Leftover Turkey "Shepard's" Pie

More leftovers from Thanksgiving. This dish uses most leftovers, I used a Martha Stewart recipe as a guide; I put mushrooms instead of carrots, or other leftovers. The other variation I made was adding a bit of cheese to the top and broiling it for a few minutes. Turned out good, wish I would have put more cranberry sauce on that layer. But otherwise tasty use of leftovers. 

Chippy is ready for report

Elf on the Shelf, in my classroom an Elf visits once a year. Since I teach Pre-K I have two half day classes, which during elf time can cause confusion in what the elf's name is that year for that class. Today the Elf arrived, we watch the DVD. Then a bit after I get an IM from the front office that I have a package delivered. My teacher assistant goes to the freezer in the teacher lounge where the wrapped Elf has been chilling. The kids get so excited touching the box that feels like, "ice." I have them each pull on a corner/small part of the box. Overall they are all very respectful of the process which is a lot for a 4 year old. So we open the box and they are all so excited it's Chippy from the movie he came to our classroom. So I still said we needed to vote, as that was our math lesson for the day. So my AM class came up with Chippy and Jingle, Chippy won. My PM class came up with Chippy, Icy, Scott and Conner...again Chippy won. So my elf is just Chippy for the year. So for tomorrow he's hanging out on top of the SmartBoard, it's a simple one, I vary in level of effort year to year.

Unconscious Mutterings

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Plenty of :: stuff
2. Peanut :: gallery
3. Gulp :: big
4. Framed! :: pictures
5. Caged :: animal
6. Chilly :: nights
7. Instrument :: music
8. Officer :: Dowdy
9. Solution :: answer
10. Dolphin :: charm

http://subliminal.lunanina.com/

Thanksgiving Leftovers

All the anticipation and preparation for one giant meal, typically involving lots of family. The table is set and the food is ready, everyone fills their plates to the brim and stuffs themselves silly. After everyone is stuffed and rested it is time to put away the leftovers. Oh my the leftovers! My parents and in-laws always share their leftovers. So I am left with the task and challenge of what to do with that much turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, etc.

Turkey Sloppy Joes

So I like most people went to Pinterest and those short videos on Facebook, and found a million different ideas, I've decided to try out a few.

One website I found was this Easy Turkey Leftovers. The word EASY appealed to me for many reasons. I'm fortunate enough to be on Thanksgiving break right now, but that is coming to a close quickly. Back to work/school on Monday for 3 weeks of excitement in the world of Pre-K. Alrighty back to what I was talking about, leftovers. So the first recipe I tried was the Turkey Sloppy Joes, mostly as it appealed to the husband. Unlike the recipe we did use the entire can of beans but only 1 cup of turkey. It was good did not taste like Thanksgiving had the night before. Good way to change up the turkey.

One-Bowl Cranberry Bread

Next was my attempt to use the very delicious but copious amounts of cranberry salad made by my MIL. First we used some on typical leftover turkey sandwiches (sourdough, miracle whip, turkey, cranberry sauce, munster cheese, and stuffing.) So that made a slight dent, I went to Pinterest again and found this One-Bowl Cranberry Bread. One bowl, sounds good to me. So using my kitchen aide mixer followed the directions using whole wheat flour baked for 45 min. Turned out very yummy. :)

Turkey Tetrazzini

The last thing I made thus far from leftover turkey was a Turkey Tetrazinni, we used Hot Rotel, and I used olive oil in my Misto to coat the pan to saute the onions and mushrooms, whole wheat pasta. Otherwise following the recipe as instructed. It was good, next time I might use milk or cream instead of water to thicken up the sauce more. But it was still really good.

So far lots of success in recreating leftovers as new meals. I hope everyone had a happy and wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday. The holiday season is upon us, be kind to one another.

Seared scallops with jalapeño vinaigrette on Valentines day

Menu plan

Planned out and already shopped for the next week or so of meals.

Starting with tomorrow.
Crockpot pulled porks sandwiches w/ salad and mashed potatoes
Cheeseburger Pasta with veggies
Homemade Pizza (have premade crust, we'll do the rest) pepperoni, mushroom and bacon with salad
Hamburgers (grilled with mushrooms) and sweet potato fries
Beef and Mushroom Dijon
Meatloaf (turkey going to use dried stuffing mix instead of oatmeal or breadcrumbs)

I'll throw in a leftover night and a wildcard to give us some flexibility. So I'm planned through next Saturday. So I have over a week to figure out the following week, gotta get back into planning things out.

Meal Plan Monday

Okay so I spent some time over my winter break and planned out some meals. Trying OVERALL to be healthier most are a bit better for you. But as the man likes his food "fatty" I have a few things thrown in that aren't on the healthy path. But it's all about moderation. :D

Monday - Pizza Casserole NEW
Tuesday - Tilapia sandwiches (gonna pan fry tilapai, with some slaw)
Wednesday - Mississippi Roast NEW
Thursday - Paninis (made with leftover meat from Wed)
Friday - Leftovers
Saturday - Repurposed beef (not planned yet)
Sunday - ?? (we usually go out for lunch so our appetites vary)

Anniversary Gift

So I decided to make a date jar for my anniversary for my man. As we so often like so many couples cannot decide what to do but at the same time want to do something. So I saw the idea of a date jar on Pinterest and decided to look up more information after looking at a few blogs I began to compile a list of date ideas. Looked up how to dye wooden popsicle sticks, and created the rest.

First I complied a list of ideas from a few blogs, 2 craft 4 my skirt, Life in the Green House, House Girl Haley, and Girl Power Hour. Once I read their list of date ideas I started to compile my own. Here is the finished result:

Sticks drying in bathtub.

$$$ and/or planning 

• Bed and Breakfast
•  Rampage/Spurs game
• Couples massage
• Sea World or Fiesta Texas
• Dinner and a Movie (her choice)
• Dinner and a Movie (his choice)
• Trip to Austin
• Camping trip
• Night of fun at Dave and Buster’s
• Painting with a Twist
• Go see a live band/show

Lable I made in MS Word

$$ little to no planning

• Go on a Picnic
•  Laser Tag
• Bowling
• Putt – Putt
• Play pool
•  Zoo
•  Museum
• Coffee date (@ bookstore optional)
•  Food Truck fun
• Visit a tourist spot in San Antonio
• Go for a scenic drive
•  Wander through the mall
•  Lunch at a new to us restaurant
• Visit a Winery
•  Drive to small Texas town for a day trip, walk around main strip
•  Enchanted Rock for the day
•  Botanical Gardens
• Go to a Hooka bar
• Natural Bridge Caverns or Wildlife Park
• Go to Asian grocery store and get new things to try later.

Free outside the home

• Go hiking at Freidric Park
• Make/put together kites and go fly them
• Play Frisbee/ Throw the boomerang
•  Bike ride
• Visit the Japanese Tea Gardens
• Visit one of the Missions
• Explore a local park



Finished product

• Stargazing

$ At home dates

• Takeout and board games
• Make Ice Cream sundaes
• Homemade pizza’s and an Italian movie
• Accomplish a “home” project
• TV series marathon
• Carpet picnic
• Restaurant at home (recreate a menu)
• Popcorn and a movie
• Pizza and a puzzle
• Asian food and Anime or Kung Fu movie
• Video games and meal of his choice
• Movie Marathon (HP, LOTR, SW, etc)
•  Nerf Gun fight
• Technology FREE night – no ELECTRONICS
• Fondue Night
• Pick a new complicated recipe to make together, shop and prepare meal.

Randomness

Diet Coke deals:
Walgreens: with coupon 5 12 packs for $14
CVS: 4 for $10 with CVS card

Other goals:
Getting to Michael's to take advantage of some deals
Making phone calls to get things done with the house (sprinklers, A/C)

Here we go again...

Okay so I've done Flylady once successfully then moved back in with my parents and thus lost all habits. I started again awhile back but fell out of all that probably due to moving and just to much change in schedule again. But now I'm going for round 3, my plan is to use Flylady principals and ideas but not go full force charging in as I have in the past. She pushes for babysteps as otherwise you get overwhelmed and give up, 15 minutes a day is something I can handle most days at least. And I won't beat myself up if I miss a day of decluttering/unpacking if I worked/was away from the house for 12 hours. I've trained the man to make the bed when he gets up which is ALWAYS later than me.

First step is "shining your sink" I know how she wants it done, I know her method. I just don't wake up early enough to empty the dishwasher in the AM before leaving for work, and the man isn't too good on doing that on his own. He's a great helper but he's not awake before 6am like I am, and I leave the house by 6:20am. I need to suck it up and be mature about going to bed a bit earlier and waking up 10-15 minutes earlier as that's all it takes to get everything put away. And that's step one, so that's the goal tonight. Were going to order delivery, I haven't made it to the grocery store lately nor meal planned since my marathon plan a thon last month. So were resorting to the easy solution, having someone else cook and deliver. :-) Which is another reason for the desire for routine, but mostly I have set hours now, so I can more easily plan and mentally prepare to accomplish x, y, or z but I just don't do well doing it on my own at this point. I'm too ambitious and plan to much then when I'm tired after work I don't do any of it or if I'm lucky a little bit gets done.

Wish me luck.