Thanksgiving Leftovers

It is Monday.  The Monday after Thanksgiving.  Do you still have a fridge full of leftovers??  I do!  I did a little searching to figure out something to do with those leftovers.  Here are a few recipes I thought I would share.

Chicken Casserole
10 oz. pkg Stove Top Stuffing
4 cooked chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 Tblsp mayonnaise 
2 Tblsp sour cream
2 eggs
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350°.  Make stuffing according to directions.  Put 1/2 stuffing in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.  Shred or chop chicken into 1 inch pieces & place over stuffing layer.  Mix soup, mayo, & sour cream together & spread over chicken.  Spread remaining stuffing over the soup.  Beat the two eggs with the 1 cup milk & pour over all.  Bake 1 hour.

I substituted Thanksgiving leftovers for the fresh stuffing and 2 cups leftover turkey for the chicken.   I needed to made several other adaptations to this recipe to make it dairy-free for my family (almond milk, no sour cream, and a cream soup substitute recipe), but it turned out really good!

For those leftover mashed potatoes, try searching for these recipes:
Leftover Mashed Potato Soup
Potato Pancakes
Potato Bread

Do you have any other recipes you like that help use up those Thanksgiving leftovers?? 

A Week of Thanksgiving - part 4 & 5

Friday - I am so thankful for days off!  Especially the days my husband has off work.  Traditionally, we always decorate for Christmas the Friday after Thanksgiving, but we decided not to this year.  We just bummed around at home, and played with the boys.  We played a lot of Wii, which the boys loved!  No stress, no trying to make sure all the decorating was finished, no crazy Black Friday shopping, just time together as a family.  I think we might make this "Lazy Friday" a new tradition at our house!

Saturday - I am thankful for health.  My husband and boys are all very healthy, and I am SO thankful for that.  I am usually also very healthy, but lately have been having more issues than normal.  The days I feel really rotten remind me to be thankful on the good days.  (It also reminds me to be thankful for insurance and health savings accounts!)  I am thankful for what we have, because even when I am not feeling good, I know there are others out there who still feel worse than I do.  There is always someone out there who is worse off than you are.  Remember that.  It will help you keep things in perspective.

A Week of Thanksgiving - part 2 & 3

Tuesday the 23rd - My Birthday!  

Today I am thankful for my family.  My family is very fortunate.  For the most part, we all live close together.  We live within 15-20 minutes of my mom, my husband's parents, and all my grandparents.   My boys are so lucky to have their Grandparents (and even Great-Grandparents!) close, and so involved in their lives.  So many kids do not have that.  I don't think my kids have any idea how blessed they really are.  And I am blessed to have my boys.  Yes, at times, they drive me crazy, but I love them.  They are good kids, and I have lots to be thankful for!

Wednesday the 24th - I am thankful for freedom - all kinds of freedom.  The freedom that we have as Americans.  Freedom in Christ.  The freedom to publicly worship God.  Freedom from worry.  Financial freedom.  All of these freedoms are ones that we enjoy, and far too often take for granted. What are you free from?

A Week of Thanksgiving

Happy Week of Thanksgiving!  I have decided to celebrate the week with a post each day this week featuring a Thank You card (or two) and one of the many things I am thankful for.

Monday -   First and foremost, I am so thankful for my husband.  I do not say it enough; to him, or to others.  He is truly a remarkable man.  He is very diplomatic and even tempered.  If you know me well, then you know I am neither of those things, so he balances me out I guess.  :) He is an excellent father - very involved in our boys' lives every single day. He has an uncanny knack for finding those "teachable moments" and making the most of them. He is a faithful man of God, and is teaching our boys to become men of God. He is a good provider.  He is a hard worker, and does a wonderful job at work, and at the same time, he is not a work-aholic.  With his line of work, he easily could be, but he chooses to make his family top priority, and I appreciate that.  He is trustworthy and dependable.  I have no fear or worry whatsoever regarding our future or our marriage.   He loves me, and I know it.  I often don't deserve it, but even when I am completely unlovable, he loves me unconditionally.   Every day I thank God for bringing him into my life.  The Lord has blessed me in so many ways, and I know that my husband is one of the greatest of those blessings. 
 

Roaring River 2010

Wow.... I remember going to Roaring River as a kid with our church. It was an annual "family weekend" event at South Haven, and it is still going strong! Having recently returned to South Haven, we decided to take the boys this year. AJ kept talking about it & saying he wanted to go fishing. I am so glad we decided to go. They had a BLAST!!! They reserved the upper pool area where they hold fishing clinics for the kids from our group. It was a great opportunity to teach the kids how to fish in a reserved spot.

Both of my boys caught their first fish!

We had a good time, made lots of memories, & can't wait to go back soon!

The Tooth Fairy and Friends

My friend Shelley posted on her blog about her 9 year old daughter losing another tooth, and asking "the big question." Someone commented that when kids find out the tooth fairy & santa clause aren't exactly who they thought they were, it is the end of an era. How true. But that prompted me to want to write about the topic as well. Just because one era is coming to an end doesn't mean it has to be all sad.

AJ asked when he was 6. He had just pulled his 3rd tooth. He came in & handed it to me as he was getting ready for bed. I said something to the effect of "aren't you going to put it under your pillow for the tooth fairy?" He told me he knew it was me & daddy who took the tooth & left the money. He said "I know the tooth fairy is not real. Just like I know Santa Clause is not real." We'd had the Santa discussion when he was 4. FOUR! So early in life for a kid to be so serious, and at the same time, so smart. I took the opportunity to make a special memory - with the tooth, by pulling out his baby book & showing him the tooth chart where I had written in the dates when his teeth came in. I had also saved all of the teeth he has lost in tiny baggies & attached them to that same page with the dates he lost them. He thought that was pretty cool. Now when he loses a tooth, he wants to put it in the baby book. A new special memory. :)

With Santa, we talked about how the story of Santa came about. We talked about St. Nicholas, and about giving toys to kids who don't have new toys for Christmas. We talked about the opportunity we have to be Santa for someone else. We have done that every year since... He wraps presents for other little boys who are in need, and we deliver them to the porch, ring the bell, then hide to watch the family find the gifts, complete with tags saying "From Santa". He loves this tradition. Sometimes he wraps up his own toys he no longer plays with, sometimes we go to the store & shop for our special family of the year. One year we actually ended up delivering toys to a family who lived next door to my grandmother. Sometimes we do it by ourselves, sometimes we do it with another family. Each time, we make a special memory.

The truth finding phase is indeed the end of an era, but it is also a chance to make other memories that can be just as special.

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