Archive for the ‘Holiday Helps’ Category

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Using up those boiled Easter eggs.

April 13, 2009

As I look in the fridge at the nearly 2 dozen of boiled eggs and smell that funky smell they leave, I am reminded that I need to get them used up.  Some people like to  just eat them as they are with a little salt and pepper, but I like to make stuff with them.

Here are some ideas:

  • A salad with dark greens,  red tomato, purple onion, and a sliced boiled egg with your favorite dressing on top.
  • Egg salad sandwich                Recipe – use about 2 boiled eggs per person.  Remove the shell and rinse.  Smash the eggs with a fork or chop them well.  Combine this with a little salt and pepper and start with about a teaspoon of mayonnaise per person and a drop of mustard (optional).  Mix well and add more mayo until you get the consistency you like- some people like a litttle mayo and some like a lot.  Spread on bread and top with a little lettuce.  You could also add a little bacon or bacon bits or ham to this but warn those who eat it so they don’t mistake the meat for egg shell chunks (lol)
  • Deviled eggs-  if your eggs peel easily (to have them peel easily, you need to use eggs that are at least a couple weeks old from the store or a month old if they were fresh from the farm).            Recipe- Carefully peel and rinse your eggs.  Carefully slice them in half the long way.  Pushing up from the outside slightly you can easily “pop” the yolk out with a teaspoon.  Put the yolks in a small bowl and lay the empty whites on a platter.  Mash the yolks with a fork and add about one teaspoon mayonnaise for every 3-4 eggs.  Add a dash of salt and pepper and a dot of mustard.  Mix well.  If you want a creamier consistency add a little more mayo until you like it.  Refill the whites with the creamy yolk mixture (I use my small cookie scoop, some use a frosting decorator thingy, and some just use a teaspoon and their finger).  If you want to dress them up, sprinkle with Paprika or pepper. 
  • Creamed eggs on toast.     Recipe- Make a thin to medium white sauce (basic recipe found in most cookbooks and on the side of most corn starch containers).  Once thickened, turn to simmer and stir in several sliced boiled eggs and some salt and pepper.  Serve on toast.  To dress this one up a little or make it a more substantial meal, you can also stir in some leftover chopped ham or lay a thin slice of ham on the toast before spooning the creamed eggs on top.  Can also be sprinkled with some shredded cheese.  This is my favorite use of boiled eggs!!
  • Boiled eggs can also be added to chicken or tuna salad to stretch the meat a little further.
  • Boiled egg yolk is sometimes used as a thickener in homemade salad dressing too.
  • Another recipe that I have tried is Hot Chicken Salad (can use ham instead if you like)- it uses boiled eggs.  The one I have tried is:  1 cup chopped chicken, turkey, or ham.  Heated on low with 1 Tbl butter, 1 Tbl water.  When heated through, add dash of salt, pepper, and celery salt.  Stir in 1 Tbl lemon juice, 1/3 c. mayonnaise, 2 chopped boiled eggs and 1/2 c diced celery.  Serve on biscuits.  I found this to be a little thick- if it is for you too, a cream sauce can be added to it or some cream of chicken or celery soup. 
  • I had a recipe for a chicken and boiled egg loaf (like meatloaf) but can’t find it right now.  It was very similar to the chicken salad recipe above but baked in a loaf pan and served like meatloaf.  You can play around with that idea and see what you can come up with!

Anyway, hope that gives you some ideas!  Have fun using up your eggs!

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Cooking for a Crowd

January 7, 2009

I organize the funeral dinners for my church and this past weekend I was given the pleasure of providing the meal for a wedding reception.  Before my kids kept me so busy, I used to be in charge of the meal for the annual 4-H Livestock Banquet in our county.  Throughout these different ventures I have gained a little bit of knowledge about cooking for a crowd.  Here are a few tidbits that might help you the next time you need to plan for a bunch of people!

Coffee: 1 cup of ground coffee to 33 cups of water.  A good rule of thumb is to use about half as much ground as what the instructions on the can actually say.  The more servings you make, the less grounds you actually need.

Punch or other non-alcoholic beverage:  Plan for, at a minimum, double what the suggested serving size says on the container.  To stretch your punch a little bit, you can have water pitchers on the tables or easily accessible.  If your punch seems to be running low, add more 7-UP or whatever you main ingredient is.  No one will know the difference!

Potatoes: 80 lbs of potatoes fed about 250 people at the wedding.  That is approximately 1/4 lb per person.  If you are making scalloped potatoes, you can do slightly less or go by the casserole suggestion below.

Hot vegetables: go with the serving size on the side of the container.

Relish Tray: I would guess  about 2-4 pieces of veggie per person.  Remembering that carrots are the most popular crudette on the platter- Get more of them than you do any other veggie.   Veggie dip, go with the servings on the container.

Salad: We calculated 3 oz per person for the wedding and had way too much.  I would think 1-2 oz per person would be a better guess.  And most people used less salad dressing than the suggested serving size as well.

Hot meat: Boneless meat like roast beef or ham is about 1/4 lb per person.  Bone in meat like chicken is closer to 1/2 lb per person but not more than that.

Lunch meat: There is a trick to this one.  If you pre-make the sandwiches, the meat will go further, as little as 1/8 lb per person.  When people make their own they often over-do it, especially if the meat is shaved instead of sliced.  If you do not want to pre-make the sandwiches, buy your meat sliced (I tell the deli to slice mine as thin as possible while maintaining a whole slice) and have silver-dollar sized buns made.  1 slice: 1 bun: person.  If you think you have to have regular sized buns, go with 2 slices of meat per person.

Pie: The average size pie can be cut into 8 pieces.  Smaller, bought from the freezer case pies are about 6 pieces.

Cake: On an average single layer cake, a 2×2 piece is sufficient.  So, a 9×13 pan would make about 24 servings of just slightly larger than 2×2.

Casseroles:  If the casserole is a main course, you can fit about 12 servings into a 9×13 pan.  If it is a side dish like scalloped corn or green bean casserole, you can use the same 24 servings as you would for cake.

Cold salads: like pasta, potato, pea, etc. One large spoon full per person is a good guess.  That would come out to 1/4 t0 1/2 cup per person. 

Hope this helps!  Feel free to send me a comment if you have something specific you are preparing and don’t know how much.  I’d be glad to offer my opinion!

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#17 Spend some money the day after

December 12, 2008

The day after any given holiday, that is.   The day after Christmas there will be tons of stuff marked down by 50% and by New Year stuff will be 75-90% off.  This is the perfect time to buy wrapping paper, bows, ribbon, gift bags, Christmas cards for next year, etc.  It is also the perfect time to think about gifts you will need to buy in the next year.  Many of the “gift packages” that are pre-packaged, wrapped in cellophane “sets” are perfect for birthdays, graduations, etc.  Some of them may be packaged specifically  for Christmas but you can take them out of the package and re-wrap them and still save a ton of money.  Health and Beauty items can often be bought for pennies on the dollar if you watch the sales and then make sure the cashier rings it up correctly.  Snack foods can also be bought at greatly reduced prices as well.

The key to this is:

  1. Know how much you need
  2. Know what you need
  3. Don’t buy more than you need or will use up in a reasonable amount of time
  4. Don’t buy something that is really cheap unless you already have a plan for what to do with it.

 

Some things that I often buy the day after Christmas are:

  1. Those little lunch bag sized paper/plastic gift bags (.12 or less)- buy enough for my kids classrooms next year
  2. Ribbon- solid colored only- can be used all year round
  3. Wrapping Paper- I keep an eye out for solid colored paper or striped or plaid.  Many of these can work all year round
  4. Gift boxes- go for the plain ones
  5. Gift bags- Walmart often has plain paper ones in silver and gold or red and green
  6. Lotion in gift sets
  7. Foot pampering products
  8. Nuts in gift packages (no one cares at home if the Planter Peanut Man is wearing a Santa Hat or not)
  9. Gummy candy (kids snacks)
  10. Chocolate (we can never have enough- 50%-75% off is a great buy!)
  11. Tablecloths and “real” Napkins (often can find solid colored ones)
  12. Paper Towels and Napkins and Plates (no one cares at home if we eat off of christmas tree covered plates in June)
  13. Ornaments
  14. Christmas Lights (Dollar General had really nice ones last year for .30 a strand- no kidding!!)
  15. Craft Supplies (store them until next November and you are set for many homemade gifts)
  16. Cologne and Perfume (watch for your own favorites as well as to give to others)
  17. Stockings (if we need new ones or to use for gift bags next year)
  18. Christmas Gag Gifts like Coal in it’s own gift bag (.25 last year)
  19. Candy Quick or Chocolate Bark (this can be frozen until next year with minimal changes to it- expensive chocolate for candy making may not freeze as well)
  20. Limited Time only Holiday flavors of creamer, hot drinks, etc.
  21. Cany Canes (can be frozen also- I freeze mine to make peppermint bark the next year)
  22. Pajamas (if your family needs new ones)- may not be greatly reduced but even 25% off helps!
  23. Slippers (if your family needs new ones)- another that may only be 25% off
  24. Long Underwear (may be cheaper yet after new year)
  25. Lip gloss in gift sets
  26. Greeting Cards and Stationery

 

Keep in mind that after each holiday there are significant things on clearance.  Keep a watchful eye this year and then you will start to get a feel for where to shop on the day after the following year!

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More Christmas Fun!!

December 11, 2008
  I love the idea of sneaking to put Christmas ribbon around
all the stuffed animal’s necks! My sons (ages 8,6,4) are
animal lovers and oh what joy they will have to know all
the stuffed animals were included in Christmas! I will add
this to my new plan/fun I have decided on this year. My
plan is to put three gift bags under the tree with each boy’s
name on one. These bags will not hold a gift, but will hold
clues as to where their gifts are hidden! The boys will be
oh so disappointed when they see only one bag each and then
when they see that it only contains paper, well! I just hope
I’m awake to see their faces! I will be having a hay day
watching the boys this Christmas morning!
-

Please visit our website at www.thebratfactor.com.

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Inexpensive Gifts

December 5, 2008

I went to an auction sale yesterday- outside in 20 degree weather and in the afternoon instead of evening.  Needless to say the bidders were of small numbers and everyone wanted things for a little bit of nothing.  I came home with a lot of stuff I didn’t want because they auctioneer would put all the unsold stuff into piles with other stuff and sell the whole pile for one money.  I came home with more than 25 old cookie tins with Christmas decorations on them and nearly a half dozen clear glass candy/peanut jars.  As I was debating on whether to leave some of the stuff there or not (not a good ethical choice to leave it there but to bring it home was not a good choice either!), someone said something about Goodwill Industries.  All of the sudden my brain began thinking about giving instead of what to do with all the junk I had acquired!  I brought  the jars and tins home with me and here is my plan:

Disinfect the glass jars, air dry completely and make rock candy and chocolate covered peanuts and peanut brittle to give a way to the neighbors (I usually make cookies instead of candy but candy will store in these jars better than cookies).  These will also make pretty containers for homemade hot cocoa mix or any “gift in a jar” recipe.

Quickly rinse the tins in soapy water (tin rusts and cleaning needs to be fast to have minimum exposure to moisture) and lay them out on towels to air dry.  Get large, non-ziploc bags (available at our local bulk foods store) to line the tins.  These will then be donated to my church to use for our annual Cookie Tray Ministry.  The ladies of the church all bring in cookies and candy and we divide it all up to give to the shut-ins, elderly, and lonely people in our community.  usuually, we use bakers boxes (like at the local donut shop) or pretty plastic plates with plastic wrap.   If you like this idea but can’t find the bags, you can line the tin with plastic wrap- have it lay over the edge while you fill the container and then just fold the overlap onto the top of the goodies when it is full.

So the inexpensive gift list from those ideas are:

  1. rock candy
  2. peanut brittle
  3. hot cocoa mix or other instant drink mix
  4. cookies
  5. chocolate covered peanuts
  6. gifts in a jar

Some other ideas are:

  1. fudge
  2. peppermint bark
  3. bread
  4. jar of home preserved fruit or relish or salsa
  5. coupons for free babysitting
  6. coupons for other “work” a person would appreciate help with.
  7. coupons for a dozen cookies each month for a year
  8. a pretty picture in an inexpensive frame
  9. homemade christmas ornament
  10. lip gloss or a hot wheel car stuffed into a miniature stocking.

What can my readers think of?  I’d love to make this list huge!!

I will put recipes for simple fudge and simple chocolate covered candy in my “recipes” category.  The Hillbilly Housewife has excellent drink mix recipes (www.hillbillyhousewife.com  btw- I am not associated in any way with that site, I truly love that site and find it helpful with so many things!)  You can also try another wonderful site for candy, cookies, and other holiday recipes:  www.northpole.com  This site also has many wonderful activities for the kids to do !  For gifts in a jar, I don’t know of  any specific site for just those recipes but I like  www.recipegoldmine.com  and www.recipezaar.com

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Pay it Forward

December 3, 2008

My husband and I were at our kid’s school this morning for a meeting.  After the meeting, I spoke with the school counselor.  Our church is adopting a couple families in need from the school district and I was checking in with that as I am the coordinator for church.  Anyway, my husband asked her if there were other needs and if the need is greater this year.  She replied that the requests for Christmas help have doubled this year from last year!!!

Our elementary and middle school does the We Care program.  The kids bring in non-perishable food items that are then distributed to needy families in the community.  The school counselor also contacts families in need and coordinates their needs (anonymously) with churches, agencies, and individuals who then adopt them for Christmas!  There is a non-profit group in the county my parents live in called Santa’s Helpers- this group collects money and gifts for people in need and distributes Christmas gifts to all who qualify.  Our local Clothes and Food Basket (which is open all year) coordinates with churches and agencies to bring in specific things at Christmas for those in need.  

I have heard on the news that many of these Food Pantry places are experiencing greater need this year.  Partly because people are donating less and partly because of increased need.

I implore all of my readers to Pay it Forward or Back!  Many of us have experienced hard times and many of us will experience them in our lifetimes.  Socks and stretchy Gloves cost about $1pair.  Cereal on sale costs $2 a box.  Canned meat costs between $1 and $6 a can.  A canned ham might cost $10.  Fleece blankets are on sale in most department stores for $3- $5.  Helping out is not expensive.  If every single one of us donated one item, the help received would be amazing!  Imagine if each of us donated one grocery bag full of stuff!??!!!

I challenge each of you to leave the lunchables and the ice cream in the store this week.  Use the money you would have spent on those “extra” items instead for non-perishable food items or socks, gloves, stocking caps.  If you do not have a place to donate them to, contact a local church (larger churches often have ongoing pantries or special programs), your local WIC office or Department of Family and Children.  They will direct you to where to take your donations.

Thank you in advance!!!

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First Corinthians 13 for Christmas

November 16, 2008

A friend emailed this forward to me last Christmas. It’s a great reminder of what truly is important!! Enjoy and remember!!

FIRST CORINTHIANS 13
CHRISTMAS VERSION
(paraphrased)

If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny balls,
but do not show love to my family,
I’m just another decorator.

If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies,
preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime,
but do not show love to my family,
I’m just another cook.

If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home
and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family,
It profits me nothing.

If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes,
attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir’s cantata,
but do not focus on Christ,
I have missed the point.

Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love doesn’t envy another’s home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love doesn’t yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way.
Love doesn’t give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can’t.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.

Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost,
golf clubs will rust…
But giving the gift of love will endure.
You can give without loving
but you cannot love without giving.
Merry Christmas!

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Feel like you live in chaos and you don’t know where to start?

March 6, 2008

www.flylady.net  is a wonderful website and group!!!  The flylady helps you stop your stinkin’ thinkin’ so you can be proud of yourself and FLY (finally love yourself).  She believes the key to a well organized home and life is baby steps.  Achieving baby goals/steps helps you feel proud of yourself- that you are worthy of love and respect (from yourself, especially).  Baby steps lead to big steps!!!  Chaos (can’t have anyone over syndrome) is not a necessary part of life!!!  Check her site out and know that you have taken one huge step toward getting your life back!

The flylady does not know that I have promoted her site.  I have been a member for several years now.  Although, some days I cannot tell that I have made progress in my life, when I stop and look back at how I was before the flylady, I know that my baby steps are adding up. 

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Leftover turkey soup

January 5, 2008

Turkey soup:  leftover broth, chopped up carrot, celery, and green onion from veggie tray, leftover turkey, handful of pasta.  Boil.  Now that is easy- truly easy!!!!!! 

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Instant Turkey soup

January 5, 2008
I just made the most wonderful tasting soup- easy, I promise.  It’s not a “Ray friendly” recipe but it was good. I bought some Lipton Dry Vegetable Soup Mix (for that spinach dip stuff- yum!) so I thought I’d get creative with the other packet.
3 cups water
1 envelope Veg. soup mix
1 package Ramen noodles, crunched up to make bite size noodles
1 Ramen noodle seasoning packet
1-2 handfuls of chopped, leftover turkey (or chicken or beef)
Bring water and soup mix to boil.  Turn heat down to low-medium.  Add noodles, seasoning, turkey.  Simmer until noodles are tender.  We had grilled cheese with it.
Enjoy!