A Thanksgiving Care Package

I knew I wanted to send my husband a Thanksgiving care package, but I was torn on what to include. The military—from what I’ve heard—goes all out and tries to make the holiday as special as possible for American troops overseas.

But still, just because he’d most likely get some turkey and fixin’s doesn’t mean I didn’t want him to have something fun to open for Thanksgiving!

Inside a Thanksgiving Care Package

So we sent him Thanksgiving in a box. Truly, pretty much everything he’d need for a “tasty” feast was stuffed inside that small (but “large” size) flat-rate box, just in case someone dropped the ball and forgot something essential.

His Thanksgiving care package had the following…

Thanksgiving Breakfast Essentials

• Maple Syrup—bourbon barrel aged (because we always have a “fancy” breakfast on Thanksgiving morning, and because after our dinner is over, he always pours himself a nice drink and cleans up the kitchen while I go Black Friday shopping, so this one was a double whammy).
• Cinnamon Bun Spread (for that “fancy” breakfast we have…hope he doesn’t mind spreading it on crackers!)

Appetizer Time (aka Snacks Before the Feast)

• Grilled artichokes and crackers (because we always have “snack” food out before we have our big feast. Both from Trader Joe’s.)

The Main Event

• Turkey jerky.
• Stuffing Chips from Trader Joe’s
• A pop-top can of green beans
• A container of fried onion strips
• Bag of instant mashed potatoes
• Craisins

Time for Desert!

• Mini pumpkin pies (from Walmart; check the expiration date and pick the furthest one out)

Final Touches

I decorated the box with fun napkins I found from Target…because they were cheap and fun, and now he has napkins in case he needs them. (I put the extras inside the bottom of the box.

Of course, if the Flat Rate box was bigger I certainly could’ve added more, but I think we did pretty good for the space we had.

I wrapped the two glass jars in diapers (pro tip right there), and I opened the packages to let the air out (then put them in gallon bags so food didn’t fly around everywhere).

Thanksgiving Care Package Approved!

He said he really liked it, and he even shared some stuff (like the chips and crackers).

If you’re shipping holiday mail to someone deployed, check out the 2019 Holiday Shipping Deadlines here.