Using Leftovers Creatively

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Tonight we used some left over turkey for two types of meals (for the differing tastes in our family).

A week ago, I put two halves of a turkey carcass into each of two crockpots with an onion each and let them cook on low overnight (about 12 hours). The stock was rich and flavorful. I used that and made some dumplings (recipe to follow) which I simmered in the stock until done, then added some of the turkey.

King B had the idea of a "turkey taco salad" and chopped an onion, sauteed it in oil, added turkey and some fajita seasoning and cayenne pepper to taste - tossed it with a bag of salad we needed to use up and each person eating it dressed it with their own preference - he used taco sauce and sour cream. As I'm not a fan of spicy (hot peppery type spicy), I stuck with the turkey soup with dumplings.

Both went over well, and were a wonderful way of using up food that might have otherwise languished in the recesses of the fridge! Martha would have been proud of me!

Quick and Easy Rolled Dumplings

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt, mixed through the flour
ice water - enough to make a very stiff dough

roll out to about 1/8 inch thickness, cut into squares (I use a pizza cutter - very quick and easy)
drop into *very gently simmering broth, cook until dumpling squares turn translucent and then thicken up
add chopped turkey (or chicken - but we had turkey)

Enjoy!

Blessings to you,

Spring Cleaning

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I don't do Spring Cleaning. Well, at least not in one fell swoop. What I do is bits and pieces. Usually when I do these bits and pieces, it uses up all of my decision making / organizing / cleaning energy and the rest of the place falls to pieces. Yesterday was no exception. Actually, the rest of the place was already a disaster from about three weeks worth of not being home on the weekends.

Here is what my upper cabinets, pantry, hutch, and main bookcase looked like as of yesterday:

(I had started on this one before thinking to post this)

over the sink

baking

pantry - those clear pockets house stationery stuff and miscellaneous tools

bookcase - on which is a "rabbit ears" antennae that doesn't help here due to the "mountain" we live on (technically it is a foothill to a mountain range, but it still blocks the TV reception... I should freecycle this AND the long coaxial cable that goes with it)

hutch

As I progress with re-organizing, purging and cleaning, I will post the resulting after pictures. I completed two of the upper cabinets. The over the sink cabinet (really, whoever planned the layout of this kitchen did a poor job - as the corner end of that cabinet is difficult for even my 6'1" dh to reach!!! I need a step stool) now houses:

cooking wines, extra coffee, medications (in the basket), Busker's bottles (in the yellow bins), first aid supplies (in the Ramen box - I will be covering that to make it look nicer), teas of various sorts, cocoa, coffee and filters, glasses and mugs (most of which were in the dishwasher when I took the picture, hence the empty shelf)

The cookbooks from the before picture ended up on top of my refridgerator, being held by one of those dish separators for a cabinet (it doesn't fit in my cabinets, so I found this worked.

The baking cabinet (since I use it so much) wasn't too bad, and really just needed some straightening and wiping down.

I plan on tackling the pantry today. I want to try to have more Martha moments in my life. Yesterday was a decent start, although I am still frustrated at the chaos in the rest of the apartment. I know I do not have the physical energy to get it all fixed in one day. But I want it fixed in one day. I am not very good with delayed gratification. Which is why diets never seemed to work for me.... I get too discouraged at an apparent lack of progress.

FLYlady has never really worked very well for me, because I get too anxious and impatient to get EVERYTHING accomplished at once - and burn out. (Which is exactly what she warns against and why she insists things get done in a certain way) Growing up, I always heard "If you can't do it right, don't do it at all." I think I took this the wrong way, as now when faced with something I don't feel I can do well, I don't do it at all. I think how that phrase should be taken is simply "Do Your Best in All Things". And accept that my best is not always perfect - and that is ok because I do not have to be perfect. I am going to force myself to just do things in stages during this time in my life, follow FLYlady's instructions and ignore that voice screaming in my head "It has to all be done, perfectly, NOW."

Blessings to you,

Daily Meditation Inspiration

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The other day, while reading Fr. John's blog, a part of this post jumped out at me: "If you are a woman, don't try to be perfect clones of Mary the mother of Jesus. She was preserved from original sin; you weren't!


Choose instead Martha or Mary, the sisters of Lazarus of Bethany, depending on whether you are a doer or a dreamer.

In conclusion, be yourself! And if your immediate answer is: I'm not sure I know who I am! then as Margo Channing said in All About Eve: "Hold on tight! It's going to be a bumpy ride" . "

This relates to my striving to be like the Proverbs 31 woman.... she was a balanced combination, I believe of the "doer", Martha, and the "dreamer", Mary. I most definitely have mostly "dreamer Mary" tendencies. I love planning, and it is something I am fairly good at. Give me paper to write lists and ideas on, and I am a happy woman. I look at this picture and I so identify with Mary.

While I am not always at Jesus's feet in Adoration, I do love reading my spiritual blogs and books; and feel that while I am reading them that I am figuratively at His feet, learning more about how He wants me to live. Unfortunately, life being what it is, I am required to be much more of a "doer Martha". And this is something I am not as good at. I would much rather sit and think and plan or read or do some creative thing than settle down to the mundane, practical tasks required for living. Even now, while Busker is napping beside me, rather than taking advantage of having my arms free to clean (although I did take a couple of minutes to remove the bread dough from the breadmachine and set it to rise more in a warm oven), I am instead here - pondering, reading, learning.

I find that I get very easily overwhelmed by the physical aspect of homekeeping. There is just so much to remember and to do. Part of the being overwhelmed is not having a routine set up. I've never yet been able to stick to one. Now whether that means I haven't found one that works well or that I'm simply lazy... well, I don't know that I care to ponder that too much. I have a strong feeling that it's the latter, even with my ADHD clouding the issue.

Well, I should go. I have to run some errands, and I really do have a lot of work to do here in preparation for the weekend (we will be heading out to the LI house to ready it for the first Open House after M's wedding). I will have to dig up the "Martha" hat and do laundry, take King B's suit to the cleaner's, hit the thrift store to see if I can find a nice suit for Buddy (he

outgrew his and should wear one to my friend M's wedding on Saturday), and pack for the weekend. I think I will add in a "Mary" task though, and stop at AC Moore and pick out some sock yarn to try out some of the crocheted sock patterns I found earlier this week. And while I know crocheting does *produce* something and could technically fall under the "Martha" hat,

for me it really does feel more like a "Mary" thing.... as picking out the yarn, choosing the

pattern to follow (and learning how crocheted socks are constructed), and planning when/where to wear the new socks all involve the more "dreamer" parts of "doing". Hmmm, maybe that's a way I can get to develop my "Martha" side more - by incorporating as much of my "Mary"-ness as I can into it!

Blessings to you,