My Golden Rules for a Stress Free Thanksgiving & Butterball Turkey Giveaway

                  Photo credit google

Thanksgiving is my favorite holidays. I look forward gathering with friends and family to enjoy all my favorite holiday dishes.

If I'm not hosting a Thanksgiving dinner at my  home, than I'm always eager to help out wherever were invited.   

If you plan on hosting Thanksgiving at your house, it can be an exciting and scary experience all at the same time. 

Well, it doesn't have to be. If you just take some time and plan ahead your, Thanksgiving dinner will go off without a hitch. 

This isn't the time to put on your cape and try to be superwoman, because it will just end in disaster.

Take it from me, I've been there and done that on numerous occasions. There's nothing worse than the hostess sitting down at the dinner table a frazzled mess. 

So, with the help of Butterball and Mommy's Kitchen you can make sure your holiday is as picture perfect as possible. 

I'm excited to say that this is my 4th year working together with Butterball.  Not only do they have the best turkeys,  but they also have so many useful resources. 
 

This year Butterball has asked me to share my golden rules for Thanksgiving as well as the opportunity to give away (2) $20 turkey gift checks. I know these checks will come in handy for two very lucky families.

1. About month before Thanksgiving compile a guest list. Find out who's coming over for dinner and if anyone has any food allergies or special requests.
   
   
2. Have guests help out by contributing a dish or dessert (potluck style). Make sure to follow up a couple weeks in advance and find out what every one's bringing. It's also helpful to supply everyone with a copy of the list. That way they can bring extra or missing dishes if the choose to.  
   
   
3. I plan my Thanksgiving Menu the first week of November. This way I have plenty of time to get my recipes together and compile a grocery list.
    
4. I like to shop a month in advance for all my items.  If you wait too long the stores will run out of everything.
   
   
5. Purchase your bird at least 3 -4 weeks before the big day. If you wait too long it can be slim pickins. If you're ordering a fresh bird than do that 2-3 weeks in advance.
   
   
6. Prepare and assemble any dishes ahead of time. Pie crust and baked goods can be prepared ahead of time and placed in the freezer. I prepare, assemble and freeze my cornbread stuffing, hash brown casserole, broccoli rice casserole and dinner rolls about a week in advance. Once assembled I freeze them unbaked. I also use as many disposable pans that I can. This makes freezing and clean up a snap.
   
   
7. The week before Thanksgiving make sure all your table linens are laundered and ready to go.
   
   
8. Pumpkin, pecan, and pudding pies can be baked the night before. This will leave plenty of time for the pies to set up. 
   
   
9. A big time saver is setting the table the night before. This will be one less thing to do on the big day. 
   
   
10. Make sure to have some fun activities to keep the kids occupied. If not they'll just be under foot the whole time. Pull out some of their favorite movies and board games. Have some simple activities available (coloring pages, crafts, games, puzzles, etc).
    
    
11. Make sure to have a few light appetizers set out for your guests. Most folks come on a empty stomach in anticipation for the big meal. Having a few finger foods and dips will help tide them over as they wait for dinner. Plus I'm sure the men will appreciate a few snacks as they watch the football game.  
     
12. Very important!!! Ask for help and don't try to take on everything by yourself. If you do you will just be disappointed. Usually as guests start to arrive you're still in the kitchen cooking and adding finishing touches.
    
    It's likely guests will start gravitating towards the kitchen. Most people hate just standing around. I know I do, so ask for help. People are usually more than happy to jump right in and help.  
     
13. And last remember what Thanksgiving is really all about. It's not about the turkey, the pumpkin pie or even Granny's dressing, but who is gathered around the table. Happiness, health, friends and family is what Thanksgiving is really all about.
    
    Well, those are my tips for a stress free Thanksgiving. Hopefully they will help out a few people.
    
    Cooking a turkey for the first, second or even third time still can be bit intimidating. So don't forget that Butterball  has their Turkey Talk Line open.
    
    No question is too tough for these turkey talkers, and they're always ready and excited to tackle any challenge you throw at them.
    
    1-800-BUTTERBALL (1-800-288-8372)  
    
    The Turkey Talk Line is open annually November through December and open to Us and & Canadian resident. Bilingual (English/Spanish) assistance is also available. 

If you need another resource to help you with all of your cooking needs? Than Butterball has an app for that!

Be sure to check out the new Butterball Cookbook Plus™ app for recipe ideas, step-by-step cooking instructions and much more.

Download the Butterball Cookbook Plus App for iPad®, iPhone® and iPod touch® from the App Store(SM) http://bit.ly/TwGp7T

Butterball Turkey Giveaway is not CLOSED!
The winners of the Turkey Checks are....... Danielle from Mostly Food and Crafts and Rhonda from Cobblestone Quilting.


Butterball Turkey Giveaway!
It's giveaway time! The nice folks over at Butterball are offering (2) lucky Mommy's Kitchen readers a chance to win a Butterball Turkey Check. Each check is valued at $20.00 
 

How to Enter:

Leave a comment on this post letting me know one of your golden rules for a picture-perfect Thanksgiving.

Giveaway Rules: 

This giveaway begins now and ends on November 13th at 11:59 CST. For anonymous entries please make sure to include your contact information (email address) in your comment.

This way I can contact you in the event that you are a winner. Winners will have only 24 hours to reply or a new winner will be chosen.
 
 I usually give 48 hours, but I want to make sure to get the turkey checks into the mail. 

Disclosure: Butterball provided me with a $20 turkey gift check and a $10 iTunes gift card to try out the Butterball Cookbook Plus App. They also provided (2) additional turkey checks to use in a reader giveaway. I want to thank Butterball for sponsoring this giveaway.