Tackle It Tuesday: Happy "People-are-starving-use-up-your-leftovers" Day

Looks yummy, doesn't it?

Do you have Thanksgiving leftovers that need to be used up? Can't stand the thought of throwing out ALL of that turkey? My answers were yes...and yes. That is why I just HAVE to share this recipe with you.

The "People-are-starving-use-up-your-leftovers" Turkey Pot Pie

*Just to let you know, I always tweak recipes. So, this is my version of another recipe. Of COURSE it's better than the original. :)

• 1 recipe pastry for a 10" double pie crust - I use the Pillsbury roll out type - you can find a coupon for them here. In my opinion, they are the best flaky crust next to homemade.
• 4 TB butter (or a little more)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 (leftover) green onions, sliced
• 2 (leftover) stalks celery, chopped
• 1 c. frozen mixed vegetables (maybe a little more, I didn't really measure)
• 3 TB dried parsley
• 1 t. dried oregano
• salt & pepper to taste (if it matters to you, I use fresh ground sea salt and fresh ground pepper)
• 2 cubes chicken bouillon
• 2 c. water
• 1 med-large (leftover) sweet potato, peeled and diced (the original calls for 3 white potatoes)
• 2 1/2 - 3 cups cubed (leftover) cooked turkey (you can even add more if you like)
• 3 TB flour
• 1/2 c. milk

Preheat oven to 425. Spray 10" pie dish with non-stick spray. Roll out first pie crust in pan. Set aside.

Melt 2 TB butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add the onions, celery, mixed veggies, parsley, oregano and salt & pepper. Cook and stir until the vegetables are soft. Dissolve the bouillon in the [hot] water and add to the vegetable mixture. Bring mixture to a boil. Stir in the potatoes and cook until tender but still firm.

In a medium saucepan (or skillet), melt the remaining 2 TB butter. Stir in the turkey and flour. Add the milk and heat through. Stir the turkey mixture into the vegetable mixture, and cook until thickened (doesn't take long.) Cool slightly, then pour mixture into the unbaked pie shell. Roll out the top crust and place on top of filling. Flute the edges and make a few slits in the top crust to let out the steam.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 350 and continue baking for 20 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

What a tasty dinner! Such a comfort to sit by the light of the Christmas tree, watching the cold snow blowing outside and filling our stomachs with such a warm, slice of home.


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Tackle It Tuesday: A Soldier Christmas

For those of you who are couponin', savin', cvs-game playin' freaks...ever wonder what to do with all of that "stuff?" Would you like to get rid of some of it all the while putting it to VERY good use? Take a visit over to Anysoldier. Beware...as the website says, it really IS addictive. I have been following this site for about a year and a half. Each and every story touches me in some way. I usually end up crying the whole time I'm reading.
Anyway, here is my Tackle It Tuesday.

Does any of that look familiar? Cheapo probably paid very little to nothing for each of those items! I put together two boxes: one for a male and one for a female. They were shipped off yesterday...and I can't WAIT for someone to open them. Here are a few pointers that can make packing a box very easy:

• Go to the Anysoldier website - click around to get familiar - go to "What to Send" and then get an address (or 20) from "Where to Send."
• The requests are from real soldiers needing real items - so each one will request something different. Though, many just want a little taste of home, regardless of what is in the package.
  
• If you plan to send heavy items, pick up flat rate boxes at the post office. It's $9.80 to send regardless of the weight. Also, make sure to have clear packaging tape to re-enforce the box. Remember, it's going to take a lot of handling before it gets to the right place.
  
• Have magazines laying around everywhere? Toss a few into the box! (no nasty stuff!)
• Put anything you can into baggies. The soldiers can re-use the baggies, plus it helps in case something leaks. Also, it keeps the "soap smell" out of other things- especially food.
  
• No home made baked goods.
  
• As you are packing the box, make a list of items that are in it. When you get to the post office, you will have to fill out a customs form, which includes: sender name/address, recipient name/address, detailed list of contents & package value.
  
• Anything with a pop up lid, like shampoo or lotion, tape shut. Elevation changes can pop those right open. Mine used to open every time I would fly back and forth to Colorado.
  
• Include something hand written: a note, a letter, a Christmas card - just some word of thanks. I included a small picture of our family as well. Also, add your email address! The soldier may not have time to send a written thank you, but many have email access. Though, don't expect a thank you - they are doing enough over there as it is. :)
  

From what I understand, the soldiers get a lot of packages around Christmas, though the program is year 'round. So, don't forget our brave men and women throughout the entire year!

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Tackle It Tuesday: Where's That Recipe?

Okay. So I'm an OVER organizer.

This has been driving me nuts for a LONG time (not the over organizing, but the project.)

For a few years now, I have developed this "pile/card box/mess" of recipes that people have given me or I've printed out. I kept telling myself that someday...just someday, I'll have them all nice and neat and organized so that I can find what I need, when I want it. In going through them, I have found that I have printed several of them MORE than once, because I thought they were "lost." Well...they were...sort of. Anyway, today is someday. I've decided to type in and print out all of these orphan recipes and put them in that nice little binder.

This is the pile before...

And here is after. It's still a work in progress, but it's really going faster than I had originally thought. It's nothing fancy like all of you scrapbookers might do - but it's organized and will look much nicer on the shelf than a pile of a zillion papers.

Sometimes I take pictures of the finished recipes, so I plan to put the photos in there as well. There's even a tab for my son and husband's recipes! You know, it looks real nice and neat and all - but it really has no character. In talking with my aunt today - we decided that it's nice to have some sort of central location for all of the recipes, but you just lose something in the whole process. You no longer have the recipe reference of "the one on the yellow paper" or "the recipe with cake batter on it." Some of these little cards I've had for a LONG time and have been well enjoyed many, many times.

I think I'm having card attachment issues.

So, in the end, I'll be pleased when this project is done...

but I think on the back of each page, I'll attach the original little handwritten cards...you know...the ones with the grease stains?

What else are people tackling today at 5 Minutes For Mom?

Tackle It Tuesday: What To Do With All Of These Apples?!?

Apple Butter. Gotta love the stuff. For me, the taste on a piece of light toast slathered first in real butter, then in apple butter, brings back a ton of childhood memories. As a child (and probably as an adult too, but I know better now), I could've eaten an entire loaf of bread, stick of butter and jar of apple butter...in one sitting. What a treat - one of my favorites. I didn't get it much, but when I did, it was like a little taste of heaven.

This past week, we took a trip to a local orchard for some raspberry and apple picking. After coming home with a half of a bushel of Stayman apples, I decided that we needed to enjoy them all winter long. What better way than this!

If you have some apples that need to be used up, go ahead and give it a try! It's really easy with barely any effort - especially with the crock pot method. I'll share my recipe with you!

Crock Pot Apple Butter

• 10 large apples - peeled, cored and sliced (chipped) - or enough sliced up apples to fill and mound a crock pot while still fitting the lid on top
• 4 c. sugar
• 1 1/2 c. apple juice (I used cider)
• 2 t. cinnamon
• 1 t. ground clove
• 1 t. ground allspice
• pinch of salt if you want

Mix everything but the apples in the crock pot. Add apples and mix to coat. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Good to prepare before bed and let cook overnight. (I started mine on high to get going and then turned it down to low- it cooked for more like 12 hours - 6pm to 6am.) Remove crock pot lid and stir (apples will start falling apart - give a stir every now and then to help break them up.) Continue cooking, uncovered, for 4-5 more hours (depending on how much liquid is left) until most of the liquid is gone and butter has cooked down quite a bit. It will be very dark, thick and goopy. (mmmm) Pour into jars and refrigerate unless canning properly. My first batch made about 6 8oz. jars. My second batch made 7.

If canning, sterilize jars and seals. Pour hot apple butter into hot jars. Place on the seal & ring. Boil in a hot water bath for 20 minutes. (I put a metal steamer in the bottom of a large dutch kettle and set the jars on that - works fine.) Make sure the jars are covered with at least 1" of water over their tops. Remove. Let cool until seal pops in.

Hope you enjoy your little taste of fall.

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Tackle It Tuesday: Leftovers Anyone?

I love Tackle It Tuesdays...but I must say that I'm having a HECK of a time trying to find things to tackle...or should I say, find tackles that I have TIME to finish! First I thought, the basement? Nahhh. The windows? Nahhh. Hmm..what's for dinner? Low and behold, I opened the fridge and the tackle stood before me.

Before


After


And, if you are wondering what WAS for dinner - it was Cincinnati Chili over steamed spaghetti squash topped with cheese and a dollop of sour cream. Gosh, just typing that almost made me hungry again.

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Tackle It Tuesday: The Seinfeld Cereal Cabinet

I had a very difficult time trying to find something to do for Tackle It Tuesday this week. I mean...not that there aren't a gazillion things that need to be done around here...but just couldn't find something that I had TIME to tackle.

Lo and behold - *in loud, echo-ey, deep voice*- The Seinfeld Cereal Cabinet. No family of three should ever, EVer, EVER have that much cereal. Buuutttt...when you get them for little to nothing or free - hey, why not. This wasn't some huge project, but something I've been meaning to do for a while. And, while I was at it, I cleaned out the corner turn-a-bout as well. :)

Here ya go! - Before


After


Before


After


Wow! Look at all that room back up in there! Amazing how much stuff can hide out in 9 sq. ft. of space.

You have something in need of tackling?? Get to it!!

Tackle It Tuesday: Saving The World...and a buck or two

Let me begin by saying, "The Lord did not bless me with skills for sewing."
That being said...here is my Tackle It Tuesday project.

One day, while channeling through blogland, I happened across a site that mentioned making Homemade Fabric Sandwich Wraps. I thought, "hmmm...what a great idea! And - how convenient...I'm out of waxed bags AND baggies right now! These look easy enough. Gosh, I'll even be able to make...like...5 or 6 of them. Cool!"

I made one...and it took me all evening.

Don't let that discourage you. I just...well...I don't know. I guess I just don't sew enough to know how to do things quickly. My thread kept breaking, I couldn't get the pattern quite straight, the thread was bunching up, I don't know how to "close" something properly after turning right side out. *sigh*

Regardless of all that - I'm very pleased with the way it finished and couldn't help but smile while turning it right-side-out. Not too shabby for my first go at it.

I may try another one tonight.


I followed the directions on the site mentioned above, but here are a few tips from me:

• Make your pattern on the white side of Christmas wrapping paper; it's big enough and easy to pin through.

• Make sure you measure and cut rather precisely. I should have cut both pieces at the same time - as you can see, one is larger than the other. Be sure to line the corners up nice and straight. Mine is 15 x 15".

• I used Ripstop for the food surface on the inside and a vintage fabric on the outside. The Ripstop can be wiped down easily as it is water repellent and easy to sew. It was $6.99 a yard at Joanne Fabrics - but be sure to print your 40% Q from the internet first - made it cheaper.
  

• When you iron your pieces after cutting, remember: when the ripstop says cool iron...it means cool iron. Lesson learned.
  

• When you insert the velcro, make sure the fastening part is "up" (away from the fabric print). You'll see when you get that far.
  

I'm not sure how my husband is going to feel when he opens his lunch to a sandwich wrapped in rooster cloth, but I'm anxious for the reaction. I think he'll appreciate helping to save the world, but would rather be doing it with White Sox fabric.

Tackle It Tuesday: The Pickle Mishap

Here it is, my first Tackle It Tuesday. By joining in on this Tuesday activity, you are supposed to be able to "make housework blog-able." We'll try anything when it comes to cleaning house, right? Well, I suppose it's really all about accountability - and we could all use a little of that here or there in our lives.

I had to think long and hard about what I wanted to "tackle" today. I'm a rather organized person by nature, so many of the, so called, little things around the house are mainly kept up or done (except for my home school room - which is a total mess in the basement, but Jake had piano lessons today and it was just too big of a project to be interrupted - nice excuse, right?) I recently cleaned my closet, just organized a bathroom cabinet and am almost finished re-doing a guest room....hmmm. I know! I think I'll create a huge mess in the kitchen JUST as I'm about to leave for work! Yeah! That's IT! *rolls eyes*

Let me explain - over the weekend, my husband and I did a lot of canning and preserving of pickles and jelly. We had some bread and butter pickle brine leftover, so we decided to slice up the leftover cukes and put them in the fridge. Enough was made to fill two Tupperware containers full of the sweet & sour goodies. Long story, short - the tops to the containers wouldn't seal properly so they kept popping up a bit - Kurt was concerned - I said they would be fine, just put them in the fridge. So, there they stacked and we were proud. Until this morning, when the popped up lid stuck to the bottom of the lunch meat drawer - I opened the drawer and guess what? Yup! All of those little thin slices along with the lava syrup flung all over the floor, all over my legs and all over my clothes - and I needed to be at work in about one minute.

Remember those old cartoons where the characters would get mad and the tops of their heads would pop off and steam would roll out of their ears? That was me. No, seriously. I should have taken a picture. My short, long story even shorter, the kitchen was a mess and the floor was so sticky, I believe it exfoliated my feet (no need for a foot grater now, right?) So, there is my Tackle It Tuesday - cleaning the kitchen and scrubbing the floor - THREE TIMES.

Before and After - See the dog there? - He's stuck to the floor. (no, not really hehe)