Hosting and enjoying Thanksgiving sides on a budget

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - Tess Rafols talked hosting and enjoying Thanksgiving on a budget on Good Morning, Arizona on Monday morning!

Heather Walker, an Phoenix Family Foodie, said that this season, you can think outside the box a little bit to save yourself some cash. “Orzo looks like rice but it’s pasta,” Walker said. “Cook it like pasta and not like rice. It’s super cheap and you can get authentic bags of orzo on Amazon and are super inexpensive.” Walker said she boils hers with chicken broth and part red pepper and tomato soup from Trader Joe’s.

She stirred in some sweet Italian chicken sausage, although it could be any meat, and topped it all off with cheese. Another dish featured pesto with orzo as well. “My son loves pesto,” Walker said. “You can sprinkle feta on top of that one.” She added that she finds her favorite pesto also at Trader Joe’s.

Walker said one quick way to get sides done efficiently is to use an air fryer or an InstaPot. She said she enjoys sweet potato fries as opposed to a sweet potato casserole with marshmallows. “These are just big wedges and I put some avocado oil, a blend of oil, salt, and pepper herbs and I put it in my air fryer,” Walker said. “You can dip them in ketchup, put some fresh herbs on there, and much more. It’s Thanksgiving but it’s not traditional.”

When it comes to carbs, Walker shared a savory pull-apart monkey bread. She says to partially thaw the bread and brush them with butter and herbs several times. “Let it sit on the counter to rise until it fills the pan...around an hour or maybe less if its warm in your house,” Walker said. “These aren’t going to let the bread lay flat so you can sneak a few before you plate them for the holidays.” For extra flavor, she said she brushes it again with butter after it’s baked.

You can find the recipes here on The Phoenix Family Foodie Facebook page.

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