Even though the Thanksgiving cooking is a few weeks away, you can start planning your meal and even buy some of the supplies.

Start by planning your guest list and menu, suggests Shirley Camp, University of Illinois Extension nutrition and wellness educator. Knowing what you will be serving can help with your food budget because you can take advantage of any specials that are offered over the next few weeks. You can also spread your spending over time and not end up with a huge grocery bill that breaks your budget!

If turkey is going to be the main dish, do you want a fresh or frozen bird? If you buy frozen, do you have freezer space to store it?

If fresh turkey is your choice, Camp recommends purchasing it only one or two days ahead of time. For food safety, fresh turkeys should not be pre-stuffed.

How much turkey should you buy? If you want a whole bird, purchase 1 pound per person. For a boneless breast of turkey, you will need 1/2 pound per person, and for a breast with bone, you will need 3/4 pound of turkey per person. If you buy a pre-stuffed frozen turkey, buy 1-1/4 pounds per person and keep it frozen until you are ready to cook it. In other words, do NOT thaw it before cooking.

For a turkey that is frozen, use a safe thawing method. If you plan to thaw a turkey in the refrigerator, place the frozen bird in the original wrapping in the refrigerator at 40 degrees F or below. Allow about 24 hours per 4 to 5 pounds of turkey. So if you have a small bird of 4 to 12 pounds, it will take one to three days to thaw; a 16- to 20-pound bird will take four to five days to thaw. After thawing, the bird can be kept refrigerated for one to two days.

If you forget to thaw the turkey in the refrigerator or do not have enough refrigerator space, you can submerge the bird in cold water, changing the water every 30 minutes. Allow about 30 minutes per pound to defrost a turkey in cold water. A 4- to 12-pound turkey will take two to six hours using this method; a 16- to 20-pound bird will take eight to 10 hours.

If you have a small turkey, you could thaw it in the microwave oven. Check your microwave instruction book to see whether thawing a turkey in the microwave is recommended and how large a bird can be thawed. Turkey thawed in the microwave should be cooked immediately after the thawing process.

If you have questions about cooking holiday foods, call U of I Extension, 439-3178, or check our website, franklin.extension.uiuc.edu.