Mock Cheddar Broccoli Soup: Freezer Challenge Day 1 report

Day 1 of the freezer challenge went surprisingly well. 

Items used out of the freezer:  Salmon burgers, a bag of organic mixed veggies, a bag of organic broccoli. 

Fridge items used up: 1/2 can of leftover pumpkin  (That's a tough one to incorporate....score!) and 2 cups of homemade chicken stock.

You're not gonna believe what I made; it was so weird, but strangely enough, the addition of pumpkin and coconut milk to broccoli soup makes it look and taste like CHEDDAR broccoli soup!!?!?  There's no way I was going to tell my family "this is pumpkin broccoli soup".  So at first I called it "Autumn Vegetable Bisque"....then when I tasted it I switched the name to "Mock Cheddar Broccoli Soup"!! ;)  Clever Mama.

Sorry I can't be more precise...but here's what I did:

• 1 bag of frozen organic broccoli (not a huge bag, like a 6" x 8" size?)
• 2 c. chicken stock
• 2 c. water
• 1 heaping teaspoon instant chicken flavored base (Vogue Cuisine)

Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer til broccoli is tender enough to blend...

Then add in:

• pumpkin puree--I used about 1/2 to 3/4 c.
• about 1/4 of a can of coconut milk (Native Forrest Organic)

Bend with an immersion blender until smooth. 

Then I seasoned it with:

• 1 tsp Herbamare seasoning
• 1/4 tsp pepper

It was really, really good!  I heated up the leftovers in the microwave this morning and put it in an insulated coffee mug.  I drank it for breakfast on my way in to town.  However the coconut milk does tend to make me a little congested and makes my throat or thyroid swell up a little bit.  Odd reaction, but it happens every time.  So I'll have to come up with some other milk substitute next time.  Cashew milk would be great I think (or cream or half and half, if you can have dairy).

Along with the soup we had wild salmon burgers on GF buns (I used a bottom bun only, and used lettuce leaves for the top) with tartar sauce, and mixed veggies on the side.

It was all a big hit, and made a dent in my freezer stash, so hooray.

Gotta say I am inspired by the soup.  I forget how easy it is to just make a soup really quick to go with dinner, and now that fresh veggies are just not all that great we're eating less side salads, so it's time for side veggies to be in soup form instead for a while.

What came out of your freezer today and how did you use it?

January Freezer Challenge

Hello out there...?!  Did we all survive the Christmas season?  Ready to head quietly into 2014?  Or do you still have energy left to start the new year off with a bang?

Personally, New Year's Eve is sorta' a non-holiday--you know, one of those things where you're grateful to have an extra day off work/school, but there's really not a lot of actual celebration going on.  Remember the whole Y2K fuss and commotion?  People were prepared for the end of the world as we know it--computers crashing; the entire infrastructure of the globe totally imploding.  I believe I was in bed by 10:00 that New Year's Eve.  I remember waking up at midnight when our neighbors set off some fireworks, looking at the clock, seeing that it was still running (meaning there was no power outage) and promptly going back to sleep.  Oh sure, there were times long ago, in college and shortly after, when I'd make the effort to dress up, make plans, and go out, but these days, after Christmas I'm pretty much done; ready to clean up, clean out, get organized again, and back on track.  Hence:  The January Freezer Challenge.

 

Remember all the garden or farmer's market goodies you've stashed away in there for winter?   Or even those grocery store finds you stocked up on when they were on sale?   Well guess what?  It's here!  Winter.  The time you were looking towards back in July and August when you said to yourself  "I'm going to put this away for winter" or "won't these tomatoes (or peppers or berries) taste good in the middle of winter?" 

Here are some items I have that need to be used up:  tomatoes, tons.  peppers, whole and diced--(bell, Serrano, jalapeno), blueberries, dehydrated plums, chicken stock, ground turkey, and more recently I've added two turkey breasts (purchased fresh at Thanksgiving), leftover homemade cranberry sauce, some chicken strips, one enchilada casserole, and some cooked ground beef.  Those are my first targets. 

Now...I figured out the best way to deal with those frozen whole tomatoes.  Remember?  In August I just washed them, froze them whole, and bagged them up.  Ok, the first time I tried to use them I thought it was a huge hassle because I stuck them in the microwave...bad idea.  This time (I made fiesta chicken soup out of some yesterday) I set them out on the counter for a while until they thawed a little bit, then when I was able to easily cut out the core I did that...then ran under hot water for a second...skins slipped right off.  I let them thaw further in the fridge and then popped them into the blender for puree.  They were Romas so I didn't worry about the seeds.  Oh my goodness, they were heavenly in soup.  I will absolutely be doing tomatoes this way again next year.

I have one of the turkey breasts thawing.  I'm going to roast it in my Pampered Chef deep covered baker...so tender and moist that way.  Then make sandwiches, wraps, soups and whatever else out of it.

Other challenge items coming out this week:  whole bell peppers.  I washed them and cored them and froze them whole in the summer.  This week they are getting stuffed with a beef mixture for a stuffed pepper dinner.  Berries:  I have a huge bag of frozen Costco berries, as well as local blueberries I froze in season.  I still have tons of fresh apples too...so I'm thinking apple/berry sauce, crisps, and maybe some muffins.

Tomatoes:  Those are coming out of the freezer and going to become fresh tomato soup to go with lunch sandwiches and wraps.

New Years' Resolutions?  Those, to me, are akin to "dieting"...lofty goals that seem inspiring at first, but quickly turn defeating.  No, I prefer to just keep refining, keep tweaking, keep reforming...no radical revolution that burns brightly for a moment then fizzles out, but instead the slow and steadily burning flame of permanent change. 

For instance:  I know for sure that eating "paleo", or caveman-like, is really the best thing for my body, personally.  But for me to say:  "Ok, Janury 1st it's gonna be full-on Paleo!  No grains or dairy or sugar will ever pass my lips again!"  Really?  That's not realistic, and is a recipe for failure, or worse, a cycle of "dieting".  No, I'm just looking at recent weeks and going "hmm, I see my skin is breaking out, my belly is bloated, and my thyroid is swollen...so what have I been putting into this system that has caused this change?"  Well...a few unusual things:  holiday foods, dairy, sugar, and I'm noticing a habit of eating carby-GF grains in the morning has emerged:  GF muffins and breads have become the norm, not an occasional treat.  Ok, so, quit buying so much GF bread--switch that muffin for an egg and veggie cup (made in muffin tin) and we'll soon see change.

Exercise?  I notice that during the holidays my priorities have switched to getting things done for Christmas, because there was a time factor to consider--the 25th was coming, and was not going to wait for me.  But now that it's over it's time to shift back to thinking about getting outside each day in a manner that is more important that other things, not less.  Now, other things can wait.  Before they could not, but now they can, and they will.  I knew that this lower-priority place that exercise had taken was going to be temporary, and now it's back to situation-normal.  No crazy burst of gym-membership buying, and workout clothes to purchase...just a shift of thought from "teacher gifts and Christmas cards have to come first today", to "getting out with my dog for a couple miles comes before other things".  A priority shift.  A re-evaluation of the hours of each day and what is most important.

What are the shifts taking place in your life now as we head into January?  Want to take the freezer challenge with me?  Let's get those goodies out of their frozen holding pattern and awaken those nutrients once again to nourish us in the cold months.  All the while making room in those freezers for a February freezer cooking marathon that will bless us with a bit of extra time come spring, when life will start to get very busy again.  Feel free to comment, and tell us what's coming out of your freezer this week.

Another crock party?!? And make-it-yourself taco seasoning...

If you are looking for a way to get together with people this Christmas season, without much work for anyone, and sharing the expense, may I recommend a pot-luck taco bar?

Last night I had a fun taco-bar fellowship with some of my girlfriends.  It was a super-quick way for us to just grab a bite to eat for dinner and make the best possible use of the 45 minutes we had to hang out, catch up and share all that's new in our lives.  Actually, the conversation turned to family Christmas traditions--so really, all that's "old" in our lives! ;) 

I love to hear people's traditions and what they recall most in terms of childhood holiday memories...the things that really stand out in their minds and make Christmas, well...Christmas, for them. 

Surprisingly enough, I bet if you ask your friends the question "What do you remember most about Christmas" it would not be the gifts, but rather the small things.  One of my friends warmly recalls a yearly gingerbread man, dressed in frosting "lederhosen", made with love, and sent to all the children in her family by an elderly relative.

For me, I recall all the little Norwegian traditions of Christmas at my grandparents' house--lefse, the first-course of oyster stew, the lutefisk (ok I never actually ATE the lutefisk), and the coins left under the plate, to be kept by the head of the household, until after the new year, in the hopes that the amount would multiply exponentially in the year to come!  Funny thing is, my grandparents lived in a small, humble, single-wide mobile home, but at Christmas everyone fit in it just fine!  No one worried that it was small, or humble.  There was a welcoming spirit, and room for everyone:  aunts, uncles, children, tree and tables.  It was not the size of the home, or the elaborateness of the décor that made it special; it was the people.

Those old Norwegian family traditions are not all carrying through to the new generation.  Some are.  Lefse simply will not be put out to pasture!  But now there are also new traditions, specific to our family, and Christmas unfolds much the same way each year.

A taco bar may not seem very Christmas-y, but it helps that someone also brought Christmas fudge and cookies, and adorable little pecan tassies, and we had some Christmas music in the background--a little 45 minute respite to sit, eat, laugh, and just be in the moment together.  The best part is no one really had to go to a lot of work. We all brought bits and pieces of the meal.  One person brought cheese, one tortillas, one salsa, two brought treats, etc.  Paper plates, Christmas napkins, and we were all totally happy.  No need to obsess.  We met in a central location, had folding chairs and just held our plates on our laps.  No need for anything more.  I find that if you just put out a list of what food is needed, people fill it.  My part was taco meat.  I made it up on the stovetop and transferred it to a warm 4 qt crock--my "travel" crock with the lock-down lid.  It stayed nice and warm for serving, and the leftovers patiently waited on "low" for 2 hours after our meal, until I was ready to store it in the fridge.

Now, in a pinch I'll use taco seasoning from Costco, but I far prefer to make own--it tastes better and I know exactly what's in it, and can alter it to my family's tastes and needs.  I also like to use organic corn starch in my taco seasoning, so that I know it's GMO-free.

Taco Seasoning

Originally this recipe came from www.recipezaar.com and is called "Fajita Seasoning Mix".  I just increased the cumin, used organic cornstarch, changed the amounts of some other seasoings, and switched the sugar for sucanat.  I quadrupled the recipe because I go through a lot of it.

1/4 c. organic cornstarch
2 T, plus 2 tsp. chili powder
1 T. salt
1 T, plus 1 tsp paprika
1 T sucanat
1 T, plus 2 tsp chicken bullion (I use Vogue Cuisine brand--it's reduced sodium, gluten-free and no MSG, available in health food stores)
4 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp cumin

Combine ingredients, and store in a glass quart jar in the fridge.  2 TBSP of the finished mix equals 1 pkg store-bought seasoning.  I usually also add water when I go to season my taco meat...I don't know...1/4 cup?  Just add a little, and then add more if you need to.

Enjoy the season friends.  Don't be overwhelmed by "entertaining".  The main thing is to just do it.  Share a meal, or even just a cup of tea and a cookie.  It doesn't need to be difficult, and no one is examining your house with a magnifying glass!  It's the fellowship that matters, not the gourmet cuisine.  Just like it's the yearly childhood gift of a special gingerbread man, and not the expensive gifts that remain in their minds years later...it's the time together, and not the elaborate-ness of the spread, or the perfection of your house that people will remember.

Chai Tea Latte, dairy-free

I just had to try to squeak in one more stamp night before Christmas.  So many great Christmas projects, so little time.

Tonight's event was a weeknight version of the 5 project stamp night I did on Friday.  So many friends had office parties and other things going on that night, so this was the mini-version, to give them a little bit of fun, on a limited time budget.  I call it an "express" workshop.  60 minutes, one make-and-take project, and a little treat.

 The make-and-take project was this cute ghiradelli chocolate holder.  It's hard to see, but under the snowman there's "dazzling diamonds" glitter for the snow.  I simply adore this sweet little "Frosty" stamp.  I just keep coming back to it over and over again.

Here's what it looks like inside.

I wanted this event to be truly 60 minutes for the sake of my sweet friends who have little kids that need to get to bed, and who work full-time and don't have a lot of extra time in their lives to spare.  I was totally done with talking, demo and make-and-take; and treats were served in 60 minutes, but they were chatting and ended up staying 2 hours instead!  I was thrilled because I love having people here and wanted them to stay and have fun, but I was surprised that they did, with their time constraints.  I guess they need creative fun and sweet fellowship as much as I do.

I think hot drinks are very nice for these cold evening parties, so  I decided to try something different and do a dairy-free chai tea latte.

One word to the wise on adding hot items to a crock pot:  do make sure the crock pot is already warm.  You don't want to add hot liquids to a cold crock because you runt he risk of shocking and cracking the stoneware.  The solution is to put some liquid into the crock and get it heating up beforehand.  Don't heat it with nothing inside though, that is also not good for your stoneware.  For instance, on Thanksgiving...remember all that hot food that went into my crocks to keep warm?  I had heated them up for a little while beforehand, with a few inches of water inside.  When I went to add the hot food I just used pot holders, picked up the stoneware and dumped the water out, then added in the hot food.

So for this chai latte I used my 4 qt black crock pot.  Into the crock went:

• 32 oz carton unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 TBSP honey
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 "tea bags" of ground mulling spices

Along with:

• 6 cups water
• 6 Oregon Chai tea bags

that I had already made into tea on the stovetop.

I boiled the water on the stovetop, then steeped the 6 tea bags in it for 4 minutes, then added that tea to the other ingredients in the crock pot and put it on low for a couple of hours, but even with the addition of the cinnamon sticks and the mulling spices, it ended up still being a bit diluted, and not spicy enough for me. 

Next time I would just follow the instructions on the box, and double it.  It says to use 4 1/2 c water and 1 1/2 c. milk--bring to a boil and steep tea bags 2 to 4 minutes, add honey.  Much simpler, and I think it would be better to have steeped the tea in the coconut milk as well as the water.

However if you really want to go simple, just buy the chai in the box, add milk of choice, combine in the pot to warm it, and you're good to go!  I did not do that because it has too much sugar for me.  I wanted to control the amount of sweetener and use honey instead of cane sugar.

Leave a ladle alongside the pot with a note to warn guests that the chai is very HOT!  That's the main problem I am having with crock pot beverages is that they really are too hot of a serving temperature so I'm always worried someone will get burned, so I end up nagging: "be careful, it's really hot"...but the "warm" setting is not quite hot enough after a while, so.  Whadayado?  I guess the only other alternative is to make your hot drinks and keep them the proper temp in big thermoses for easy serving.

Switching gears on you...does anyone else battle with the uncontrollable urge to hibernate this time of year?  I mean truly hibernate?  As in a full-system shut down til spring?  All my life, right about this very week in December I get mentally slow and foggy, tired, do not want to eat (nothing looks or sounds very good), or think, or move, but just be still.  Not sad or depressed, just s-l-o-o-o-w, and apathetic.  Something about the day length and the cold just flips a switch in me.   

In like fashion, when the days start to lengthen out, early March, it's like I start waking up again.  Food looks vibrant and smells fragrant again, and interest and vigor returns to me.  Summer is like being young again.  Free and unfettered.  I love bare feet and intense heat.  Winter, on the other hand, is like carrying a heavy burden a long distance, weighed down by several pounds of clunky awkward clothing, and cement boots. 

There's no "syndrome", and nothing "disordered" about this phenomenon in my opinion, just the natural state of the natural world...and friends, as much as we love our iphones and high-speed internet, in reality, we are creatures of the natural world too, responding to cues in the weather and the seasons.  What could be more natural than to tuck in tight, sleep, conserve energy, and wait it out til spring?  

Mama bears just innately know they need to settle into the cave, curl up with their little ones, and simply survive the cold dead of winter.  They were made this way, with instincts given to them by their Creator, which is how they have continued to live on, season to season, throughout the years since the earth was made.   I know for sure that experiencing this same urge for "down time" each winter is how I was created.  The cyclical nature of this state each and every year is as sure and as powerful as the tides, and as constant as the steady coming and going of the sun and the moon and the seasons.  It's yet another fingerprint of our orderly, consistent, and faithful God.  There are vibrant, green, youthful, wakeful times, and then there are quiet, still, almost dead times.  But without fail, spring always comes back, and out of death new life emerges.  Now is hibernating time, but I can rest in this state, knowing that in March, this hibernation instinct in me will go away.  It always does.  It never fails.  As sure as the sun and the moon rise and set in the proper time, this desire to hibernate will leave me, only to return next December in the proper time.

But we are humans, not bears, and life goes on.  Staying home and being still until spring just can not happen.  The family still needs to be fed, and there are events and weekly routines to maintain.  As much as I love being outside, (and my body still really needs the exercise and fresh air, now that it's so cold), getting out to exercise is something I have to really force each day.  Some days it's so cold I'm just giving in and staying home, but somehow that has to change. 

Now that I'm done with stamp parties for this month (which were very fun to do, a great diversion from the usual routines...and have helped me step out of the daily grind of cooking, cleaning, errands and responsibilities for a few days! ;) it's time now to buckle down, kick myself with some spurs, force myself awake, and do what I need to do.   The old Nike theme:  Just Do It.  Cooking, exercise...just. do.  it.

Next week:  freezer cooking.  If I can get in two good days of prep work life can be a lot nicer for a few weeks.  I'll keep you in the loop.

Spicy Apple Cider--A crock pot stampin' party

Yes, you heard correctly...my crock pots just can't get enough.  They like to "party all the time, party all the time, party all the tiiiiiiiiiiime".  (Showing my age with that song quote.)

Last night it was a Stampin' Up! Christmas stamp camp.  Years ago I used to be a Stampin' Up demonstrator.  I loved it a lot.  Stampin' Up!'s 25th anniversary is this year.  They sent out a special invitation to past demos to see if we wanted to return...I thought "why not???"  So here we are.  I'm back, and loving it more than ever! 

After last night I'm remembering what I adored most about doing SU!, and that is meeting new girlfriends to craft with!  Another aspect I love is the creative process of designing and prepping the make-and-take projects, then the reward of seeing ladies relax and enjoy some crafty time together.  The more laughing and fun, the better.  Women need creative time.  We just do.  It's part of us.  I've never seen anyone not enjoy a stamp party.

And one very important aspect of any great stamp party is treats!  I had planned to have the event at our little community clubhouse, but at the last minute I decided to move it to my house instead.  It was a lot more cozy and warm, and there's something so sweet about having people in my home.  Plus, all my stuff is here, so that helps. 

I threw a taco soup into the crock pot for the family so I wouldn't have to worry about dinner, then set up a beverage bar with my keurig for coffee and tea, and put a spicy apple cider into my 4 qt crock.

Spicy Apple Cider

• 2 2 qt containers of apple cider
• mulling spices
• oranges (I used mandarins, cuz that's what I had)

Put apple cider into crock and turn crock on low for about 3 hrs.   Add in several bags of ground mulling spices--I let it steep about 15 minutes, but probably could've gone longer, or used more spices, it wasn't quite spicy enough for me.  Remove spice bags, top with orange slices, turn to "warm" and leave a ladle alongside so people can help themselves.  WARNING:  it will be HOT for a while!  (You might want to leave a little  note to warn guests that it's extremely hot.)

I also served store-bought biscotti (not GF, so sadly I didn't get any...) and other people brought snacks too share too.  It was that easy.

Today I heated up some of the leftover cider, diluted with water, and steeped a chai tea bag in in for 5 minutes...yum!  It adds a nice hit of caffeine that way, from the black tea.

All in all, I'm pretty sure people had fun. 

I so luv my crock pots.  It was nice to be able to enjoy my own party, knowing that people could just help themselves whenever that want, and that my family had hot soup to eat whenever they wanted to eat it.  Nice to let my crocks play hostess while I just had fun.

One of the tables, all set up to stamp.

 

I made these little treats for everyone--Hershey's chocolate nuggets all dressed up like snowmen!

And these are the 5 projects we made last night....

This little  card that opens up and inside is a pocket for a ghiradelli chocolate square.

 

Hedgie card

 

Snowman card from the stamp set "Snow Day"

 

Frosty card

 

 

Santa pants...the perfect holder for tiny candy canes, or a stack of Hershey's nuggets.

Blueberry Apple Crisp Freezer Test

I updated my Blueberry Apple Crisp Post.  But since no one is probably going back to look, just thought I'd let you know.

I took one of the frozen kits I made out and thawed it in the fridge, then dumped it into a 9x13.  Baked it up and gave it a try.  Not bad!  Not as good as fresh though, in my opinion. 

The benefit is that it only took about 10 seconds and NO dishes what-so-ever to have this dessert in the oven!  (and that counts for a lot in my book...), but the drawback is that the texture of the apples was a bit softer than I like.  The fresh version is more firm, and less juicy.  The frozen one tasted the exact same, but the apple texture was much softer, and there was more liquid in the bottom of the pan. 

So, bottom line:  if you are serving this with ice cream, it probably makes no difference at all.  But if you want the apple crisp to be the star of the show, it would be better to make it fresh. 

I think from now on I might compromise and make up kits with just the topping, and the blueberries.  Then when I go to bake it, just use fresh apples.

8 minutes to chicken tacos

I can finally say that all the Thanksgiving leftovers have been officially handled. 

The mashed potatoes topped a beefy shepherd's pie last night (the leftover carrots also made their way into that one...), the cranberry sauce (made with fresh orange juice, ginger, honey, maple and cinnamon) went into the freezer--I'm going to pull that out later for a quick cranberry chicken bake, and a gluten free cranberry cake.  The turkey stock has been frozen, and there's only one precious piece of lefse left.  After that--done.

So, onward with the quest:  getting dinner done on a daily basis; healthfully, economically, and with a minimum of time, effort and fuss.

Enter:  8 minute chicken tacos.

Who out there has a pressure cooker?  No??  Well Sister, put one on your Christmas list!  Hopefully Santa will bring you one of these time-saving, sanity-saving devices.

I know, I know, sounds like something your grandma used in her kitchen, right?  Well, perhaps.  But pressure cookers have come a long way baby, and now they are making a comeback, and totally hip once again. 

I'm no expert on pressure cookers, but here are a few basics:  get a stainless steel one, not aluminum.  Make it big enough to be worth your while--mine is a 6 qt  Fagor brand pressure cooker.  And make sure you're getting a pressure COOKER, not a pressure CANNER...they are two totally different things.

Here are two great reference books:  Miss Vickie's Big Book of Pressure Cooker Recipes, by Vickie Smith, and Cooking Under Pressure by Lorna Sass.  Miss Vickie's is my fave because it has super-useful charts for cooking anything and everything basic, like chicken thighs, breasts, whole birds, all meats, beans, veggies, etc.

Read the instruction manual that comes with your pressure cooker. They are really easy to use. 

Here's a "go-to" thing I do a lot:

Chicken thighs (if it's just one pkg about 1 1/2 lbs. I just throw them into the pressure cooker and add 1/2 cup water.  Lid on, bring up to pressure, and then pressure cook for 8 minutes.  If it's two pkgs it takes about 3 minutes longer.  Release pressure by running cold water over the lid.  Let them cool enough to shred.  Season with taco seasoning.  Serve with all the fixin's.  Seriously, it's that quick, and ya got one pot to clean.

This was yummy with black olives, salsa, and guacamole on a GF tortilla.

 



Kinda lovin' on my pressure cooker lately.  It totally makes quick work out of just about anything, and I'm here to tell you it makes the tenderest, juiciest chicken of ANY cooking technique out there.  Any.  It really is the very best way to cook chicken, in my opinion.

Well, what else is up this week? 

Ah yes, gluten free, dairy free chocolate biscotti...I'm going to give it a shot, I'll let you know what happens.  Hopefully I will get to it at some point this week.  I'm doing a Stampin' Up! Christmas Stamp Camp Friday night, so hopefully I will have some successful biscotti to munch on with my girlfriends as we stamp to our little hearts' content!

Still Workin' Those Thanksgiving Leftovers...Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

I have two favorite days of the entire year:  4th of July and Black Friday.  In fact, I think if I had to choose, Black Friday would come in first.  And it's not for the reason you'd think.  No, I'm not much of a shopper.  In fact, I hate shopping (except on the internet).  And I hate getting up early.  But I LOVE....repeat, LOVE(!) Black Friday....no getting up early for me, and I never leave the house. 

No, Black Friday has a whole other meaning for me than for most people.  It means NO COOKING  and NO CLEANING,  because after a week of Thanksgiving prep work, all the cleaning is done, and there's a house full of leftovers to eat, which means everyone is on their own. 

For one precious day, I get to sleep in, then drink coffee, and read, or blog, or read blogs, to my little heart's content.  And I get to do some stamping (card making with rubber stamps), or crafting, or whatever I want to do.  I don't have to think about meals even ONCE, for an entire day...oh it's so sweet.  SO sweet.   Just a little taste of heaven.  It's Mama's turn to have a holiday.

I did do one thing on Black Friday though...I took the drumsticks and wings of the turkey carcass and made stock in my pressure cooker.  I gotta say, this is my new favorite way of making stock.  It's simply turkey (or chicken or beef) bones, bay leaves and peppercorns, and a bit of vinegar (when I remember to add it), onions and celery if they are available, and water.  Bring it up to pressure and cook 35 minutes.  Release the pressure by the natural method (just remove from burner and let it cool until it's depressurized), and voila...some of the richest, most beautiful stock you've ever seen.  AND it doesn't tie up my slow cooker all day, or infest the house with the smell of stock (which is lovely, but not when it lingers on our clothes for three days....).

Saturday I used that gorgeous stock to make turkey and wild rice soup.  I threw it in the crock pot at 8:00, then we headed outdoors for some fun in the sunny but COLD weather.  When we returned home at 1:30, hungry and cold, it was ready to eat--so warming with a cup of hot coffee and leftover piece of gluten-free lefse (a Norwegian flatbread made out of mashed potatoes). 

This soup is truly one of my all-time favorites.  The original comes from Stephanie O'Dea, and is located right HERE.  It's fabulous on it's own, but I've made changes to suit my family's tastes, so I'm going to give you my version:

8 cups turkey stock
3 to 4 cups water
2/3 c. uncooked wild rice
1 cup chopped celery
1 T. dehydrated onions
1 cup chopped carrots
1 tsp poultry seasoning
about 1/4 c. dehydrated kale (broken into little flakes)

Add all of the above to 6 qt crock pot.  Cook on HIGH for 5 to 6 hrs. (until rice is soft and thoroughly cooked and veggies are tender)

Then add:

Whatever Turkey meat you have leftover, chopped or shredded.
Season with salt and pepper to taste (usually I use about 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper)

Serve and enjoy.

I never add cooked meat until the end of the cook time, because all that does is leave you with rubbery, tasteless chunks of what-used-to-be delicious, tender meat!  The soup is plenty hot at the end of 5 or 6 hrs.  I just toss the chopped meat in, give it a stir for a few minutes til it heats through.

That's all there is to it.  This soup is super-simple to make, chock-full of nutrients, and delicious to boot.  AND, it heats up beautifully the next day for lunch.  I almost like it even better then next day.

Well, enjoy friends.  Today I'm making a beefy shepherd's pie topped with the leftover dairy-free mashed potatoes.  See, I'm still eeking it out around here.  Gathering up some fragments, and saving myself some effort in the process.  I'll report on the shepherd's pie tomorrow...until then, soup on my dears.  

Here's one of the Christmas cards I made on Black Friday.  This is the front of the card...

 

And this is the back!