With Thanksgiving fast approaching it’s time to decide what will be on your menu. To get you started, I share my five favorite sources of free recipes below.

Thanksgiving on a budget is possible as long as you start preparing early! Although, I tend to roast my turkey the same way every year, I’m already browsing the five sites below to decide on the sides and desserts I’m making this year.

MarthaStewart.com – Get your inner Martha Stewart revved up! This site is filled with delicious recipes, menus, and centerpiece ideas for crafty hosts and cooks. I love that her menus include drink ideas as well.

FoodNetwork.com – If you’re looking to change up your Thanksgiving dinner this year, this site should be your first stop. You’ll find tons of Thanksgiving recipes from Food Network chefs including some of my faves: Alton Brown and Giada DeLaurentiis. How does a Thanksgiving dinner with an Italian twist sound?

RealSimple.com – One of the reasons I keep coming back to this site is because the advice is, well, really simple. Not only do they share mouthwatering recipes, but they streamline the Thanksgiving preparations and menu so you can have a stress-free holiday. Genius!

RachaelRay.com –  The queen of 30-minute meals does not disappoint. She’s got you covered with recipes for appetizers, sides, dessert, the bird and leftovers! One of my favorite things that Rachael Ray does is she skips the long list of ingredients. She also tends to use a lot of similar ingredients throughout her menu. I also like to carry a theme throughout the different dishes I prepare as it helps cut down the cost. For example, I’ll add cranberries to the stuffing and I’ll also use them in a blue cheese and cranberry salad.

CookingLight.com – This is a great resource for those looking for light recipes to their favorite desserts, side dishes and more. Since we procrastinated last year (I was still in school and super busy), this year my family is going all out, but we are still going to try to eat healthy. It’ll just makes us feel better for when the potions get out of control. If you have family members with different nutritional needs, you must check out this site. They also have vegetarian recipes!

What are you cooking this Thanksgiving? How much will you spend on Thanksgiving dinner this year?