Steve McVie Sr. reveals his last meal before prison (Exclusive)

Steve McVie Sr. has revealed his plans for his final days of freedom before he has to report to prison on December 1st.

For Thanksgiving on Thursday, Nov. 27, the McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys star, 52, will be hosting his family at his lodge in Gallatin, Missouri, and “I’ll be doing all the cooking myself,” he tells PEOPLE.

“I like to cook,” he says. “I always cook a big meal for everyone, so everyone comes over, including my brother and sister and extended family. I’m going to smoke the prime rib on the Traeger (grill) and then cook the turkey.”

Three days later, McBee and his family drove to Yankton, South Dakota, to surrender at a federal prison. Ms. McBee has until 2 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 1. On Sunday night, McBee plans to eat a traditional Midwestern dish for his final dinner before going to prison.

“I love steak,” he says. “Of course, I like beef, so that’s my favorite meal: steak and potatoes. And you can eat potatoes any way you want. I like them baked, mashed, fried.”

When McBee reports to prison, he will begin a 24-month sentence he was sentenced to in October after pleading guilty to one count of federal crop insurance fraud. As the date approaches, he’s focused on keeping his family’s spirits up.

“I don’t want to make anyone sad,” he says. “I want everyone to be on the upbeat side. Everything is going to be okay. I’ve missed a lot of family vacations because of work, and looking back, I think I shouldn’t have done that. But I’ve never taken a long vacation, so I guess I finally took a sabbatical.”

He also jokes that the “toughest expectation” currently placed on him is that he has to “make everything big and great” while in prison.

“I’m worried that if I come out and look like me, they’ll be like, ‘Really? I’ve been practicing for months,'” he says. “That’s a lot of pressure! You have to go in there and work hard. Yankton is an old college, but they have a really good gym there and they say the food is better than a lot of other places. I’m trying to find all the positives.”

For fans wondering what will happen to McVie’s pug, Gunner, while he’s away, McVie assured that he’s getting along well with his reality star mother.

“I joke because I’m 53 and my mom is moving back in with me. This is my circle of life,” he says. “She has a couple of little dogs and she and Gunner are going to stay at my house and make quilts all day long.”

But McBee admits he’s “worried” about Gunner perhaps more than any of his four sons, Stephen Jr., Jesse, Cole and Brayden.

“Gunner has been with me since he was six weeks old,” he says. “He sleeps on my neck. The boys are fine, they’re adults. But Gunner, he goes to work with me every day. If I’m on the tractor, combine, bulldozer, when I move all the equipment, Gunner rides there with me. I keep telling him every night, ‘It’s okay, buddy, you’re okay.’

McBee said his ex-wife, Kristi, the mother of his four sons, told him that when her family came to visit him in prison, she would bring Gunner with her.

“I don’t know[if dogs are allowed]but we’ll look into it,” he says. “I don’t know if it will be better or worse if he sees me.”

McBee says the farm will continue to operate as normal while he is away.

“I literally have the best team of people I’ve ever been around, and they’re truly the best personalities I’ve ever worked with,” he says. “So I think it’s really good that things are going smoothly and growing even more while I’m gone. I just had a meeting with the guys and I said that sometimes when you don’t have a leader, you get to really show who you are instead of second guessing. I’m okay with them making mistakes as long as they’re trying.”

One thing McBee feels “very guilty about” is how his prison sentence is affecting his son Cole’s wedding plans with his fiancée Casey Adkinson. The couple got engaged on November 7 and have a 10-month-old daughter, Blair.

“When I get out, we’re going to have a big wedding,” McBee says. “The best-case scenario is that I get a pardon or come home early in nine or 10 months. So they tentatively want to get married next fall, but if the father isn’t home, the marriage will have to wait until the spring. It’s very disappointing, but they’ll be fine and we’ll get through it.”

McBee is also saddened to have to miss Blair’s upcoming first birthday on December 13th.

“It stinks, but there are a lot of men and women who serve this country and are away from their families during this holiday,” he says. “Right now I’m obviously in a different scenario than they are, but I definitely have a greater appreciation for the sacrifices they’re making. Once I’m out of the hospital, God willing, I’ll be able to spend a lot of time with my family. And then again, given what I’m going through, I know there are a lot of people who would trade places with me in a heartbeat. So I’m fine.”

McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboys seasons 1 and 2 are streaming on Peacock.