4 Family Favorite Recipes for Leftover Turkey

Turkeys are awesome for living on a tight budget! It's one of the cheapest meats (especially if you get a free one around the holidays), it's healthy and they freeze well. Yet I don't see a whole lot of recipes out there that call for turkey. Maybe that's because you can basically substitute turkey for chicken in most recipes. Well, here are 4 of our favorites.  They are all family recipes that originally call for chicken but you can't tell the difference when you substitute turkey.

 Turkey Bundles

2-3 c leftover cooked turkey

6 T softened cream cheese

3-4 chopped green onions (including green parts)

2 T milk

3 T melted butter

2 package crescent rolls (without seams)

Combine all ingredients except crescent rolls and mix until well combined.  Open up rolls and cut into 6 squares.  Flatten out squares a bit.  Place a spoonful of turkey mixture into center of each crescent square. 

   Bring corners up to center and seal edges together to make little bundles.  Place on cookie sheet and cook at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Enjoy!

printable recipe

 Turkey Tetrazine

2 c cooked turkey

1 8 oz package spaghetti

1/2 c chopped onion

1/2 c chopped green pepper

1/2 c chopped celery

1/4 c melted oleo (butter)

1/2 t celery salt

2 pimentos

salt and pepper

speck of cayenne

3 t flour

2 c milk (or 1 c broth and 1 c milk)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 c sharp cheddar cheese, grated + more for sprinkling on top

1/2 c breadcrumbs

Boil noodles according to package.  Saute onions, pepper and celery in butter.  Slowly stir in flour and cook until thick.  Then add seasonings and cheese.  Stir until melted.  Add 2 c milk, pimentos, noodles, chopped turkey and soup.  Turn into shallow dish and cover with breadcrumbs and more cheese.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 min.  This is good to freeze ahead also.  Don't top with breadcrumbs and cheese before freezing.

printable recipe

Turkey Stuffing Casserole 

(sorry, no picture of this one)

2 lb cooked turkey

1 can cream of celery soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 small carton of sour cream

1 package stuffing mix

1 T butter

2 c water

Butter a 9X13 pan and place turkey on the bottom.  Mix soups and sour cream and pour on top of chicken.  Sprinkle stuffing mix on top of mixture.  Microwave 1 T butter and 2 c water until hot.  Pour over dressing.  Bake at 325 for 50 min to one hour.

printable recipe

Turkey Broccoli Casserole (a regular at our house)

1 c uncooked rice (I usually use brown rice but allow extra time for boiling)

2 c water

1 1/2 c cooked broccoli
1-1 1/2 c cooked chicken or turkey

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 t lemon juice

1/2 t curry powder

3/4 c grated cheddar cheese

1/2 c mayo

Boil rice in 2 c water.  Boil broccoli and drain.  Put broccoli in casserole dish.  Layer cooked chicken over broccoli.  Mix soup, mayo, lemon juice, curry powder, rice and 1/2 c cheese.  Pour over chicken.  Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and then top with breadcrumbs (or cracker crumbs).  Bake 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees. 

   printable recipe

What do you do with leftover turkey?

Winter Pajamas

The weather is getting a little more frightful (at least in some parts of the world) and my boys need some warmer PJs.  Pajamas are one of the few things I can really sew for my boys these days and I'm always on the look out for fun fabric.

This is a tradition in our family.  Grandy used to make our brothers scrappy pajamas out of her scraps- a pocket from this, a sleeve from that.  I wish I had a picture because they were so cute!  Mom makes our kids PJs for birthdays and at other times- pictures for another post- that are adorable!  When it comes to sleeping we know how to dress!

So my boys have been bugging me for a few weeks to make them some pjs- I LOVE that they want them HOMEMADE.  I had found this cute fabric on fabric.com (see side button) for a steal awhile back and it's been waiting for the perfect opportunity to fulfill its potential.

A little ironic for sleepwear, don't you think? (Men at Work?)

For my oldest I used McCalls 6227 size 10.  It seems to run a tad on the large size but then my oldest is only 9.  This was a new style for me to sew and it was a cinch!  So easy!  I'm definitely using that one again!  However it is very roomy at the top so I don't know how warm and snug it will be.  Here's "keeping it real" for you- if you look closely you'll notice that the signs are upside down!!  It must have been pretty late because I didn't notice this until I'd finished sewing the top.

For my almost 7 year old I used Simplicity 3987 size 8 and it was on the small side.  It fits just about perfect but I thought it would be looser since I was using a size larger than he normally wears.

Sleep tight, my little men!

How long does it take to decorate for Christmas?

My kids were so sad to leave Nana's house and all their cousins after Thanksgiving. :(

But then they realized that we could go home and decorate for Christmas! 

My five year old asked MANY times during the five hour drive home if we could put up the tree THAT NIGHT.  [She likes to repeat herself to make sure she gets her point across.  :)]

I'm just as excited as they are, but I'm also really loving the fact that we have had this whole week before December!   Isn't it great?!

Life with little kids means everything takes longer than normal.  So having more time to decorate and get everything ready is SO NICE! 

Here are my $6 (approx) stairway decorations. I think the two fake garlands cost $2 each at Hobby Lobby a few years ago, and the little red jingle bell ornaments were probably about the same.

Martha Stewart

Ok, no, I didn't quite achieve this look.  So pretty!

Country Living

 

 I'd love to have real, big, fluffy garlands, but I don't want to pay for them when I've got so many other things to spend my money on at Christmas time.  

 

And guess what?  My kids have no clue who Martha Stewart is and don't care that our house isn't ready to be featured in Country Living.  They love my $6 decor! And I do too.  :)

How are you doing with your holiday decorations?  Do you like to make a big push and get the whole house decorated in one day or are you enjoying having a little extra time this year to get everything done?

Fall Garden

There are two things that I especially love to take pictures of :  my kids and my garden.  I'm not comfortable with putting my kids out on the world wide web but here's some of what is growing in my garden right now...

Broccoli

Bell Peppers

Swiss Chard Bright Lights

Sugar Snap Peas

Turnips popping up

Peppermint

Purple Kale

Gypsy Peppers

Cherry tomatoes

Green onions, collard greens, broccoli rabe, & cauliflower

Every day I love to check on how my garden is doing.  And I'm not ashamed to admit that sometimes I talk to my plants, encouraging them and the beneficial insects that reside there.  Gardening is very therapeutic for me!  I wish I could live out on the land and have room to grow all my own fruits and veggies.  I know it would be a lot of hard work and maybe I would get tired of it but I love to get my hands in the dirt.  And there's nothing quite like the satisfaction of eating something that we grew in our garden.  That may sound a bit cannibalistic but it's true!

One great thing about living in zone 9a of the deep South is that Fall is an AWESOME time to garden!  There aren't as many greedy bugs, the heat and humidity are way lower and the sun is still shining bea-u-tifully!  And this year our garden seems to have done especially well.

As a family we planted a lot of our fall plants for Family Home Evening.  (For those who have never heard of this, we set aside every Monday night to do things only as a family and we usually have a treat, lesson, and game or activity.  This is a program we have been taught to do by prophets of our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints.)  Planting is usually the fun part.  Weeding is not always on my kids' list of favorite chores.  But they have willingly helped with watering and keeping an eye out for the bad bugs to pick off and we all pray that our garden will do well and God has blessed us!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving I'm thankful for so much.

Family.  A loving and good husband.  Beautiful children and the opportunity to be their mother.  Good parents who filled my childhood with love and encouragement.  Siblings who remain some of my closest friends.  Extended family support.

A comfortable and safe home. 

Needs met.  Abundance.

Good Health. 

Freedom.

Faith.  Hope for even better things to come through my Savior, Jesus Christ.  A testimony of the reality of His life and love for us!

Thanksgiving Mix

About 5 years ago we visited family in Idaho for Thanksgiving. (It's so sad that it's been that long!)  My in-laws showed us a good time, as usual, and for our Family Home Evening treat my mother-in-law had us make this Thanksgiving Mix.  

As we put each ingredient in we talked about what they had to do with Thanksgiving.  It was a yummy treat and perfect for Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving Blessing Mix

2 c Bugles brand corn snacks (Shaped like a cornucopia or horn of plenty)

2 c mini pretzels - not sticks! (Represents arms folded in prayer)

1 c candy corn (During the winter the Pilgrims were allotted only 5 kernels of corn per day because food was so scarce.)

1 c dried fruit (Thanksgiving is the celebration of harvest.)

1 c sunflower seeds (Seeds represent the potential of a bounteous harvest for the next season.)

1 c Goldfish crackers (Represent the teaching by the Native Americans to the Pilgrims that a fish planted with seeds would help grow healthy crops.)

Rolls, Cranberry Relish & Turkeys

I made our own turkey dinner this past weekend and attempted rolls again. I can count on one finger how many times I've made rolls from scratch that turned out decent. Don't know what it is about me and rolls! But I tried the recipe from Our Best Bites Cookbook that you can find here on their website, and they were heavenly lightly browned clouds of perfection!

                                                     

Those Best Bites girls are my best friends in the kitchen! Everything I've made from their cookbook or website is amazing!  I think the secret (which they share in their recipe) is using whole fat milk. I didn't have any whole milk but I used 1/2 c whipping cream and 1 1/2 1% milk and look how they turned out!!

We also had my mother-in-law's cranberry relish. Growing up ours always came from a can and I have to admit, I don't think I ever even tried the stuff. My mother-in-law makes hers fresh and it's really very easy and SOOOOO GOOD!  My almost 2 year old gobbled it up and had thirds and fourths and wanted more! 

Here's the recipe: 

1 bag fresh cranberries 

1 large apple 

1 c sugar 

Combine all ingredients in your food processor and chop to the consistency of your liking. 

 That's it!  So good on those delicious rolls!!!

On another note, my kids are home from school this week and those little turkeys get up so early when there's no school! But I am thankful to have them home this week! And thankful that soccer season is over, there's no cub scouts or piano lessons and I have them all to myself on our own time! 

 I'm also thankful for my washing machine and dryer that can wash that mountain of dirty clothes we've accumulated since last Monday!

Enjoy Thanksgiving

 



Country Home

 



Isn't that an idyllic Thanksgiving table?  I love the mismatched chairs, the multitude of colorful pumpkins, the colors of fallen leaves reflected in the colors used on the table, a few quilts thrown over hay bales and of course, the fact that this whole scene is outside in front of an old barn and a giant tree.  Who wouldn't want to gather with their family or friends and enjoy a feast outdoors? 

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful, underrated time of the year.  There is something peaceful and calm about it.

The stores may be telling me that's its time to decorate with red and green and lots of glitter, but that just feels wrong to me.  

I went shopping the day BEFORE Halloween this year to one of my favorite stores (rhymes with Barget) and discovered that the Fall decorations were already marked down.  They were clearing shelves and bringing out Christmas stuff.  What a great way to get some deals on stuff that you can still use at Thanksgiving, but it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.  I suppose that's why I'm not in business or marketing. 

I saw something like this on Facebook: 

 

This isn't meant to be an advertisement for Nordstrom (I'm more of a Target/ thrift store shopper), but how great is it that they are letting us enjoy Thanksgiving before they shove Christmas down our throats and pocketbooks?  Other stores need to take note! 

I love decorated Christmas trees, tinsel and especially Christmas music as much as anyone, but Thanksgiving is such a great holiday and I hate to see it overlooked! And not only is it a meaningful holiday, it can also be so beautiful!  
 

 

 

 

Acorn Candleholders

I love fall! 

Down here in the southern most reaches of the southern United States, we generally only have two seasons:  summer and not summer. 

By the end of October, when the rest of the world has been enjoying apple cider, pumpkin patches and watching the leaves change for a month or two (that's what you do in fall, right?) we are just barely getting a break from the heat. 

I know I can't complain that we are still wearing flip flops (and maybe a wind breaker) at Christmas, but I do kinda miss the whole fall/ winter/ spring thing.  We sort of get them, but its all at the same time.  We rake leaves at New Years.  And our world looks almost exactly the same when we trick or treat as when we hunt for eggs. 

Oh well, even though my seasons are goofy, I still like to do what I can to experience a little of the traditional fall feeling in our home.  And what better way than to bring some of the traditional natural fall elements indoors. 

This year we decided to take advantage of the plethora of acorns in our front yard and make something pretty out of them. 

My kids love collecting little bits of nature so when I suggested we collect acorns for a special project they were all over it.  (My two year old is just about to make an acorn discovery in the crack of the sidewalk above.)

Gather a bunch of acorns.  Dump them in a wide mouth mason jar, and stick a fat candle on top.  I'm sure this isn't an original idea, but it sure was fun and easy to do with the kids!  And I think it turned out quite pretty.

For those of you who have been to my house, you will be suprised to see that I've changed my normal decor from piles of clean laundry on my dining table to acorns, candles and pumpkins.  :)

I love how these acorn candle holders turned out, but I must say that pumpkins are my favorite! I love how plump, orange and happy they are! And when you are done decorating with them you can cut them up and make a pie! It doesn't get much better than that, does it?

So what does fall look like where you live? 

Do you love to decorate with natural elements as much as I do? 

Afterschool Pandemonium

Sometimes I need the 8 hours my kids are in school to pysch myself up for the few hours they are home after school.  Not that I don't miss them!  It's just that they've been controlling their urges and suppressing energy for so long that when they come home they go a little crazy!

Add to that the fact that we usually have soccer practice, piano lessons or cub scouts so I need to have dinner ready by 5 and we are all feeling a little rushed.  

Add to that an almost 2 year old.  (A 2 year old added to almost anything else usually equals craziness.) 

The sum of all this means that 4pm in our home is an exciting time to be home!  (That is putting it nicely.)

Maybe you've had the same experience?  Backpacks, papers, shoes and dirty socks scattered all over the kitchen, competition for Mom's attention communicated through yells, frustrated remarks that Mom can't answer more than one question at a time, tears, sticking out of tongues, pokes, kicks, etc.  My almost 2 year old is either clinging desperately to me while screaming over the noise or joining in the craziness.  

Then once homework is coerced out of folders, the test of focus begins.  If big brothers lay on the floor to do homework, little brother jumps on them and tries to start a wrestling match, which they are more than happy to engage in.  If big brothers sit at the table, little brother climbs on a chair and starts throwing papers on the floor and grabbing pencils.  Again, a wrestling match ensues.  That's when WWF Mom the Ref enters the rink.  (One of my many roles.)  And when I try distracting my 2 year old, it usually distracts big brothers away from their homework. 

Despite what some would think if they witnessed our afternoon today, things have gotten a little better since the beginning of school and I have learned a few tricks that I can share:

• First and foremost, I have to be prepared.  Always an important skill to have.  If I have a yummy, and hopefully, nutritious snack ready and waiting that's one less battle to fight and I can get them to sit down in one spot.  I also have to be prepared with dinner- know what I'm cooking and either have it already started or something quick and easy planned.  And I know this is cheesy but I've got to have my attitude prepared and a smile ready to greet them, no matter what my day has been like.  A mother's mood is sooooooo contagious!  Sometimes this means I have to promise myself that I am NOT going to let them ruffle my feathers and under no circumstance will I yell!  And a prayer for patience is one of my most powerful weapons.

• Let them get that energy out!  The days we walk home or ride bikes usually run much smoother.  Or I will let them have some down time, playing outside before I try to make them do homework.

• I have to accept some craziness.  I may not like it but life does have it's crazy moments, especially with 3 young boys.  I try to enforce "inside voice" and general politeness and respect but a wise person once said you gotta "pick your battles".

• Set the timer.  My boys are just competitive by nature whether they are racing each other, me or the clock.  Sometimes giving them a challenge to get their homework done in a certain amount of time helps them to really focus on what they are doing.

• Last of all, I try to be totally present- physically (no hiding out in my room or trying to catch up on emails at 4pm) and mentally.  This is my time to be "at the crossroads" of my children's lives and I want to be aware of any hint of what my children are experiencing during those hours they are out of my influence and protection.  So I try to make myself really listen to them and hear what's important to them right now.

So, what tricks have you learned to combat after school pandemonium in your house?