Fabulous Food Friday

Do you still have turkey leftovers, are you getting tired of turkey sandwiches?

Well, let me come to your rescue! Today I'll be showing you how to use phyllo dough to turn ordinary leftovers in to an extra special meal that tastes as impressive as it looks.

Don't be afraid of the phyllo!!! If you've never used it before there are a few things to keep in mind.
• It's found in the freezer at the grocery store (near the pie crusts and frozen desserts)
• It will need to be thawed in your refrigerator overnight
• It dries out fast, so wrap up the unused phyllo and keep in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

To start out, remove enough phyllo dough (I used about 4 sheets) and store the rest in the refrigerator. Starting with the bottom layer, brush on melted butter (or use cooking spray) until you have layered all the layers with butter.

Next spread on your leftovers. I put mine in rows, starting with the mashed potatoes, stuffing and then turkey.


Over the leftovers I added a sauce too keep it moist. Sauce: 1 cup sour cream combined with 4-6 T Dijon mustard. I used Sara Lee Garden Pepper Trio Dijon Mustard with jalapeno peppers and it was yummy! Next, fold over top and bottom edge and brush on an egg wash over entire exposed surface. This will keep it from drying out while you are working and it will help "stick " it all together.

Using a sharp knife, cut the phyllo starting at the leftovers all the way to the edge of the phyllo. Do this all the way down on both sides (about every inch to inch and a half). Now you have strips which you can fold over towards the center, alternating sides. (my camera batteries went dead, so I don't have a photo of this step!)

When all the strips have been folded into the center, brush over the entire top of the phyllo with the egg wash.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes and you're done...

Now pair with some leftover cranberry sauce and a salad and you've got dinner!

Now you see me...Now you Don't

Don't worry, I'll still be here, but you won't see much of me. Here's why:

All of the solid bars represent birthdays (7 of them are family birthdays)...How do I keep track of all these birthdays? A few years ago I signed up for Birthday Alarm and now a reminder comes to my email box. It's great!

The remainder of the calendar is filled up with Awanas, volunteer time, doctor's appointments and Christmas programs...See you in January! (of course I will continute to post on my blogs, LOL)

Adventures in my Kitchen

This
weekend it was do or die for my Hood River apples. Several had already gone bad. I borrowed the canner from my mom and on Sunday afternoon, I began canning apple pie filling. I hadn't made this recipe for pure goodness in about 5 years or so and I was a little rusty. I had to process my second batch twice to make sure that the lids were sealed nice and tight. The syrup from my first batch didn't thicken up quite right, so I hope it will still make a good pie. I'll be more confident next year and hope to make twice as much.

Do you realize how much salt is in your food?

A LOT!!! Just for fun try finding something in your pantry that isn't loaded with salt. I think this is going to be harder than I thought. At first when the doctor said to avoid salt/sodium I just nodded my head and thought "okay great...no more crackers and chips, reduce my cheese intake, okay...I get it." No problem, right?

Then today I had a bit of trouble finding food to eat for lunch. Normally I would have a weight watchers meal or a diet bagel, toasted with ham and cheese, v-8 or low cal yogurt and carrots or apple...most of these are now off limits... To the pantry I go. Soup...no, risotto...no, sandwich...without cheese and cold cuts, what's the point? Weight watchers frozen meals...oh, my no...salt, salt, salt. I ended up making a rolled whole wheat tortilla with a small amount of peanut butter and dried cranberries. Not filling, so I am in the kitchen again looking for food. Carrots, yes, banana bread...kind of okay, and lots and lots of water!

All day I have been thinking about how I love to cook and how that will all change...or at least how I will be cooking will change. I was also thinking about all the salty foods I have eaten lately...Thanksgiving (gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole), Chinese food (soy sauce, fried rice), Olive Garden (soup and bread sticks) even some salads with the dressings and sunflower seeds.

I'm not really even in mourning about reducing my dairy (yet) because I am so overwhelmed by checking the labels for sodium. I spoke with my Nephrologist on the phone today and he told me my blood work came back fine (checking for abnormal parathyroid). I asked to be referred to a dietitian to help sort this all out and he was going to get back to me. Until then, I feel like I am just not sure what is really "safe" to eat. This frustration is all very much compounded by my on-going quest to "eat right" and loose weight.

Really it all boils down to this...I'm going to have to make most of my food from scratch. Packaged food is made up of so much chemical garbage and TONS of sodium... and I'm going to have to eat more fruits and veggies for crunchy snacks instead of crackers or popcorn.

Sorry I am rambling on tonight...this was mostly intended to be therapeutic for me. Kudos to you if you have actually read this whole mess!!!

Cut the Cheese!

Today I had an appointment near Good Sam. Hospital (NW Portland) at 4 pm to meet my Nephrologist. My mom drove me there early and we spent an hour and a half window shopping on NW 23rd beforehand. After warming up with a peppermint mocha at Starbucks, we walked back to the medical office (which was way more complicated to find than all my other doctor's offices). My doctor was really easy to talk to and explained things really well. From what I understand, it seems my right kidney has a problem eliminating waste from acidic foods which in turn causes extra calcium to be released in an effort for my body to try to regulate it's ph. This extra calcium, when combined with another element (maybe phosphorus)...forms kidney stones. He said I am lucky because it can be resolved by changing my diet...I need to increase the water I drink, and decrease my salt and dairy intake. (AKA cut the cheese). In theory this seemed like this wouldn't be hard to do, but then I came home and looked at all the food we have that contain these things...soup, rice cakes, crackers, v-8 juice, cheese, salad dressing and pretty much all processed food (which I try to limit, but lately has crept back into my pantry). So it looks like I am left with fruit, veggies and rice!!! (LOL!) I need to increase my intake of acidic foods (citrus, tomatoes, etc) in an effort to force my kidneys to flush out the acid by overwhelming the system with it. He recommended I have the juice of 2 lemons daily in my water.

I know there are serious health benefits to all these modifications regardless of my kidney issues, so I am looking forward to making my body healthy...but it will be challenging planning meals until I get the hang of these changes...especially reducing cheese, my comfort food!

It's Caturday!

Actual Firefox logo...good work kitty kitty!

Fabulous Food Friday

Yesterday afternoon I decided to take a nap (because I was one of the crazies who got up at 5 am to shop!). Before doing so I grabbed a few handfuls of Cheeze-it crackers. When I woke up from my nap I had a horrible migraine and I really felt it was from the all the salt intake from Thanksgiving, but then I looked at the ingredients in the crackers and MSG was listed. Since MSG is linked to migraines I will blame my troubles on the crackers.

Since I was hugging the toilet all night, I didn't get back to update my blog with a Fabulous Food Friday...so here it is:

Last Wednesday was Zander's preschool Harvest program and feast...see him giving a thumbs up when he finds us in the audience!!!

After lots of cute songs, we headed over to the feast where we had fruit salad, corn bread, pumpkin pie and pumpkin "s'mores." We dished up Zander's plate and set it at the table to hold his place while we got food for the the other kids. When we got back to our table Zander's plate was gone...and of course, there were no more "s'mores left, which made Zander sad.

I went into the kitchen to ask for the recipe and told Zander we would make them at home.

Pumpkin S'mores
1 C. cool whip
1/4 C. Canned Pumpkin Pie Mix

Graham Crackers (I found gingerbread flavored crackers)

Mix cool whip and pumpkin pie mix. Spread on crackers and top with crackers. Freeze until ready to eat. Tasty!

So easy...the kids will love to make them!

Thanksgiving Details

The Kid's Table

On Monday I got a wild hair and decided to make some fun kid's place mats. I had seen similar ones at Pottery Barn, but never could justify ordering them...On Tuesday as I was cutting them out, I realized I was crazy...then by Wednesday I was wishing I just ordered them from Pottery Barn. They turned out better than I anticipated...you can see a more detailed photo on my Paper Capers craft blog.

The Grown-up's Table
No cute place mats here, but lots of fun pumpkins.

The Thanksgiving Spread
Our Dinner
Warm Jalapeno-Artichoke Dip served with Whole Grain Mini Bread Rounds
Rolls with my yummy homemade Pumpkin Spread
Veggies and Dip
Green Salad
Green Bean Casserole
Andrea's homemade Cranberry Sauce
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Turkey Gravy
Mom's homemade Stuffing with Cranberries and Apples
I tried Pioneer Woman's recipe for Sweet Potatoes (*highly recommended!)
Andrea's amazing Turkey
and what Roush holiday would be complete without Aaron and Tami's Pink Stuff!
Andrea also made a Pumpkin Pie and a Lemon Meringue Pie, but we were too stuffed to eat dessert.

Here is the yummy cranberry sauce.

Sweet Potatoes (photo from Pioneer Woman Cooks)

Andrea made a really good turkey...mmmm!

The Roush Family Thanksgiving
When we all get together, there are 10 adults to squeeze around the table. Sadly, we don't own a very large dining table (and there is always about 3 different pairs of mismatched chairs), but it makes for a very cozy get together.
Mom and Dad (with his broken arm!)

Alyssa and Dan

Chucky, Tami and Aaron
John and Andrea
and their baby, Brandon's first Thanksgiving:
mmm...celery!

Toni and Chucky...oh, I mean Dan and Chucky. (Toni couldn't make it because she had to be to work at 3:45 am for the Black Friday Sales)

Happy Thanksgiving!

As I was driving home from Sharon's house I caught Mt. Hood looking mighty spectacular.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Mine was crazy busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. The only way for holidays not to be hectic is to eliminate spending time with one family or another, but then we feel like something is missing.

Wednesday night we went out with Greg and Christina to Claim Jumpers. I ordered the macadamia nut crusted halibut and it was to die for...so good with the coconut sauce and rice...and the monster eclair we all split for dessert was also amazing...a feast for the tastebuds, for sure!

Everyone was able to fit around Sharon's new table.

This afternoon, my sister Andrea came over to cook the turkey and help me out in the kitchen while I was eating Thanksgiving lunch with Dan's mom and his siblings.

By the time dinner was ready, the kids were already in their dress up clothes.

I left early to get everything set up for my family to come over for dinner. It was great to spend time with everyone who could make it today/tonight and I would love to elaborate, but I have plans to get up early for Black Friday sales! I'll post more details tomorrow.

In search of the Perfect Advent Calendar

For the past...well, since Natalie was a baby, I have been searching for the perfect (affordable) advent calendar. As kids we had a paper advent calendar that we re-used every year. Then as we got older we upgraded to the kind with chocolate inside. I always thought it was fun to open up the little paper door and peek at what was on the inside...and sometimes I would even sneak a peek at the next couple days...cause I just couldn't wait!

Now that I have kids I want to carry on this fun tradition, but there are so many different kinds of advent calendars out there I'm not sure which to pick.

If you are made of money, this advent calendar from FAO Schwartz can be yours for a mere $1,125:
Pottery Barn has one listed for $99 that is really cute:

And Target (who I love for all their Pottery Barn knock offs) offers this for only $29:

Pottery Barn also offers this hanging style:

Here is another variation I found online:

Maybe I will end up making one like this:

Welcome to the end of the Oregon Trail!

No, it's not really a covered wagon, but it may as well be.

Actually, I would rather it was a covered wagon, because then I could hold on to hope that someday it would move. But alas, this greenhouse isn't going anywhere... Instead we are stuck with this GIANT eyesore which now blocks the natural scenery in our front yard.

Our neighbors are really smart, very considerate people, that's why it baffles me that in all their 13+ acres, they chose the front corner that meets up with our yard. In all fairness, our neighbor did call the day after it went up to apologize, saying he didn't realize it would be this obtrusive. In hindsight, Dan and I are kicking ourselves for not speaking up when they broke ground...but I guess we didn't realize the impact until it was too late.


Here is our new view just steps from our front door...every time we see it, we get a little miffed inside.

Update: I just had a talk with one of the neighbors (who brought over pumpkin bread too!!) and she said they plan to plant a hedge to block the view...so that will help out a lot, I think.