With almost two weeks left until Thanksgiving, I've stepped up the shopping a little bit.  I want to have all the non-perishable groceries I'll need for Turkey Day in my pantry as soon as possible, because I absolutely hate to go grocery shopping during the week of Thanksgiving (or as I call it, Amateur Week.)  There are just too many people who don't know where anything is in the store, and they're all looking for weird and unusual ingredients.

I love grocery shopping, but not during Amateur Week.  That's always the time of year I'm tempted to just shop online for groceries and avoid the supermarket altogether.

This is also the time of year when donations to food pantries are especially welcomed.   The Boy Scouts are doing their annual service project this weekend.  It's called Scouting for Food, and Scouts nationwide will hand out shopping bags, returning later for bags filled with nonperishable groceries that will be delivered to local food banks for distribution to needy families.  I've been using coupons and store sales to get great deals on things like peanut butter, canned vegetables, pancake mix and pasta.  All of those groceries will go straight to the Scouts' food drive.  They make it easy to donate, since they pick up the food right at your door!

Here are some of the items that you can find at great prices during this month:

Turkey
Butter
Cheese
Baking supplies (flour, sugar, yeast, chocolate chips, baker’s chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, cooking oil)
Pie crusts
Ready-made dough
Dinner rolls
Frozen pies
Cake mix
Cake frosting
Pie filling
Spices
Nuts
Dried fruits (raisins, apricots, cranberries)
Oatmeal
Candy (Halloween clearance)
Marshmallows
Soup
Broth

This is a great time to stock your pantry--and the food pantry at the same time!  If you find something at a great price, why not buy two:  one for yourself, and one to donate!