Leftover Christmas Ham = Split Pea Soup!

This Christmas, we had a spectacular meal at my uncle's house which included scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, apricot yams, and ham. It was so delicious, and following dinner I asked my uncle what he was planning to do with the ham bone. Apparently my mom and dad already had "dibs" on the ham bone—can you believe it? After playing the "Oh, come on! We need it more than you!" game with my parents, I finally won out and got the ham bone. Seriously, what kind of family fights over a darn ham bone? Oh, I'll tell ya—one that LOVES pea soup! The scary part is, I think I'm going to owe my parents a favor sometime in the future, I can already see it coming..."Remember, last Christmas when you got the ham bone..."

I made the pea soup on Monday and we've been enjoying it for our lunch every day since. Seriously, it's the best!

Ingredients:
3 Slices of Bacon - diced
1-2 Onions - diced
3 Carrots - diced
2-3 Stalks of Celery - diced
3 Garlic Cloves - diced
1/2 Tsp Salt (sometimes I eliminate the salt due to the pork intake)
1/4 Tsp Pepper
1 Tsp Oregano
1 Bay Leaf
1 Package Split Peas
2 Quarts Water
Diced Ham - (if I have some leftover I add it, sometimes I just cut what I can off the bone or just use the bone)
Ham Bone

Render the bacon until it's crispy, then add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic—sauté 5-10 minutes. Add the salt, pepper, oregano, and bay leaf—sauté for another minute. Add your peas, water, ham, and ham bone. Give it a good stir and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to a low simmer, cover it, and let it go for 3 hours. Stir it every half-hour or so to make sure all is well. Be sure to top the individual servings with more black pepper!

Because I'm Italian and put pasta in everything, I usually boil small pasta shells and add them in when it's time to serve it. Little shells are good because they fill with soup!
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Do you have a favorite use for Christmas ham leftovers? Please share! Also, if you try this recipe, let me know how it comes out.

Thanks for the world's greatest ham bone, Uncle Bob!

Christmas To-Do List - 3 Days Left

Our Christmas "To Do" List:

• Decorate
• Make Ornaments
• Send Cards
• Buy Gifts
• Bake Cookies
• Make Fudge
• Assemble Cookie Boxes
• Wrap Presents
• Figure Out Christmas Outfits
• Pack

So here we are just a few days from Christmas, and all I need to do is pack and go! Getting this list done early was a smart idea - I didn't have to make a frantic last-minute shopping trip! I can't wait to see my family, catch up, and eat my weight in ham and desserts. I mean, that's pretty much what Christmas is all about, right?

Hope you have a fantastic Holiday!

Cheers,

Elizabeth

Christmas To-Do List - 13 Days Left

Our Christmas "To Do" List:

• Decorate
• Make Ornaments
• Send Cards
• Buy Gifts
• Bake Cookies
• Make Fudge
• Assemble Cookie Boxes
• Wrap Presents
• Figure Out Christmas Outfits
• Pack

We had a wicked-productive weekend! We got up super early on Saturday, and finished the last-minute Christmas shopping. I was even able to find a dress to wear for my holiday parties/Christmas day! We spent Saturday night watching Christmas Vacation and Elf while wrapping presents. It was pretty fun, and it felt good to get that part out of the way while it was still fun and not rushed. My husband finished making his famous fudge tonight, so our sweeties are all done! I'll assemble my cookie boxes tomorrow and start to distribute them later this week. I'm feeling pretty darn accomplished right now!

Turkey Leftovers: Turkey Pot Pie

Here I am, at the end of my turkey leftover adventure. To end it on a high note, we decided to make a pot pie with the rest of the turkey. I say "we," when I should say "my husband." He's did everything, and I sat on the couch and read my book. He basically followed Cook's Illustrated's Chicken Pot Pie recipe, but substituted the chicken for turkey. Instead of using a can of chicken stock, he used my turkey broth that I froze after making the big soup. Oh, and he used a pre-made pie crust dough - yeah, sometimes you gotta take shortcuts! It was a delicious dinner, and he even got creative with the crust - check out the photo!

As if the pie wasn't calorie-loaded enough, we decided to enjoy it with a side of tots. I mean, seriously, when are tots a bad idea? The photo to the right isn't that great - it's so hard to get the pieces of pie out nicely. I suppose we could do individual pies, but that usually lends to me overeating...as if I really need to finish the whole thing!

As usual, we had a great time being inventive with our turkey leftovers. For as much money as we spend on the big Thanksgiving dinner each year, it's good to know that we're getting the most out of the leftovers. It sure makes the next few week's trips to the grocery store less expensive! So long turkey, we'll see you next year! I'm already envisioning Turkey Tamales...

Turkey Leftovers: Turkey Salad

We are almost done with our turkey leftovers. I absolutely hate food waste, so I'm trying to be as creative as possible with this leftover meat. On Thanksgiving day, once the carved turkey cooled and no one else was interested in any more, my husband took one whole breast, sealed it in a food-saver bag, and froze it. This week we thought was as good a time as ever to break it out. I took a quarter of the meat and decided turkey salad sounded like a good idea. The weather has been oddly warm lately, and a cold sandwich just sounded really good the other day.

Ingredients:

• Turkey, chopped or shredded (as much as you want for your sandwiches)
• Celery, a couple finely diced ribs
• Onion, finely diced (I usually use green onions, but all I had was red and it was great!)
• Mayo
• Salt
• Pepper

Just mix all that stuff up. Use as much of each ingredient as you like. Taste it as you mix it up so you get the flavors that you prefer. Spread it on your favorite bread, and you've got a Turkey Salad Sandwich going!

Sometimes when I'm feeling sassy, I'll dice up a dill pickle and throw that in too!

Christmas To-Do List - 17 days left

Husband's Darth Vader Snowflake

Our Christmas "To Do" List:

• Decorate
• Make Ornaments
• Send Cards
• Buy Gifts
• Bake Cookies
• Make Fudge
• Assemble Cookie Boxes
• Wrap Presents
• Figure Out Christmas Outfits
• Pack

Since my last post, I've totally made progress! The cookies are done, I only have three more gifts to purchase, and we're going shopping for Christmas outfits this weekend.

I completed the shortbread last night, which was the last of my baking. It's my great grandmother's recipe, and it's always amazing. I was lucky enough to inherit my Gram's shortbread cookie cutter, and I enjoy thinking about her as I make my shortbread each year.

As I write this, my husband is making truffles. I signed up to be the truffle-taster. Since I'm the only other person in the house, I think I stand a good chance at getting the job.

My husband also expressed interest in making tamales this weekend. We made them two years ago, and they came out terrific. Last year, due to some unexpected family emergencies, we weren't able to make them or do any baking. This year, however, we're giving our kitchen a run for its money. I thought about adding the tamales to my list, but since it's a "bonus" and not part of the main plan, I won't feel bad if I don't complete it.

I'm really excited at our progress, and we have 17 more days to get the rest done. Hopefully by this time next week I'll have most all of the list crossed out!

Christmas To-Dos

This weekend my husband and I started our Christmas "to do" list. It feels really good to get going on this stuff so we don't have a last-minute scramble the week of Christmas. Since we have to travel to see our family, it's just easier to get everything in order early.

Our Christmas "To Do" List:

• Decorate
• Make Ornaments*
• Send Cards
• Buy Gifts**
• Bake Cookies***
• Make Fudge****
• Assemble Cookie Boxes*****
• Wrap Presents
• Figure Out Christmas Outfits
• Pack

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* Every year my husband and I go to the craft store and pick out some goofy ornament kits. Sometimes we paint pieces of wood to look like gingerbread men or we glue goofy stuff to felt - this year we made reindeer! Pretty cute, huh? It's neat, our tree gets more ornaments on it every year, and it's always fun to look back at our goofy handmade ones and remember the time we spent together...sometimes cursing over the hot glue gun...but together all the same.

** I signed up for Amazon Prime and started buying gifts on Friday, and some have already arrived! I'm not one for shopping in general, let alone when things are crazy with Christmas chaos. My husband and I usually go for a few nice relaxing walks around town during Christmas - it's much more fun when you don't have a mission.

*** The cookies have been started! We got through sugar cookies, gingerbread men, and chocolate spritz pressed cookies. Some time this week I'll do my shortbread!

**** My husband makes amazing rocky road fudge, but it requires fancy expensive chocolate. This one will need to wait till we have a few more pennies. There's also a rumor that he'll be doing truffles as well!

*****I do cookie boxes for most of my friends and family as christmas presents. I find this to be both frugal and fun, besides, who doesn't love cookies and fudge?

Turkey Leftovers: Tacos

We still have turkey...so much turkey! We decided to take tonight's leftovers south of the border with tacos! Turkey tacos are kind of rad, so I suggest you try them if you have any more turkey leftover. Here's an easy method that I like to do - great for after work when you don't have a lot of time:

Shred up your turkey - however much you think you'll need. Then toss it in a saucepan with a can of Herdez Salsa Verde. I'm sure you can use any salsa verde that you like, I just prefer Herdez. If once you stir it up, it looks like you don't have much salsa, you can pour in some soup stock. Tonight we improvised with chicken bullion and water - whatever works. Get that pot a'simmerin' on the stove for a while - until the turkey is thoroughly warmed through. Scoop that goodness onto a tortilla with your favorite fixins, and you're ready to rock. Throw in some rice* and beans, and you've got a hell of a party going!

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*Check out my rice recipe here.

Turkey Leftovers: Sandwiches

When talking about leftover Thanksgiving turkey, you can't help but mention sandwiches. It's the easy-peasy thing to do with your leftovers. Especially a day or two after when you haven't had a chance to go to the grocery store (not that it would matter because you're broke from buying all the food for Thanksgiving) and you just want something fast and easy to eat.

I'm pretty particular with my turkey sandwich. Now this only goes for Thanksgiving leftovers, not regular deli meat - that can be any 'ol way. I start off by spreading a Miracle Whip on each slice of bread. Yes, Miracle Whip. Then I grind black pepper on each slice of bread so it sticks to the Miracle Whip. Next I lay out chunks of leftover turkey on one of the slices of bread. I prefer to use the dark meat, but I won't be picky if there's only white meat left. Once the turkey is down, I spoon some of my homemade cranberry sauce on top. Finally, I place the second slice of bread on top, cut it in half, and go to town.

This is the way my mom did our leftover turkey sammies when we were little, and it's just so familiar and comforting to me. Even my husband likes it - although I could see the doubt in his eyes the first time I made it for him.

His turkey sandwich of choice is getting all the fixings - turkey, potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce - and putting it all on his sandwich. Drizzling it with gravy before placing the top piece of bread on, of course. The first time I saw him do this, I was a little horrified. It just seemed so gnarly, but I tried it - and yep, it was pretty good. It's like all of Thanksgiving put into a tiny package.

How do you do leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches? It's okay if it sounds weird - hell, I use Miracle Whip, so I won't judge!