Whole Foods Market 365 challenged me to make a full Thanksgiving Dinner Menu for a family of 5 for under $100! Check out what I was able to make. This post is sponsored by Whole Foods Market 365.
When Whole Foods Market 365 challenged me to make an entire Thanksgiving Dinner Menu for my family with just $100, I did a little happy dance.
Okay, a big happy dance.
Jeez – you know me so well.
I mean — I got to combine a whole lot of my loves…
My love for Thanksgiving. My love for Whole Foods Market 365. My love for a good challenge. My love for a good deal on great food.
To make this Thanksgiving dinner menu challenge even more tricky, I had to use as many natural and fresh ingredients as possible AND have a full Thanksgiving meal.
My Thanksgiving Dinner Menu
So, what was on this Thanksgiving menu? Lots and lots of goodies! I wanted to include all the family favorites we have every Thanksgiving to be sure it was a solid meal. My plan was to make all of the following recipes:
- No-Fail Thanksgiving Turkey
-
Thanksgiving Stuffing
-
Fresh Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Cream
If I could pull all this off with just $100 at Whole Foods Market 365 to feed my family of five, I’d be stoked.
How To Save Money at Whole Foods Market 365
In order to make sure I had enough money to get everything I needed for the menu, I had to make a few decisions to save money. Here’s what I did:
- I had to pick between raw honey and pure maple syrup since they can be used interchangeably and are a little pricier.
- For anything I could, I bought in bulk to save money and not buy more than I need.
- Started with the meat and then worked backwards (since the meat is the most expensive part).
- Only bought what I needed. I planned ahead and made a full grocery list to prepare as best as possible.
- Looked for the sales. It’s always helpful to pay attention to pricing and to choose the best deal if you have an option.
- I picked the smallest turkey I could find. The general rule is 1 pound of turkey per person which would mean we’d only need a 5 pound turkey. The smallest turkey I could find was 11 pounds, but was on an incredible sale of just $1.99/pound.
The ONLY things I didn’t purchase for this meal prep was olive oil and basic spices and herbs, and vanilla extract. Lucky for me, Whole Foods Market 365 in Cedar Park is already budget-friendly, which was super helpful with this challenge.
So, was I able to make this full Thanksgiving dinner menu and keep it to under $100??
YES! I was able to get all the groceries I need and even had money to spare. All in all, the total was $91.87 To be honest, I was getting a little nervous right at the end, but it all turned out well and we got a ton of groceries to make all eight recipes!
I had such a fun time putting together this Thanksgiving dinner menu and love that I was able to use such high quality ingredients from Whole Foods Market 365. Everything in the store feels so fresh and healthy and it’s possible to stick to a budget, which was perfect.
Make sure to check out my video where I take you shopping with me and then make the entire Thanksgiving dinner from scratch!
$100 Whole Foods 365 Thanksgiving Dinner Menu Challenge
Want To Make This Full Thanksgiving Dinner Menu?
If you want to make this entire Thanksgiving menu, I’ve got a handy PDF for you that includes all the recipes from this challenge PLUS a full grocery list so you know exactly what to buy. It’s the same list I used to buy all my ingredients at Whole Foods Market 365. To get the full PDF of all these recipes and the grocery list, click here and make this meal plan for yourself.
See? Healthiness, deliciousness, and freshness this Thanksgiving, all on a budget! My kinda stuff!
If you enjoyed this challenge meal on a budget, check out my $75 Whole Foods 5 Day Meal Plan Challenge where my goal was to get enough healthy groceries to prep 5 meals for 5 days!
Want to Win a $50 Whole Foods Market 365 Gift Card?
Want to win $50 to Whole Foods Market 365 to get yourself some tasty, healthy, and fresh food? To enter, just leave a comment below about what your favorite recipe is for Thanksgiving! I’ll be picking a winner soon! Good luck!
This post is sponsored by Whole Foods Market 365. Check out their sweet new location in Cedar Park!
My favorite thanksgiving recipe is my mom’s purple potato salad. She adds beets which gives the potato salad a beautiful color and a healthy addition to a not so healthy side dish. She also tops it with hard boiled eggs, adding some healthy protein into the mix.
Awesome! I think the Turkey is the best (and easiest) recipe!