Prepping for Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving my sister and her two kids are coming!! We are so happy to host them in our new home and are so thankful for the extra room so they can stay with us. Therefore, I've been cooking up a storm! And I love that kind of weather. :)

First of all, I did all my non-perishable and frozen shopping last week and this week I picked up the fresh produce and my regular items. It made the shopping a lot less overwhelming. 

And I've learned that it is ultra-helpful to have a plan when you have guests coming. So, here's the plan (and some of the recipes) for Thanksgiving:

breakfast
banana bread (bake on Wednesday)
cinnamon rolls (refrigerated from the can)
fruit

11am - appetizers
BLT dip with Wheat Thins (prep on Wednesday and mix together on Thursday)
veggies and dip
fruit

1p - Thanksgiving
turkey (Thursday)
mashed potatoes (Thursday)
sweet potatoes (cook on Wednesday, bake on Thursday)
green bean casserole (prep on Wednesday, bake on Thursday)
stuffing (prep on Wednesday, bake on Thursday)
dilled corn (Thursday)
brown and serve rolls (Thursday)
cranberry sauce (Wednesday)
7-layer rainbow jell-o (Wednesday)
layered lettuce salad (Wednesday)

3p - dessert
pumpkin pie (Wednesday)
scotcheroos (Tuesday)
chex mix (Tuesday)

dinner
LEFTOVERS :)

It's been fun using all the pots and pans in my kitchen. Finding my casserole dishes still packed in boxes and using my Pampered Chef chiller veggie platter. My boys have also been handy in the kitchen and we've had lots of fun learning together. They're learning how to pour and stir without spilling, how to clean up as you go, how it's important to taste everything (they really like that part), and how to have fun. I've been learning how much they love being in the kitchen and that they're more likely to eat the food that they helped make. I've also been learning to let them have fun, and that includes being messy. I am teaching them to be careful, but I'm not the neatest cook in town so I shouldn't expect them to be either. And it's been fun singing to Christmas music while we cook.

How do your kids participate in the holidays? Do you dare ask them to help in the kitchen? :)

Happy Thanksgiving to "all" my readers!!