It's a Dollar Tree Thanksgiving!

Thanks, OP. I would enjoy having this lady host me for the holidays. She cooks the way I've learned to, and her family is clearly supportive.

You know what? I have nothing negative to say here. I completely appreciate her doing what she can with a limited budget.

It's really not the most healthiest, but hey, she's doing the best she can with limited funds.

And it highlights how people with very limited funds do what they can with what they have.

^^not a MAGAT at all. Just thought it was important to note the ingenuity of many people during rough and poor times for so many of us.

This lady is positive about taking what you have/can afford and making it into a celebration. I appreciate that.

Being from the South, one wonders if she's MAGA. But that's a convo for another thread.

I started watching her videos a month or so ago. I think she’s great.

She does a lot for people in need.

I'd try to scounge up a few more bucks for another can or rwo of turkey, if for no other reason to increase the protein content. Otherwise, really ingeneous use of limited resources

This was a good idea of what you can do on not a lot, but it’s interesting how the dollar is not the cheapest. Depending on the time and transportation, you might save a bit more traveling between places like Aldi, Grocery Outlet or one of the Amish places that sells the dented cans.

R6, that is interesting. She brings that up in many of her videos. She also discusses how inventory varies at locations — even within the same town/area.

Interesting and no hate, but for maybe five bucks more you could get a bag of potatoes and a real turkey at Walmart, plus the cans and stuffing, etc.

That was fun and educational. What a sweet family and the little son just adorable-thx OP

I would love to see how she does thanksgiving with150.00 budget-I bet she would make an amazing meal. I’ve been following some of these southern cooking ‘’gals’’ online shows and they’re fun and I do learn a lot.

I love watching these type of cooking videos cause unlike professional shows that have everything all prepped, this is real cooking for real people.

The thing is, when you have a limited budget, why try to mimic the traditional Thanksgiving dinner? Why not get creative. I'm not going to mock her, but that canned turkey in "broth" looked really gross.

Not criticizing her going to the Dollar Store. Not criticizing her for trying to get a meal together on $20. But I just wish she'd have allowed herself to try something different.

I'll be the turd in the punchbowl then. My sister and I grew up poor, and my Italian immigrant mother knew how to stretch a dollar. I could feed eight for $25 easily. Yes, I'd have to buy at Walmart and get Great Value brand items, but it wouldn't be the garbage she's feeding her family. All those chemicals! It's like the New Jersey in a box. I wouldn't feed my dog any of that. And don't tell me she/people doesn't know how to cook. YouTube is awash with cooking videos.

I'm bobbing up right beside you bowl-side, R13; that crap looks nasty!

She could have built a meal around fresh or frozen turkey parts (wings are cheap and delicious when cooked Southern style), white or sweet potatoes, fresh string beans, and a can of cranberry sauce. $20 with change left over.

Ingredients already on hand (flour, shortening, milk, eggs, butter, sugar, yeast, bread, onions, celery and spices) would make a pie crust, custard pie, dressing for the turkey parts, and dinner rolls. Heck, a box or two of Jiffy cornbread mix would make dinner bread and/or cornbread dressing.

Gimme a break!

I was appalled. My Italian Grandma used to cook for 10 people and did it on a shoestring. We went to the farmer's market most weekends to get fresh potatoes green beans carrots, onions, etc. I noticed there wasn't a fresh item in the bunch. And that oreo pudding mixture looked terrible. She could have made a bundt cake for less. With a dozen eggs she could have made a cake, and added it to the mac and cheese and the stuffing mix.

She did a great job with what she had to choose from at the Dollar Tree. All the suggestions about shopping somewhere else miss the point of her challenge: $20 at the Dollar Tree.

I like Christmas lights and am looking forward to turning mine on Thanksgiving evening. Outside and inside on my mantle.

$20 Thanksgiving at WalMart

OK, R18 IMO she should have got the Turkey and eliminated the frosting. There was only $1.80 difference between the ham and the turkey. But altogether this dinner looks better than the Dollar Tree store. She's a terrible cook, and had me wretching at the canned green beans, but hey.

R18 OP is showing a DOLLAR TREE meal not a competition with Walmart or Aldi or any other store.

Dear god, ranch dressing in the potato salad🤮

I’d bet a nickel she’s MAGA. These same people who spend $20 on Thanksgiving think it’s the demoncrats and their pronouns causing all their problems, not the Republican rich keeping minimum wage low, and labor protections nonexistent.

And no one typifies that mindset more than the plutocrat they just put back in the White House. But immigrant pet-eaters, amirite?

"Exotic" spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.

She goes right for the junk food, fat cow.

turkey for sure instead of ham. nope on the frosting.

Count me on the side that this meal is repulsive. I don't dislike her. But you can buy some REAL ingredients - for example bake potatoes or mashed potatoes. Roast a fresh budget chicken if you can't find an affordable bit of turkey.

Did she say her state taxes food items? Dear god, which state is that?

A state where people shop for Thanksgiving dinner at Dollar Tree, R27,

R27, she says it right in the beginning of the video.

She didn’t even wash her hands before she crushed the cookies. Ewwww.

I wouldn’t touch anything she made.

.

r27, southern states only tax poor people.

It was pretty impressive for $20. Seriously. But it seemed like one highly processed chemical filled product after another.

Her family seems really nice. It would be great to see someone like her do a video for a budget meal without cans and boxes and junk food.

I love when people tell us about farmer's market produce!

Bitch! Have you ever been to one? It is the most absurdly priced bespoke produce on earth! Touting their "organic" heritage (who cares?) it is often double the price of already expensive supermarket produce.

Yes, if you have money to light on fire, by all means shop at your local farmer's market!

R33 flunked econ101

I saw another Dollar store one that made better choices. And so what if someone posts a comparison of Dollar Store and Walmart? Jeez.

Let’s do a Lean Cuisine Thanksgiving!

I was disappointed that Dollar Tree doesn't offer a whole. deboned canned turkey.

No R34, R33 did not flunk anything. They're correct about the insane prices at farmers' markets. At mine, where I usually buy absolutely nothing, there is $19/lb ground meat, $25 heritage chickens, $6 bunches of kale, $5/lb potatoes, $12 loaves of bread. And there are complaints that some vendors are selling commercial produce rather than the local stuff they're supposed to.

Same goes for R13 and the others who don't actually know what groceries cost these days. Current prices at Sam's Club and WinCo, the cheapest stores around here:

Turkey, $1.99/lb at WinCo unless you buy at least $150 (used to be $100) in groceries, in which case you get it for 79¢/lb. There may be specials coming up but that's taking a risk. In past years however, their turkeys go on fire sale. Last year I got organic turkey for 39¢/lb the Wednesday before. And that turkey will be a minimum of 12 lbs, meaning you're paying at least $10 for one. There are no turkey parts available anywhere around here - no wings, no legs. Only breasts, whole frozen, or ground. Walmart claims to have turkey wings right now, for $3.46/lb. WM has frozen turkeys on sale right now for 88¢/lb, which is another holiday appeasement. Never mind, because in OP's vid, they're not having turkey.

Sweet potatoes, $1.79/lb at WinCo. A 5 lb bag of them at Sam's is $5.99, the cheapest place I know of, which I know because I buy them to make dog food regularly. The nasty white sweet potatoes are currently on sale at Walmart for $1.06/lb. The ones you want are also on sale for $1.46/lb, but they're sold out. WM is making a big deal about having specials on Thanksgiving staples.

Regular potatoes? You're going to have to buy a 5 lb bag of them for about $4.80 at minimum. Bulk potatoes are currently on sale at 80¢/lb, but they'll be sold out in no time, as all sale items are these days.

Most of the food purchased at Dollar Tree was $1.25 per package. There is very little for that price at Walmart. Have you shopped there recently?

All this is to show that in your superannuation, you have no idea what things cost anymore. The only experiences you remember are from 40 years ago. You think a bag of potatoes is a dollar, turkey wing sells for 29¢/lb, and stuffing cubes go for 69¢ a bag. In reality, a loaf of the cheapest white bread is $1.50, sage is $4 a jar, and an apple is over a dollar.

Sheesh when did USA become more expensive than Switzerland? A dollar an apple?

What about Trader Joe's? We do pretty well there, and we also shop at Sprouts But I don't know if Sprouts is available everywhere.

I would think most people can afford big bags of basic potatoes and carrots. You wouldn't have to consume them all for thanksgiving, dear. the point is well taken that this lady did something with 20 bucks - a formal exercise. One assumes people can also factor in things they may have in stock already.

remember when Goop did her food stamp challenge?

[quote]Same goes for [R13] and the others who don't actually know what groceries cost these days. Current prices at Sam's Club and WinCo, the cheapest stores around here: . R38 - you don't know what the fuck you're talking about. For one thing, my sister and I were the children of immigrants and we grew up poor. My mother almost never bought convenience food. She knew how to economize. We never ate that processed garbage.

I cook almost probably 85% of the time. We rarely go out to dinner, though we can certainly afford it. I love to cook and have been cooking for either my family or partner for forty years. I shop at all kinds of markets, including Asian and Middle Eastern markets. They get produce that don't make it to supermarkets, generally because they don't look as pretty. Or they get a deal on some things the broker wants to get rid of. Two months ago, they had two lb clamshells of Campari tomatoes for 99 cents. I bought 32 lbs and made passata. Two weeks later, they had them for 39 cents/lb. I bought another 30 lbs and made more, enough for the entire winter. I bought a 5lb bag of russet potatoes for $1.49 there. I took a chance. They turned out just fine (sometimes there's like rust on the inside). As a child of Depression-era parents, I often can't turn down a real bargain. I can walk to my local Whole Foods but rarely shop there.

The people in these videos don't seem to know or want to take the time to cook. They don't know how to stock a pantry. They don't know how to shop. My best friends in HS were an Irish Catholic family with 12 kids. The mom wasn't a great cook, but she knew how to shop and stretch a dime. Her children were well-fed and no junk.

This woman is on YouTube and her videos get 100K views She's getting a couple of thousand a month.

When I was a kid, my parents both worked. He worked on the assembly line and she was a secretary at a local plastics company. We were not rich by any stretch. Me and my two sisters and my older brother remember lots of meals with rice, and potatoes, and beans. But They were smart shoppers. We had lots of vegetables and fruits, eggs, peanut butter and jelly. Cookies cakes and pies were homemade, and we ate oatmeal for breakfast not Kellogg cereals. We were frugal but tried to eat healthy. This was back in the 70's.I know people struggle. But I have to honestly say that I don't think people are very smart shoppers. And I think a lot of low income people eat unhealthy.

R43, unhealthily is the adverb form to modify the verb eat.

If you have enough flour and vegetable broth, with some elbow grease and time could even go as far as make some sort of seitan roast, a la Celebration roast.