Warning: This Is the Worst Day for Thanksgiving Grocery Shopping

Thanksgiving—a holiday to celebrate family togetherness, appreciate all you’ve been blessed with and enjoy mouth-watering meals. But, like anything good in life, it takes a lot of work to get there.

Whether you’ll be sitting around a big table full of parents, cousins, nieces, nephews and all the likes or embracing a more intimate setting, prepping for a holiday isn’t easy. And Thanksgiving, a day focussed largely on food, requires lots of grocery store trips, meal prep and then about 500 more grocery store trips.

What’s worse than a shopping cart full of groceries? A full cart in the midst of a frenzy of shoppers. That said, it may comes as a surprise to know what’s actually considered to be the worst day to get your last-minute Thanksgiving grocery shopping done.

While many assume the Wednesday before the holiday is the brunt of it, the day you want to avoid all-together is really the Tuesday before Turkey Day, according to food expert Michael Ruhlman. Ruhlman goes into more detail in his book, Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America, where he discusses the world of supermarkets and the ways in which we produce, consume, and distribute food.

The best way to avoid any shopping stress is to get it done way before the anticipated week arrives, which, of course, is a lot easier said than done. Not to mention, you want to ensure all the foods and ingredients you buy stay fresh for the big day. But, by finishing up all your shopping by the Monday of Thanksgiving week, you’re already setting yourself up for a less stressful experience.

And remember, you can make your Thanksgiving dinner as traditional or unique as you want in order to please your crowd. Try incorporating some of these kid-friendly holiday eats into your menu, or take inspiration from what other people around the country are serving in their kitchens this year.