Organized Christmas

Thanksgiving is nearly here: hold on to your pocketbooks!

Supermarket spending jumps this week--but it doesn't have to break the bank. Today, we've got tips and ideas to help you prepare festive holiday meals without busting the budget as we prepare for holiday meals and hospitality.

Prepare for drop-in visitors. Collect hospitality supplies: cheeses, crackers, frozen desserts. Hide from hungry family members using creative labeling.

Even the most die-hard non-cooks will find themselves shopping for food this week, as American Thanksgiving approaches. Watch out, wallet! How do you feed the family a lavish holiday meal without going broke? We've got the answer to supermarket savings on holiday meals:

Save Money on Holiday Meals

M&M Cookie Mix in a Jar makes a colorful jar gift, and is popular with kids. We make it easy with free printable gift tag:

M&M Cookie Mix in a Jar

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Party PlannerWill you entertain during the holiday season? Whether it's a simple potluck gathering, formal dinner party or all-out bash, planning pays.

Get a grip on any holiday parties now, before the seasonal rush begins. Sending invitations early makes it more likely guests will be able to attend; having shopping and supply lists ready cuts down on party-day trips to the store.

Try these free printables to plan holiday entertaining:

Party Planner

Party Budget

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Dashing around at the last minute, chanting, "Where's the serving spoon, where's the serving spoon?" is a holiday tradition that can stand to be forgotten. Cut chaos on the big day: set the table early.

If you're hosting Thankgiving dinner, set the table a day or two ahead. Place a small sticky note inside serving dishes to remind you (or your helpers) what goes where. You'll have time to shine up a tarnished platter or rout out missing serving pieces--in blessed privacy.

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Today, we share the secret for simplifying holiday baking chores: developing a "specialty". A simple strategy to streamline the holiday cook-a-thon, a baking specialty saves time and tears in the holiday kitchen. I'll share mine, too!

Feed the freezer. Do a mini-freezer cooking session to put 5 to 10 pre-made entrees into the freezer. Track holiday meals on a Freezer Inventory Page Use these meals on busy December evenings.

Simplify holiday baking: organize a cookie swap. Invite 6 to 12 guests to bring as many dozen cookies as there are guests. Swap so that each guest leaves with a lavish assortment of holiday goodies. Freeze immediately, marked as "liver and onions."

Freezer Inventory

Beat the baking blues with our guide to easing holiday baking chores:

Baking Time-Saver: Make it a Specialty!

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Look out, Rudolph: here come the Candy Cane Reindeer! Tucked into stockings or as package decoration, these holiday crafts are fast, fun and kid-friendly:

Candy Cane Reindeer Craft

You'll need to have a copy of Microsoft Word 97 or later, but if you do, check out this bonanza of free Thanksgiving printables from Microsoft!

From greeting cards to party invitations, dinner menus to recipe cards, you'll find a bonanza of quick templates to spark your holiday celebration.

Thankgiving Printables for Microsoft Word

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Holiday baking. For many of us, kitchen creations are integral to the holiday spirit. We love the feeling of family connection as we tuck pie crust into grandmother's pie dish, or when we follow a candy recipe written in a great-grandmother's spidery hand.

But when is enough enough? Under the influence of Christmas magazines and You-Know-Which Domestic Dominatrix, grandmother Mim's simple plate of pralines has exploded into six kinds of cookies, four kinds of candies and some powdered cocoa mix for good measure. Like other areas of holiday prep, expectations for holiday baking have exploded in the last generation or two--and just when we're struggling with increasing time pressure and stricter diets.

Holiday baking should be a pleasure, not a chore. Think smaller and simpler when planning holiday baking. Double up on drop cookies, and forget the tedious rolled-and-cut out creations. Opt for no-cook candies instead of hard-to-beat fudge. Replace elaborate cookie trays with mini-loaves of tea bread, or go whole hog and buy your Christmas goodies from your local baker.

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Cooking for the Thanksgiving feast, plan to double or triple amounts for any freezer-friendly dishes, and tuck the extras into the freezer for later use.

Good freezer candidates include unbaked pie shells, unbaked pies, unbaked stuffing and--surprise!--mashed potatoes. Cook once, feast twice for an organized holiday season.

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Time to plan holiday meals! Today's the day we break out our printable holiday meal planner forms, and organize those big dinners and festive brunches.

Thanksgiving is a few days away; it's time to sort out holiday menu plans. On our free printable holiday menu planner or a fresh sheet of paper, list each holiday meal that will take place in your home.

Thanksgiving Day? Christmas Eve? Christmas Day? New Years? Give each at-home meal a good hunk of space on the page for menu planning.

Next, list those meals that you will take away from home. Christmas Breakfast at Grandma's? Holiday pot-luck at church? If you'll need to bring a dish, note it down. Leave a smaller space between each away-from-home meal.

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The only one who should wing it when it comes to holiday meals? The turkey.

Smart cooks know that a written menu plan calms chaos in the kitchen, and never more so than before a big holiday feast. A written menu plan makes it easy to spot bottlenecks at oven and cookstove, sorts serving dishes, and organizes potluck contributions.

Take a moment today to plan Thanksgiving dinner. Use our free printable Holiday Menu Planner. It'll be your road map to a calm celebration.

Print a Holiday Menu Planner Form

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A stockpile of frozen dinners is a seasonal stress-buster during the month of December. This week, add a few ready-to-cook meals to the freezer to prepare for the busy weeks ahead.

Whether you try traditional once-a-month cooking methods, buy premade meals at the warehouse store, or pay a visit to one of the new freezer cooking franchises, setting aside a stock of easy family dinners will cut stress during the Christmas season.

Feed the Freezer: Complete Freezer Cooking Guide

The tastes of the season: they're unforgettable! What special holiday flavors help you find the holiday spirit, even in November?

The tangy sparkle of cream of tartar and crushed candy canes in Candy Cane Cookies. Mom's cornbread dressing, redolent with sage and onion. The sheer decadence of chocolate and whipped cream in my favorite Christmas dessert, Buche de Noel.

Think of the unique flavors most strongly associated with this time of year. Cranberries and pumpkins. Turkey and savory stuffing. Gingerbread men.

Who needs motivation when we have the sense of taste? Holiday cooking chores turn to sheer sensual pleasure when you consider the flavors of the holidays!

The secret to dinner-hour organization during the holiday season? A well-stocked, organized freezer! Today's the day to clean out the freezer in anticipation of holiday goodies and freezer meals to come. Add a free printable Freezer Inventory Form, and you'll sail through holiday cooking chores.

Inventory the freezer, and record contents on the Freezer Inventory Form. Plan to eat from the freezer this week and next week, making room for holiday meals and holiday goodies. Use food budget savings to stock up on holiday staples.

Freezer Inventory

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Looking for an easy, inexpensive holiday gift? Pretty layered bath salts make a perfect gift for teens, co-workers or teachers. Sparked with the holiday scent of peppermint, Candy Cane Bath Salts are a seasonal treat.

Makes 12 gift jars at a cost approximately $1.50 per jar.

Includes free printable gift tags.

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Brace yourselves! Holiday cooking season is upon us. From now until January, busy kitchens are the norm, like it or not. What better time for a quick refrigerator declutter?

Right now, today, and absolutely before you shop for the holiday, tackle the refrigerator, top to bottom. Starting on the top shelf, remove all leftovers, past-the-shelf-date foods, shriveled fruits and drooping vegetables.

Take a hard look at what's left. A jar of pickle spears holding one leaning pickle? A bottle of barbeque sauce with one scanty inch in the bottom? A down-to-the-last scrape mayonnaise jar? Lay down the law: eat them today, or toss them NOW.

Goal: make room for holiday cooking. Just like our waistbands, our refrigerators overflow during this time of year. Get a step ahead and declutter that refrigerator before you shop!

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Pitching in to share the work makes a lot of sense when it comes to holiday meals--but without a bit of planning, you can end up with six different versions of Green Bean Casserole--and no rolls!

Bring order to potluck dinners today. Our free printable form makes it easy to plan, delegate and coordinate a shared menu:

Potluck Menu Planner Form

With Thanksgiving Day coming soon in the USA, there's no better time to organize holiday meals, menus and baking. Welcome to Get Cooking week!

It's all things food at the Countdown this week. Tighten your corsets! We're going to Get Cooking ... for the most delicious holiday season ever!

This week in the Christmas Countdown, we'll explore frugal strategies for holiday meals, plan family dinners, clean out our freezers and get the goods on those sneaky Grocery Guys.

Get Cooking Week Assignments

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If your shopping pulse races at the thought of post-Thanksgiving sales, heads up! Try these tips to get the most bang from your Black Friday buck, from Consumerist.com:

Black Friday Shopping Checklist

To make your list and plan your shopping strategy as information comes to light, try our free printable Black Friday sales planner:

Holiday Sales Planner

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America celebrates Thanksgiving next Thursday, gathering family and friends around the dining table. This week in the Houseworks Holiday Plan, we'll see to it that the celebration takes place in a clean and organized dining area.

Holiday prep chores observe the holiday, together with the traditional Black Friday sales. We'll prepare for the holiday meal, celebrate Thanksgiving, then shop! Finally, this is the week we plan holiday entertaining, so put on a festive mood as we follow the Houseworks Holiday Plan.

Dining Space Week Assignments

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Warm the hearts of good little boys and girls with a packet of Snowman Soup!

Take a packet of hot chocolate, chocolate kiss, marshmallows and candy cane, package in a mug or holiday-themed goody bag, then add a free printable gift tag for a cheery winter gift.

Easy enough for children to make, Snowman Soup is perfect for stocking stuffers, office gifts, Secret Santa presents or 12 Days of Christmas gifts.

New! Add a Winter Warmer Jiffy Pop® Popcorn Topper for an easy, cheery winter gift basket.

Click the read more link below for instructions, gift tags and the Snowman Soup poem.

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Is giving only about "stuff"--or is it a reflection of the heart? Plan to make a gift of yourself this holiday season.

This week in the Christmas Countdown, we've focused on gifts and giving--and 99% of the time, we've seen this effort in terms of "things." Stuff. Boxes and parcels and bags. Stocking stuffers. But have we considered making a true gift: a gift of ourselves?

In the days to come, we'll begin planning the American Thanksgiving holiday. Will we also begin to ponder those things for which we are thankful? Out of gratitude comes grace, and from abundance comes true giving.

Challenge yourself and your family to make a difference, this holiday season and beyond--to make a true gift of yourselves. Teach someone a new skill. Tackle a service project as a family. Visit an assisted living center, or take part in a church ministry.

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