Thanksgiving at Whole Foods Market

It's so pretty!

Let's start with the obvious:  We don't have a Whole Foods in Prince William County (although if you guys are reading this, there are Wegmans at either end of our county and so I think a 365 Market in central Manassas- have you seen Old Town, it's adorable- would be really fantastic).

Let's move on to some more obvious: Whole Foods is known for above-and-beyond quality ingredients and products.

So, it's pretty intuitive that with the super bowl of cooking (i.e. Thanksgiving) coming up, a trip out of county to get the best quality ingredients is not a bad idea. And, if you hate cooking, I'll go one further and tell you that a trip to Whole Foods Market is a MUST for your Thanksgiving- and I can explain why in ONE picture.

Boom.  

And now, because I'm a blogger and our job is to write, I will explain.  

I headed out to Whole Foods Fair Oaks, which is actually right on my hubby's way home- so I plan on making him stop in more often- and got to check out their Holiday catering and wine menus.  

It's a tough job, y'all, but somebody's got to do it. 

Boom, 2.0

Williams Sonoma sent out some people from their Fair Oaks store to let us know they will come and do free in-home tables cape or decor consultations.  They also let us know they have "entry-level" price point options, including the dinnerware we ate off of, which is priced for when you're having 20 people over and don't want to spend $40 a place setting.  Everything they did was beautiful. How amazing is this turkey tablescape? They also let us know that they have cooking classes for adults and kids- I know you guys frequently ask me about those, so check it out here. 

My table doesn't look like this...yet.

After we learned how to set a gorgeous table, we obviously needed to add a little holiday cheer, so we sampled Whole Foods Top 10 Wines for the holidays, of which I had a few favorites- the H&M Hofer is an organic wine that's crisp with peach and meyer lemon flavors that goes great with turkey.  The Santa Julia Malbec and the Criterion Chianti Classico were reds I would actually drink! I'm not a huge fan of champagne but the Camino Calixo Cava was very apple-y and pleasant. 

Red wine I actually liked!

After sampling eleven (11) wines, it was definitely time for dinner.  Here's where Whole Foods really shone for me.  (Shone? Shined? I'm never sure.) 

I love to cook.  And, not to toot my own horn, I make some pretty delicious food.  But I would say that with the exception of the mashed potatoes, Whole Food's Thanksgiving Dinner was every bit as good as mine.  And their mashed potatoes weren't bad, they were just a different style and I like mine better.  So there.

They offer you the best turkey possible- with 5 step animal welfare ratings, and you can pick a locally raised, organic, kosher, heirloom, or brined bird.  You can select a ready-to-roast full turkeys, a boneless breast only, or a pre-roasted organic turkey.  Then you add on side dishes, which, if your family is anything like mine, are fantastic because there are several vegan options for those who would prefer to avoid meat. From stuffing to potatoes (sweet or white), casseroles (mac and cheese, green bean..nom), veggies, soups, gravy, and relishes, your table is going to have everything that grandma made and then some.  They even have a "Just the Sides" package that includes homestyle mashed potatoes, sage stuffing, 2 veggies or casseroles, cranberry orange relish, and gravy- which I love because in our family the person who's hosting is in charge of the turkey and the people coming bring the sides, so this gives you the option of looking like a rock star! (Just the sides packages are $59 for 6-8 people or $99 for 12-16) 

If you just put these in your own containers I won't tell anyone you didn't cook.

However, if you want to do the whole thing, Whole Foods offers several options.  A traditional turkey dinner with an oven-ready turkey and all the sides is normally $119.99 for 6-8 people and $199.99 for 12-16.  Their organic turkey dinner is normally $129.99 for 6-8 people.  I would say, from years of Thanksgiving cooking experience, that this is one heck of a deal as is.  I usually spend more than that in groceries for the big day, and that doesn't count in all my time prepping and chopping and roasting, and cleaning up before everyone gets there. 

BUT RIGHT NOW!!! The traditional turkey dinner is on sale for $89 (6-8) or $169 (12-16).  I cannot make Thanksgiving Dinner from scratch for 12-16 people for $169, I'm going to tell you that much right now. The organic turkey dinner is on sale for $99, and I don't think I could do an organic dinner for that price, either. 

There's also a turkey dinner for 2+ ($45) and a Vegan Dinner for 2+ ($39), so Whole Foods has you covered no matter what the size of your party or the type of food you'd like to serve. 

You can also add on rolls, flavored butters, cornbread, pies, cakes, cheese platters, seafood platters, extra sides, and whatever  you need to make your Thanksgiving amazing. I hear their pumpkin pie is fluffy and delicious and the apple pie is sweet and sugar-crusted.  I don't like pie as a rule, so I just asked the people around me :) 

That pie looks homemade as all get out. 

They've also extended a special offer for you guys.  When you purchase your Whole Foods Thanksgiving Feast by November 22, they'll give you $10 off your next purchase (Hanukkah, Christmas, New Years).

In conclusion, if you don't want to cook this year, go order your Thanksgiving Dinner at shop.WFM.com.  Do not make yourself go to the grocery store and buy things, and don't cook if you don't like to do it.  Snag a great deal on some food that tastes homemade and delicious, and just enjoy your time with your family and friends.  

Thanks to Whole Foods NOVA for having me out to sample their holiday offerings.  While this post is sponsored by them, all opinions are my own.  Especially the ones about pie.