Dinners for the Week

With Christmas, visitors, and New Years we've had one snack night after another! There has been easy stuff like frozen appetizers, chips & dip, crackers & cheese, but also lots of recipes. The first two were new to me ~

► Chocolate Toffee Crunch - I was so curious to try these sweet & salty snacks made with Saltines! I worried that you'd need to use a candy thermometer to make the toffee, but you just melt butter, mix in brown sugar, and then pour it in a pan & bake. Super simple and it makes a ton! They were well received but I felt like they were missing something - perhaps a little salt in the toffee layer?

► No-Bake Oreo Cheesecakes - Easy to make, good flavor, but they did not really set when chilled the way I expected. The texture was more like a mousse, which makes sense when you start off by making whipped cream. If I made these again I think I'd skip that step & just fold in some Cool Whip!

► Ginger Scented Pecans - This is the one recipe be *have* to make every Christmas.

► Bacon & Cheese Pinwheels (pictured above) - This & the dip below are old favorites we haven't made in a while. So good!

► Chicken Ranch Dip (pictured below) - 8 oz. cream cheese, 1 packet of Ranch mix, & 10 oz. cooked shredded chicken (I usually use canned). Serve with pretzels!

Christmas Tree Nails

Can you believe this is the first nail art I've done since Halloween? (And I've only painted my nails once since then) I had to force myself to get back to it before I missed all of Christmas.



At first I was planning on doing something like this, but with silver garland (separate from the background color). Then I realized I'd have to tape off the tree, paint the silver, and then sit around with tape on my hand waiting for that to dry before adding the small tape & 2nd color. Never mind! I decided to go with this similar idea instead.

The base is China Glaze "Ruby Pumps" with Kleancolor "Metallic Green" for the tree, topped with Claire's "Bedazzled" for the ornaments. I wish the glittery ornaments showed up a little better against the green, but this is the only larger-glitter topcoat I have! (That might be remedied by Christmas - there is a lot of nail polish on my list!) I tried adding a dot of silver at the top of the tree for a star, but didn't like the look & wiped it off.

Dinners for the Week

Last week we put some of the shredded frozen turkey to good use. And there is still more to use up!

► Turkey Tetrazzini (2 dinners) - We replaced the chicken with turkey in this recipe & it was as delicious as always! I like to half this one - although it would be nice to have a 2nd casserole to freeze it can be a bit hard to mix up everything up.

► Turkey Soup - I mixed 6 cups water, 4 tsp. bouillon (or 4 cubes), 1 tsp. Italian seasoning, 2 cups shredded turkey, 1/2 cup chopped celery, 1/2 chopped carrots, and 1/2 cup uncooked rice. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook about 15-20 minutes until the rice is soft. Made this up on the spot & it was so good!

► Shrimp with Coconut Rice (pictured below)



This week we'll be pulling some of the extra mashed potatoes & stuffing out of the freezer for another Thanksgiving style dinner. We'll see how everything reheats! Tonight we also used some coupons for frozen appetizers & had a snack-y night. But we'll also be cooking ~

► Thai Basil Curry - I probably won't be posting any new 'official' recipes until we are able to replace our nice camera so I can get good shots! But here is a link to the unfinished recipe - shrimp in a sweet coconut basil curry with noodles & veggies.

► Sausage, Lentil, & Kale Stew (2 dinners, pictured below)

Dinners for the Week

Before Thanksgiving we bought a giant turkey while they were on sale & popped it in the freezer. We ate a big meal on Thanksgiving with Justin's family, so we waited until a week after to pull out or own bird. We made our turkey dinner last weekend, with enough leftovers to enjoy for a few meals (lots of lunches) and also freeze a ton for future recipes. This week we made ~

► Turkey dinner (2+ dinners) - with mashed potatoes & gravy, stuffing, green beans (cooked in the crockpot), and some store-bought dinner rolls.

► "Nana's Casserole" with Kielbasa (on the side) - This casserole is a Thanksgiving staple on Justin's side - broccoli, cauliflower, wild rice, French onions, and a creamy-cheesy sauce. We had enough food to make the first night so we decided to make this for a separate meal & then mix-&-match the leftovers as desired.

► Breakfast for dinner - Bought some bacon to cook with the green beans, but we ended up using the turkey neck instead! Oh well. We planned one night with bacon and Belgium waffles or eggs & grits (depending on our mood).

I've already used some shredded turkey in a lunch soup - snagging the broth from my Hot & Sour Soup recipe, I just tossed it in with some thin rice noodles. I've already got lots of ideas for what to do with the rest of it!