lots of leftovers

The best part of cooking for a couple of days is NOT cooking for a couple more. We have leftovers galore and we'll be having buffet style meals all weekend. YAY!

Just figured out that my turkey this year cost about 35¢ per pound. What a deal! As I always try to shop the loss leaders in the grocery ads each week, I can't forget that this time of year, turkeys are right on up there as one of the best deals around.

Thanksgiving=cooking

I come by it naturally. I have one of those grandmothers. The one that fills a table with everyone's favorite food just to say "I love you". She cooked amazing Thanksgiving dinners for us to all gather around and celebrate. This year I won't be with her on Thanksgiving, but I will call her to wish her a happy 90th birthday. How awesome!

The day before the big day I am baking pies with the girls. I'm making some deviled eggs as a surprise appetizer for the family. Getting my dinner rolls mixed up. They will rise for a few hours tomorrow while the turkey cooks. I hope to get a couple of casseroles started today too. I am baking my sweet potatoes right now. Then tomorrow is a day of cooking and eating. It will be a great time to be with our family.

Have a happy holiday everyone!

Menu Plan Monday

No menu for this week yet. I am feeling really overwhelmed with what I need to do this week. I do have some ideas for meals for the next couple of days so I can catch my breath a little. I'll try to post our daily menus this week.

revisions

I was planning on making chicken divan last night. Then I saw in my fridge the leftovers from turkey and dumplings last week. It was just the gravy with some turkey and a little bit of veggies. I decided to use that up instead of make something new. So I threw in the end of a huge bag of frozen mixed veggies and plopped some drop biscuits on top. It was a new meal. And cost effective since I didn't start with fresh meat.

I also booked a job interview for nearly dinner time on Thursday. So I will do my lasagna that day so the family can have dinner whether or not I am home in time. And instead of grabbing whole chickens to defrost I grabbed some pieces.

So tonight will be soyu chicken, rice, acorn squash and green beans I think. Then meatloaf tomorrow, pasta on Thursday and maybe breakfast on Friday? I don't even remember what I'd planned now!

Menu Plan Monday

Last week I got really sick on Sunday night. I had an idea of what I wanted to do with my week's menu, but I never posted anything. Thank goodness for that leftover turkey. I was able to use that for leftovers and use some of my best no-plan meal plans. I'll tell you about those later this week. Here's my plan for this week.

Monday-chicken divan

Tuesday-crock pot lasagna, salad and bread (I'm not sure how I'll do this, but the idea intrigues me. I'll let you know!)

Wednesday-meat loaf, roast fingerling potatoes, acorn squash

Thursday- whole roast chicken, baked sweet potatoes, green beans

Friday- chicken tacos/burritos/quesadillas

Saturday- going to a party I think...need to take party food

Sunday- soup in crock pot for after church

Check out more Menu Plan Monday participants here.

should have known

I put the turkey in the over this afternoon dreaming of all the yummy side dishes I could make to go with it.

Then reality hit. The cold that is creeping up on me, really made me want to nap. And then I found out that the neighbor's brew party had been moved to OUR garage.

Umm...there's barely just a path in there. Or I should say there WAS just barely a path in there! We put things away and threw away the stuff that should have gone in the trash long ago. We swept it out. And now it's ready for a party.

I did make some mashed potatoes and gravy and some steamed broccoli to go with the turkey. It was mostly for the littles since D and the boys were busy in the garage. While Aleena was giving them a bath, all three boys came in and wreaked havoc on the turkey. Granted D hadn't really eaten all day, and the kids have eaten hardly anything besides Halloween candy. But my 20 pound turkey? I have some leftovers, most of the breasts to make D's sandwiches this week and a pot of bones to use for stock. I had envisioned a few days of turkey leftovers to use as a base for meals.

I should have known. If it is out there, my family will EAT it! I will make a turkey tetrazzini this week. And have turkey for sandwiches and make a pot of either turkey and dumplings or turkey and noodles. Then there will be stock to freeze and use to make soup later this winter. Yum.

Now it's time to sit and relax for a while. Tomorrow morning I will figure out what party food I will put out. And look for another menu on Monday.