetables, and desserts. Sometimes it's best to make things homemade and other times store/deli bought food is fine.

Butterball carries a large assortment of sizes of turkeys. I like there turkeys because they don't require any basting. The also have great little red pop up timers. I have used this kind of turkey for years. It cooks up a nice golden brown, and tastes so yummy.

Ocean spray carries a jellied cranberry sauce that is easy to slice. The cranberry sauce is not bitter, it tastes just right. It comes in cans and you can refrigerator the night before to get it cold. They also have lots of great recipes on there website. I would not buy any other cranberry sauce then ocean spray cranberry sauce.

Stovetop has a quick and easy stuffing. They come in both a cardboard tin and in a box. They come in different varieties such as home-style herb, chicken, turkey, and they even have a whole wheat variety. I have tried home-style herb, chicken and turkey. I prefer the turkey variety over the other kinds. I buy Stovetop stuffing because it's not dry like some of the generic brands.

My all time favorite side is green bean casserole. I like my green bean casserole with French's fried onions. They have a great recipe that comes on the box. The onions are reasonable priced for fewer than four dollars. I have used them to just snack on and they make a great easy snack.

My favorite dessert for thanksgiving is pumpkin pie. I like the pumpkin pies by Sara Lee. They taste really good and are reasonable priced. They have a whole line of different kinds of pies-cherry, pecan, lemon meringue, fruits of the forest pie and more. Sara Lee pies can be kept in the freezer, and then put in the over after being left out for a few hours.

Another great side dish is good old fashion potatoes. I like my potatoes with the skin rather then peeled. I mash them up with some butter, soy milk and sour cream.

You can use handi- foil pans to cook your turkey. The greatest part is you can throw away the pan, when you are done. These pans can be handy to cook other sides or entrees. They are available at your local grocery store or discount chain, like Kmart or Wal-Mart.

If you prepare some of your meal the day or two before it can help. Using plastic or papers products can help save on clean up time. Having a family member or friend could help shorten the amount of time on your feet. The most important part about thanksgiving is the time you have to spend with family and friends.