Five Easy Thanksgiving Meals That Don’t Include Turkey

We haven't really had any good chili weather, but that is changing so why not make Thanksgiving Day the first chili day of the winter. Get your meat cooked up and everything in the crock pot first thing in the morning and let it simmer until meal time. Throw in some crackers, cheese, Fritos, and a veggie tray and you have a complete meal. For dessert, it's hard to go wrong with a pie from the frozen section at the grocery store.

It really doesn't get much simpler than this. Toss a nice pork roast into the crock pot along with some potatoes, carrots, and onions and  you've got most of your meal right there. Stick some brown-n-serve rolls in the oven a few minutes before meal time and you've got an easy peasy meal and very little to clean up. If pie isn't your thing, keep dessert simple with some ice cream topped with caramel or chocolate syrup and whipped cream.

Fried Chicken is NEVER a bad idea. Dip you chicken pieces in egg, roll in flour with some seasonings and let the oven do the rest. Pre-made mashed potatoes from the store are actually quite good -- just add plenty of butter and heat it up. Thrown in a couple of cans of green beans, boiled down with a couple strips of bacon, and add some fresh bakery-made rolls to the mix and you have a feast for a king.

Everyone loves lasagna it seems, and all you have to do is shove a pan of store-bought lasagna into the oven and let the delicious aroma fill the air. A bag of mixed salad greens would go nicely with this, and maybe some green beans. A loaf of French bread in the oven and you have one of the simplest and most delicious meals ever.

This is the simplest of the simple. It used to be that I couldn't imagine going out for lunch or dinner on Thanksgiving, but the fact is, lots of people do it. I have done it, too, and it's okay. No fuss, no mess, no clean up. Believe it or not, in Grand Junction there are plenty of Thanksgiving Day restaurant options.