Turkey Noodle Soup and Other Turkey Recipe Ideas

Sometimes it is so hard to figure out what to do with leftovers after Thanksgiving! Mostly people don't want to eat just plain roast turkey for days. They also put turkeys on sale very frequently at the grocery stores around Thanksgiving. I want to share a soup recipe with you and also give you some ideas for using turkey in some dishes you probably already make!

Turkey Noodle Soup

1 small onion, chopped
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup carrots, sliced (I used frozen sliced ones)
1/4 cup white wine (optional)
6 cups chicken broth
or
6 cups water, 3 cubes chicken cubes, 2 tsp chicken base (here's a picture of what I used)

1/4 tsp thyme
1-2 cups cooked, chopped turkey
Pasta (I used some thin spaghetti)
2 tbsp lemon juice

Saute onions in butter until onions are soft. Add carrots, saute a couple of minutes. Add wine and allow to cook several minutes (if you are adding). Add broth or water/chicken cubes/chicken base and thyme. Cook over medium low heat for about 15 minutes. Add turkey, pasta, and lemon juice- cook about 20 minutes.

Other recipes you can exchange the chicken for turkey!
- Chicken Pot Pie- Pioneer Woman has a good recipe
- Chicken Spaghetti
- Chicken Tetrazzini
- Chicken Salad - I just mixed cut up chicken (or turkey), some chopped onion, chopped celery if I have it, mayo, and pepper
- Chicken Packets- mixed chopped chicken (turkey), cream cheese, green onions, a little milk, spoon mixture into canned crescent rolls. Seal edges of rolls, dip packet in butter then crushed crackers. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes until browned. Yum!
- Chicken Enchiladas
- Chicken Taquitos- My favorite recipe- HERE
- Chicken Chimichangas
- White Chili- my recipe - HERE

I hope this gives you some ideas of what you can do with that leftover turkey! And maybe you'll even take advantage of the turkey sales and just buy one to cook and put in the freezer like I did! What do you like to do with turkey leftovers??

Cheesy Ravioli Bake

This week I planned to make baked ravioli for one of our meals. I had a few other ingredients in the fridge and decided to modify what I usually make, and it turned out really yummy!

Ingredients:
-Frozen ravioli- cooked 
-Jar of pasta sauce
-1 cup cottage cheese
-1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
-1/2 tsp basil
-Mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cook pasta according to directions on the package. (I just used about 2 to 2 1/2 cups of ravioli for our family).

While the pasta is cooking, mix cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, and basil together.

After pasta is finished cooking, drain the pasta and put back into the pot. Add pasta sauce and stir to mix. (You want the pasta to be coated. You can adjust the amount of sauce to how "saucy" you want the bake to be)

Spray cooking pan with oil. Pour in half of the pasta/sauce mix. Top with the cheese/basil mixture. Pour the rest of the pasta/sauce mixture on top. Cover the pasta with mozzarella cheese.

Bake in oven about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.

This dish is so easy to make. It really is a variation of baked ravioli and lasagna! These ingredients are also easy to have on hand for a quick meal. I hope you enjoy!

Don't forget to enter my Photo Canvas Giveaway HERE, it is easy to enter!!

Tips for Making Yeast Breads

Over the last few years, I have been trying lots of different bread recipes, and my recipes were only turning out about half the time. It is so frustrating when you spend so much time making something, and then it doesn't rise in the oven or something else. It was also very frustrating for me because my mom is a master at making bread. How could I not be good at making bread when I spend years making it with my mom? Just a few weeks ago, I had a breakthrough while making bread. I wanted to share what I've learned with you so you won't have to struggle like I have and also so you won't be AFRAID to make bread! It isn't hard once you get the hang of it! 

1. Activating the Yeast: This is the step that I kept messing up! Most recipes start with you mixing the yeast with warm water and wait until it starts bubbling. I was using water that was too hot! I decided this might be my problem so I researched a little. The water should be about 110 degrees. I didn't have a thermometer, so I read how the temperature would feel. It should feel like warm bath water. If you can't stick you finger in the water, it is too hot! This time I made bread it really bubbled a lot! It may not bubble this much, but it will look something like this:

2. Bread Rising: My kitchen is not a warm place unless it is the middle of the summer! I wanted the bread to be able to rise in a warm place, so I (you can laugh) turned on the heater in my bathroom and let the bread rise in there. It worked great! You don't have to do this if your kitchen is warm, but if it isn't this is an option for you. 

3. Kneading: Don't get impatient with kneading the bread. Take your time. It will be worth it!

 

The bread I made in these pictures was THIS Kelsey Nixon recipe.

I hope this helps you bake some bread. Don't be afraid to try it! If you have some tips, please share them!

Flowers, A Recipe, and A Nap

We had a nice weekend around here. On Saturday we made a trip to Lowe's and got flowers for our yard! We missed the memo that everyone else would be shopping for flowers too, but we still got lots of pretty stuff! Here are all the things we bought.

And here they are planted in our pots!


I wanted to plant some herbs, so we bought thyme and basil, and then I planted seeds for chives, cilantro, and dill. Hopefully the seeds will come up!

Someone had a really good nap on Saturday.....


I decided to make some pasta last week, and I pretty much made up the recipe. I made the sauce similar to an alfredo recipe I had made before, but made several changes. It tasted really good.

Pine Nut Alfredo Pasta

Angel hair pasta
1/4 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 stick butter
3/4 cup cream
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tsp parsley
Pine nuts

Cook pasta according to box. (you could use any type of pasta, we just like angel hair). In a skillet, saute onions in about 1 tbsp of butter. When they are starting o soften, add the garlic. When the onions are softened, add the rest of the butter, the cream, Parmesan cheese, and parsley. Allow to simmer a few minutes and melt the cheese. Add the pine nuts and cook a few more minutes. Toss with cooked, drained pasta and serve. Top with some extra Parmesan cheese.

The nuts in this give it a nice slight crunch. I love the flavor of pine nuts. You could make the recipe without the nuts also, and it would still be yummy!

Meal Planning #2

I wanted to share with you what I cooked this week.

Monday:
Lunch-Tomato Basil Soup & Grilled Cheese
Dinner- Angel Hair Pasta with a Garlic, Cream and Pea Sauce

Tuesday:
Dinner- Homemade Pizza

Wednesday:
Lunch- Roast Beef Tacos (leftover in the freezer)
Dinner- Hot Dogs

Thursday:
Lunch- Tomato Basil Soup & Grilled Cheese
Dinner- Croque Monsieur (I use swiss cheese)

Friday:
Dinner- Baked Taquitos with Ranch Jalapeno Dip

Saturday:
Breakfast- Pancakes and Bacon
Dinner- Fajitas

I hope this might give you some ideas as you are planning for your family! Our food wasn't the healthiest this week, but it tasted good :)

Pinterest Ideas and a Recipe

It's time for some Pinterest!

Yesterday I tried this recipe:

Source: familyfeedbag.com via Catie on Pinterest

I decided to do the strawberry applesauce.

It takes 5 lbs of apples, which is a lot! The apples weren't cheap, if you could find a good sale it would probably be better. The strawberries were on sale though! Here is the process in pictures:



This recipe has no added sugar, and it tastes good!! It would be easier if you made it with someone, so you don't have to try to juggle all the steps. Gus ate about 1 cup of it for dinner. Josh also ate it and liked it. So- another Pinterest success!!! I can't wait to try the other kinds of applesauce!

For dinner last night, I decided to make homemade scomboli! I got the idea from another blog- it can be so helpful to get ideas for dinner from other bloggers! I read several recipes, and then basically made up my own recipe. So here it is:

Homemade Scomboli Rolls

Pizza Dough (I used my Betty Crocker recipe, but replaced some of the flour with whole wheat flour to make it healthier), enough for 1 crust
Ham
Pepperoni
Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Olive oil
Basil
Garlic Powder
1 egg white
Pizza Sauce

Preheat the oven to 375. Divide the dough into small portions. Press out the dough. Put a little bit of olive oil and spread it on the dough.
Sprinkle a small amount of basil and garlic powder on each dough. Then place several slices of thin ham, pepperoni, then mozzarella and Parmesan cheese on one side. (and those pepperonis on the top of the cutting board- ones I am eating as I cook ;))
Roll up dough, starting with the side with all the toppings. Squeeze the ends together as you roll. Place on cooking sheet that has been greased.
Mix the egg white well. Brush over the rolls to give them a pretty brown color. Bake for 20-30 minutes until starting to brown and they are cooked on the bottom.
Serve with pizza sauce, which can be poured over the top or you can dip the rolls in. They were very yummy. You could also put sausage or hamburger in them.

Now, for some other things on Pinterest that I like:

I really want to try these yogurt bites:

Source: Uploaded by user via Catie on Pinterest

I am looking forward to wearing shorts!! (If I can get a little tan!)

Source: polyvore.com via Catie on Pinterest

Source: polyvore.com via Catie on Pinterest

I love this, and it is very important to remember when spending time on Pinterest!

Source: thevintageapple.com via Catie on Pinterest

So true:

Source: Uploaded by user via Catie on Pinterest

Around the House

Today, Gus and I are mostly spending the day at home. I enjoy having quiet days at home every once in a while to get caught up. I especially have more time today because I am not having to cook!

Gus and I drove to a nearby town to get some BBQ for lunch. It is about 20 minutes away. The BBQ place is only open one day a week, and it is usually packed so you have to get there early! We had not had BBQ in a long time and Josh thought it sounded good. And it was yummy!!! I enjoy having some time in the car every once in a while. Lately I have been listening to the news in the car to keep up on what is going on. When did I turn into such an adult????

A sweet older couple at our church have invited us over for dinner.

I wanted to let you all know that Pioneer Woman's Corn and Cheese Chowder is delicious!! I made a few changes to her recipe (link HERE). I did not put any bell peppers because Josh isn't a fan. I just put a little more corn. (which I used some frozen corn too). I made half a recipe and we ate it all for lunch. It has a really nice flavor. It takes a little longer than the directions say. Here is what mine looked like:
Gus is just walking all over the house! Last night, Gus stood up without pulling up on anything.

To end today, some things I am thankful for:

~This guy:
He makes me laugh and smile.


~Getting to have my dream job: wife and mom

~Beautiful snow- and that I get as excited as I did when I was a child when I see it

Catch-up Post

The members of this household will be very happy to see this week end. From being sick to things being crazy at work, a break is greatly needed! Now don't get me wrong, not everything was bad. Gus continues to amaze me in how much he learns. But I am going to post on that later.

First, my Pinterest Valentine project! I am sure many of you have seen these pictures going around:

Source: theidearoom.net via Catie on Pinterest

Source: danielleflanders.blogspot.com via Catie on Pinterest

I thought they were so pretty and wanted to try them! And as with me and most crafts..... things didn't go very smoothly. Here is the first one I started:

I wrapped the paper too tight.

On the second, the pieces were too long and it still wasn't right:

And finally I figured it out! Here is what I did. Cut a piece of the paper about 12 inches.

Wad up the paper well, then fold one edge about 1/3 over, but don't crease it.

Roll it up, but not tight.

Glue the edge down to seal.

Press the bottom together and twist.

A flower!


And I still haven't finished it. Each flower takes several minutes to make. I don't know where I would find the time to do a bunch of these. But, even if I don't finish it, I think I could put it in a vase or something and it would still look pretty.

I also wanted to tell you about some easy meals. I try to plan our meals for the week on Sunday or Monday. I usually go to the grocery store to get most things on Monday morning. This Monday I bought a rotisserie chicken. I then shredded part of it and put it with some lettuce, parmesan cheese, and Caesar dressing for a Chicken Caesar Salad.

For dinner, I used the chicken to make Chicken Quesadillas

Shredded chicken
1 small can green chilies- diced
Cheese (cheddar, pepper jack), shredded
A dash of cumin
A dash of chili powder
A dash of minced onion
Chopped fresh cilantro
Flour Tortillas
Oil

Mix everything (except the tortillas!) together. Heat a couple of tbsps of oil in a skillet on medium heat. Place tortillas in skillet. Put chicken mixture all over tortilla. Add a bit more cheese if desired. Place another tortilla on top. Allow to cook several minutes as cheese melts and tortilla on bottom begins to brown. Then flip over. Cheese will continue to melt and the other tortilla will brown. When finished, cut into fourths with a pizza cutter. You can keep it warm if the oven if needed.

Meal planning makes things so much easier! I do not always follow my plan perfectly, but then if I don't want to have to go to the store in the middle of the week I don't have to. One thing that makes it easier is if you plan to use one ingredient for multiple dishes, like the chicken I already talked about. Also, if we are having burgers and I have to buy buns, then we could have sloppy joes another night so that we use all the buns.

Gus turned 11 months old today!!! I cannot believe it. I plan to do a longer post about this later today or tomorrow. Gus was helping me with the dishes this morning:

And these two are good helpers too:

Unless it is cold and they have to stay warm:
Happy Friday!!