Leftover Turkey Casserole

My Version of the recipe I linked to earlier. One reason I love to cook (and hate to bake!) is that there is lots of room for artistic variations.

What you need:
3 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp Flour
1 Can evaporated Milk
1 Cup water
(Alternatively use 2 cups milk instead of evaporated milk and water)
1 box of prepared stovetop (use microwave directions and do it uncovered so it's less moist)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 cup turkey meat, cubed
1 cup frozen mixed veggies, or leftover veggies
1 cup shredded cheese
2 cups leftover mashed potatoes (or if you are like me and eat all the potatoes, 4 potatoes cooked and mashed)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 13x9" baking dish


Prepare Stove top and potatoes if not using leftovers.

Melt 3 tbsp butter in a saucepan over low heat. Blend in flour until smooth. Slowly stir in evaporated milk and water. Season with salt, pepper, and onion powder. I also add in some Mrs Dash garlic blend, or whatever else I have around that's tasty (garlic powder, cumin, rosemary, parsley, etc. It's never the same twice) Stir Sauce for 5 minutes.

Place turkey in bottom of baking dish. Add frozen or leftover veggies. Pour sauce over top and sprinkle with cheese (feel free to use more than 1 cup, it's cheese and more is always better). Spread mashed potatoes on top (It will be a gooey amazing mess) Top with  prepared stove top (or leftover stuffing if you're into that, but really home made stuffing is such a hassle and stove top is incredible).

Bake 45 min

That is the amazing version of the other recipe! Sorry Mom for letting you make the less than stellar version!

Serve with: 1 part Malibu, 1 Part Cranberry-Raspberry Juice, 1 Part Carbonated water. Serve with fetive swizzle stick.

Now the Holidays are Here!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope the big day found you all enjoying your time with friends and loved ones. We had a very relaxing day here in our neck of the woods. I cannot stress enough how much I love not working in the retail chaos of this time of year. I got my shopping done about two weeks before the 25th and avoided all the stress of long lines, sold out items, and crazed shoppers. It means that when you're inevitably stuck in the extra traffic around town you can just crank the Christmas tunes and not submit to the road rage around you. Then the best gift of all was Christmas on a Tuesday. I've been off since Friday and don't have to go back until the 2nd, giving me over a week to just relax and enjoy the season. Derek had the 25th off, technically should have worked the 26th, but his boss and I didn't let him, then this is his scheduled four days off. We have a whole 6 days off together and are enjoying it by doing nothing at all. I am blogging today while Derek plays some Oblivion. Life is good.

On to materialistic things, my favorite gifts this year. I got what has to be the comfiest pair of pajamas ever made. If you can get yourself to a Mark's they are fleecy but not that thick heavy fleece that pills and smells funny when you wear it a few hours. They are heavenly. A little staticy, but that's good for zapping cats. I also got a fly fishing rod. I am excited to practice in the field out back how to cast with it and not snag everything around me with the hook. The cats and dog got spoiled as well with many presents from family and Santa. Cuddles has been going back and forth between a rope chew, an angry bird and a monkey. Right now she is tired out, sleeping on my feet.

It's been darn cold here now for over a week. We debated leaving the house today and decided if it was in the -20's maybe. Well it's -35 out there so we are not venturing outside. Maybe tomorrow, apparently it's going to somehow warm up to -13. I will believe it when I see it! Thank goodness for online shopping, got in a little boxing day browsing. I bought myself a Kobo touch. I loved my old sony ereader but it doesn't keep a charge very long anymore and won't let you read while it's plugged in so it always seems to be dead when I want to use it.

So there you have it, Christmas day is over but really the season isn't over until the leftovers are done. Had Ham and eggs for breakfast, hot turkey sandwiches yesterday, and a turkey casserole tonight. Speaking of which, it's probably one of the yummiest casseroles I've ever had. The recipe is here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/thanksgiving-leftover-casserole/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=turkey%20casserole&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe It's amazing!

IMPORTANT EDIT!!!

Ok, it's too late for Mom and Dad, but I just made the casserole and realized I don't follow the directions very closely at all! Mom's was very crunchy with the dry stove top. I will post my version in a new entry.

Updates

Okay, more blogging time, and a chance to update my faithful readers on all the stuff I was bitching about weeks ago... and maybe to add some more to the list.

First, some good news:

Horay! That magical piece of electronical gizmoing is what turns my hot tub from just an outdoor bathtub, into a wonderful bubbly relaxation machine. I wrote earlier of the broken and replaced pump, well this digital control pad has been slightly broken for months. Before it was just the display, some water got into it and it stopped working bit by bit. Well right after the pump fiasco the buttons stopped working, one by one, the power button, which isn't important as it stays on unless you're changing the filter. But then the all important jet button stopped working! It was tragic. One night it would work after pushing like thirty times, the next night nothing. I ordered one online and waited. And waited. One thing about international shipping, they don't even take your call seriously until you've waited at least two weeks. You'd think they were shipping to the moon or something, not just across a wee border, and heaven help you if you want a tracking number, for some reason it's next to impossible! So I waited exactly two weeks and called, the lady was actually quite helpful and blamed shipping, and said she'd get them to ship another one as the first one was lost... A likely story, as the next day I got an email I didn't get the first go around with, gasp, a tracking number! So wait... and wait... and then finally I came last week to a delivery notice on the door! Yay! No wait... I specifically recall giving them a shipping address separate from my billing address, as from 9-5 monday to friday I am not at home waiting for packages, I am at work, so deliver it there... Ok... grumble, grumble... At least it is here, I can arrange to have it held at the depot. It was shipped UPS, which doesn't really exist in GP. I called the UPS store only to be told that purolator handles their deliveries. I went online but couldn't change the delivery to a pickup. I had to call and navigate a maze of menus to get an agent to help. They could hold it for pickup, but it would take two days to get it off the truck to the depot. OK. Finally it's there for pickup and guess what, brokerage fees. Which are a joke. But I paid, and finally have my control panel! Now to just get that baby installed...

Onto snow tires... Well... After the rims Dodge said would fit didn't fit (I have a Limited edition Dart with huge brakes) they said they'd order us new rims, and install them for us for our hassle. Derek took a day off and drove all the way to Peace River in a snowstorm. Guess what, new rims fit the car, but the studs they came with were the wrong thread to fit my car. The studs I have on the existing rims have too large a head to fit the new rims. So still no snow tires... They tried ordering another set of studs but those too don't fit, so they are just shipping me back my tires. So I have these tires we got an amazing deal on, but they are still not on my car. Worst case, I'll put them on my pretty rims and switch them out each season, but we are still holding out that maybe Derek's tire guy can round up some rims that will fit on my car (that aren't a fortune). Moral of the story, never be the first to own something, you get to find out all the quirks. I still love her though, OMG heated steering wheel, how did that not become a standard feature on all cars?

What else... I tried to order Derek a Christmas present on cyber monday but the site wasn't working right on my phone and I accidentally ordered him a small KCCO shirt. D'oh... I had to actually call him to get him to order it himself, as they are super popular and I figured they would sell out by the time I got home and my phone kept reverting the size back to small. He got one, so if anyone needs a small red Canadian KCCO shirt, I may have one for sale!

Other than that Christmas is shaping up nicely. I mailed parcels today, Julie and I are making cards tonight over some wine, and I got a free turkey at the Superstore last week. I am looking forward to cooking dinner here for Christmas, as for the first time I will have enough pots without stealing from the camper. Our work gift this year was a set of pots with etched glass lids that say LaFleur Cabinets. Actually, they deserve a photo, one sec...

They are really nice with thick heavy bottoms. This is the smallest pot, AKA gravy pot. There is also vegetable pot (with steamer basket), stove top stuffing pot, and potato pot. There is also a frying pan and let me tell you, when the lid from the largest pot (potato pot) fit on that frying pan, I was slightly teary eyed. It's a pretty darn good work gift. Plus I used the box to mail a gift back east. I was short on boxes, I think someone goes and recycles my hoarder's stash of boxes on me...

Now I am off to do some much needed Christmas decorating! We got the lights up last weekend, in -20 temperatures. Thank goodness, as this weekend it is -30 brr. A good time to throw some eggnogg in my coffee, some christmas music on the ipod, and decorate in the warm indoors!

Keep calm and Christmas on :)

Sad Things Make Me Sad

Whew... Have not blogged in a while and I apologize. This time of year gets to be a little hectic, but I now seem to have a handle on my shopping, our work Christmas parties have past and things are starting to seem manageable. There is a ton of catching up I could get into, but instead I am dedicating the rest of this post to a rant about something that really bothered me today.

So at work I get a lot of time to think right. Well that also means that I at times get to brood, or like today be an emotional mess. Someone I know has been trying to get rid of their cats. They have been trying unsuccessfully to give them away, but finally decided that the SPCA was the only option for them. It devastates me to think that they are there tonight. If I could have taken them I really would have, hubby and I discussed it and really tried to see if we could fit them into our family, but being responsible pet owners we realize our limitations and the perfect balance of pets we now own. So I know that these poor cats, after being in a home for 6 years are now alone in a cage somewhere, through no fault of their own. Maybe there will be some magical happily ever after for them, adopted quickly, together, to a home that will love them forever. Unfortunately I know that's probably not the case. They're not cute kittens, people usually only adopt one cat at a time, the shelters are filled with animals and the number of people looking to adopt doesn't come close to meeting the supply. Cue Sarah McLochlan's Arms of an Angel and I was a horrible weepy mess, hiding in my spray booth crying into my respirator. Did I mention one cat has a reoccurring eye condition that has made the area by his eye and nose bald? Who picks the weepy eyed cat over all the other choices? Even though she is one of the most cuddly, loving cats you could ever meet. Weepy. Emotional. Mess.

The only thing that got me through was channeling my attention past the sadness to the anger. A pet is forever. If you're not able to make that commitment then don't get a pet. End of story.

I am trying to be vague and nonjudgmental here, but it is really hard. Sometimes people's actions just completely change the way you look at them. Needless to say I hugged all my furbabies a little bit harder tonight. I think they know how lucky they are.

On a happier note, I present the 2012 Hickey family photo (note how none of the pets really seem to get the concept of posing):