Anxiety

Thanksgiving is next week, and you might be stressing about it. If you are planning on cooking a large Thanksgiving dinner, try using some of these tips to reduce your anxiety around meal planning and preparation.

1. Plan your menu: Plan your menu now. Make a list of all the ingredients you will need in order to prepare each dish. Make a grocery list for all the ingredients you will need and do not have in your home. Put your list somewhere you will remember it, such as in your purse or in your car when you go shopping.

2. Trade tasks with a neighbor: I saw this idea in a Women’s Day magazine. Ask a neighbor to go grocery shopping for you while you make extra of a certain dish and give some to her or vice versa. Doing this will save you both time and will reduce your stress.

3. Ask your guests for some help: If you decide to do so, you can have each of your guests bring a side dish, dessert, or appetizer for the Thanksgiving dinner. Keep a list of who is bringing what so that you do not get too much of one dish. Tell your guests if they need to bring serving dishes and/or serving utencils.

4. Make dishes in advance: Make dishes you can freeze in advance. This will cut down on the amount of preparation you need to do on the day you have Thanksgiving dinner and should reduce your anxiety and stress as well.

5. Clean your house a little at a time: If you have children and/or a significant other, you can ask them to help you with the cleaning. Try to clean the parts of your house where guests will be a few days before your dinner. You can do a little each day in order to make the task more manageable.

6. To figure out how big of a turkey you will need as well as how many hours or days you need to thaw it, please visit What’s So Cooking America.

7. Ask your guests for help cleaning up afterwards. If everyone pitches in and helps with the dishes, putting leftover food in containers, and cleaning off the table, the cleaning will get done much faster.

8. For more great tips on meal planning and preparation, please visit What’s So Cooking America. This site provides a lot of useful information you can utilize to reduce stress and prepare a great Thanksgiving meal.

Sources:

What’s So Cooking America: Thanksgiving Planning - Stress Free Thanksgiving

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