Living On A Dime

Category: Thanksgiving

  • Thanksgiving Fun – What to Do After Thanksgiving Dinner

    Thanksgiving Fun – What to Do After Thanksgiving Dinner

    Creative thanksgiving fun for the family - What to do after Thanksgiving dinner

    Creative Thanksgiving Fun

    I was going to put off writing this a few more days, but time seems to be speeding by faster than usual this year.  I was afraid if I waited any longer, Thanksgiving would have passed before I remembered to give you these ideas. I know that after that big meal most of us take a nap, watch a football game, or play computer games but this year you might try something different. Here are some ideas about what do do after a Thanksgiving meal.

    Before your company arrives, set out some board games. Have some games available for all different ages. Put them out in the open where everyone can see them. You will be surprised how many guests will say, “I haven’t played this in years and used to love it!”

    Have a stack of family photo albums sitting out for everyone to go through, laugh over and remember. This is a great way for kids to learn family histories. It is also fun because when you see an event in a picture and remember it, you’ll find that your brother or sister will probably remember it totally differently. It is fun for your kids to hear Uncle Bill’s version and how it differs from mom’s or dad’s version of the story.

    Have a small table set up with a puzzle on it. I like to put together a Christmas puzzle and if it doesn’t get done that day I leave it up all through Christmas. Then when the kids, grandkids or anyone for that matter come over, they always seem to love adding a couple of new pieces to the puzzle. I have a puzzle of a cute Nativity scene that I always try to have done by Christmas Day.

    Having these things set out ahead of time helps to entertain everyone while the last minute meal preparations are being made and to keep some unneeded help out of the kitchen. This year, don’t let your family park themselves in front of the TV or computer once again, but get creative with your Thanksving fun! Put out the games, puzzles and photos and start learning to have fun together in a completely different way.

          -Jill

    photo by: Mark Strozier

  • Thanksgiving Treats – Easy Homemade Butterfinger Recipe

    Thanksgiving Treats – Easy Homemade Butterfinger Recipe

    Easy Homemade Butterfinger Recipe

    Easy Homemade Butterfinger Recipe And Thanksgiving Party Mix

    It may seem a little early to be thinking about Thanksgiving but I wanted you to get these great recipes before the Halloween candy goes on sale. The homemade Butterfinger recipe is especially delicious and easy to make! Pick up your candy for these treats the day after Halloween and save. These are great for Halloween and tailgating too.

    Thanksgiving Party Mix

    I am giving you a list of things to start with but you can add or take away from it t suit your own needs. This is similar to a Chex Mix recipe but it includes fall colors and requires much less work. Put this mix in a glass bowl with a fall bow on it for a festive feel. It is something different for everyone to munch on while waiting for dinner or watching the football game.

    Mix these ingredients together in any amounts:

    Cheez Its
    Peanuts
    Pretzel squares
    Reese’s Pieces
    Candy corn
    Honey Nut Cheerios
    Marshmallows

    I haven’t tried some combinations of possible ingredients yet. You might try adding caramel corn or cheese balls for a more interesting flavor.

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  • Free Homemade Potpourri

    Free Homemade Potpourri

    homemade cinnamon orange tea potpourri

    I have been buying sweet orange cinnamon tea for a long time. I love the smell of it. One day a few years back I was dumping the tea leaves out and they still smelled so good I really hated trashing them. Then it dawned on me– Why not put them in a pot of water and simmer them for potpourri?

    Each time, when I am finished with my tea leaves, I dump them in the same pan and just boil it some more. It makes the house smell so good. You can do this with any flavor you like. The stronger the scent, though, the better it works.

          -Jill

     

    Photo By: Eduardo Mueses

  • Holiday Tree

    Holiday Tree

    I love Christmas Trees! The worst part of Christmas is taking down the tree. It’s great to sit and watch the tree lights twinkling at night all through December. There’s just something about Christmas lights in the evening that is so soothing! I love it so much that I turn my Christmas tree lights on in the morning and leave them all day. About 9 years ago, I came up with the idea to keep a small three foot tree up all year. Then I would make or collect ornaments for it and change it each month depending on the holiday or season. Of course about 2 years after I came up with it, someone else did too and now you can find mini ornaments in every store.

     

    Here are a couple of pictures of my tree at different times. 

    This one is for fall. I think I spent about $7.00 on all of it. The tree was $2 at an after Christmas clearance sale and then I collected the decorations at after Halloween sales and at yard sales.

    For September, it has leaves and mini pumpkins on it for ornaments.

    In October, I put little ghosts, Jack O’ Lanterns and bats. Then I put some garland or black and orange ribbon around it.

     

    After Christmas one year I bought all snowman stuff for my January tree. I spent about $3 on everything. I used leftover fake snow to put around the base too.

    The first year for my Valentine’s tree I made all red and white hearts out of construction paper. Then one year I found heart ornaments on clearance at Hobby Lobby.

    I keep a tree up each month: Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, and of course for spring I bring out my favorite collection of gnomes!  For each tree I’ve spent less than $5 and it’s always so nice to have something festive all year. 

    Tawra

    Just wanted to give everyone an idea along this same line. My 14 year old granddaughter has wanted a pink Christmas tree every year for the past 5 years to put up in her room at Christmas. After Christmas last year her parents bought a pink tree, pink ornaments, pink garland and other pink things for the tree. They gave it to her for her birthday in June. She set it up that day and it looks so cute. She has Zebra print everything with pink walls and the pink tree looks adorable.

    Jill

     

  • Saving Cooking Disasters

    Saving Cooking Disasters

    Saving Cooking Disasters

    I happened to think of a couple of things today that might help you for Thanksgiving and for any of the other holidays, too.

    First, if you haven’t already done it, clean out your refrigerator today. You really should clean your refrigerator before you go buy everything for your dinner but if you haven’t done it yet, do it now. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to stuff leftovers into an already full fridge when you have a house full of company over, so clean it now. If you can, leave a certain shelf for the things you are going to store before and after Thanksgiving dinner.

    Fixing Cooking Boo Boos:

    • If you didn’t cook your turkey with our recipe, it may come out too dry. Don’t panic. Just slice it, lay it on a platter and pour gravy over it. Then serve.
    • If your stuffing is too dry, once again, add some turkey brot or gravy to it.
    • If a side dish burns and sticks to the bottom of the pot, carefully pour it out of the pot, being sure not to scrape the bottom of the pan or any of the food stuck to it. You can save quite a bit this way.
    • If your dinner rolls burn, carefully slice off the bottoms. If all of the bottoms are gone, people will think that is just the way they are supposed to be.
    • If the crust on your pumpkin pie doesn’t turn out, scrape out the filling and place it in a nice serving dish. Cover it with lots of whipped topping sprinkled with a little cinnamon and call it Pumpkin custard.

    Let’s Talk Turkey

    I don’t think there is anything more dismal looking then a picked over turkey carcass. Usually, I am so tired from making the meal, being hostess and cleaning up that having to face the turkey carcass can almost put me over the edge. What I finally learned is not to do anything with it on Thanksgiving day. Then, the day after Thanksgiving, we pick at it all day long, making sandwiches and other things. Later I pick off the last of the big chunks.

    I usually cook my turkey wrapped in foil or in a disposable pan so, when I’m done, I just wrap the foil around the turkey or gently shape the disposable pan around it. Then I stick it all in a couple of plastic bags, pop it in the freezer and forget it for a couple of weeks. Often I wait until January when I bring out the turkey remains and toss the carcass into a large pot for soup. That’s when it gets it’s final picking over.

    If any of you have tips about how to fix Thanksgiving cooking boo boos for our beginning cooks and even some of us old timers, feel free to post. You may be the one to save someone’s Thanksgiving. : )

           -Jill

    We just received this today from a reader and thought it was perfect to add here.

    From Cindy:

    I had just made your pecan pie muffin recipe and popped it into the oven. I checked another recipe site (not as good as yours!) and many commenters said their muffins stuck to the pans and that they had to make it over again with flour, oil, Baker’s Joy or whatever.

    I thought “Great! I need these for a bake sale tomorrow. Just my luck– They’ll be stuck in the pan and unusable.” So when I took the pan out of the oven I immediately ran a sharp knife around the sides and popped the muffins out. It worked just fine. I can see, though, that if you left them in the pan to cool they probably would stick. They’re very good. Thanks for the recipe and Happy Thanksgiving!

     

    This is a good place to give everyone a heads up that if you bake anything  sticky, sugary or syrupy, you’ll want to get it out of the pan immediately before it cools. I put a sticky topping on my cinnamon rolls so I have another pan ready to “dump” them on to the minute they come out of the oven.

    Be careful with things like pecan pies and don’t fill them so full that they spill over the top and onto the edge because you will spend most of the day chiseling and trying to get a piece of pie out of the pan.

    Of course, when it comes to pecan pie, I would find a way to get it out of the pan and into my mouth, even going as far as sucking on the pan if I have to. Yum! : ) : )

    No matter what you make, a good rule of thumb is that if it is sticky and touches the pan it is like brushing on glue so either grease it very well or get it out of the pan quickly.

          -Jill

     

    photos by: toomanythoughts and technodad

  • How To Mail Christmas Cookies

    How To Mail Christmas Cookies

    How To Mail Christmas Cookies

    How To Mail Christmas Cookies

    Many of you will have loved ones far away for the holidays and for those separated from their families a gift of a box of cookies from home is such a wonderful treat. Here are a few tips about how to package and ship cookies so that they survive in the mail.

    • Pick cookies that are soft and moist. Bar cookies work nicely, too.

    • Don’t send cookies with frosting, cream cheese or other fillings or cookies that need to be refrigerated to prevent them from melting.

    • Keep crispy cookies and soft cookies in separate containers.

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  • Candy Corn Wreath

    Candy Corn Wreath

     

    Homemade Holiday Candy Corn Wreath

    I found really cute candy corn wreath! What an easy idea to dress up your door for fall!

    All they did was wrap a foam frame with black ribbon and then glued on the candy corn. So super easy!

    Tawra

  • Swiss Turkey Stuffing Pie

    Swiss Turkey Stuffing Pie

    Swiss Turkey Stuffing Pie

    3 cups prepared stuffing
    2 cups cooked turkey, cubed
    1 cup (4 oz.) Swiss cheese, grated
    3 eggs
    1/2 cup milk

    Press stuffing into a greased 9 inch pie plate, coming up the sides, too. Layer with turkey and then cheese. Beat eggs and milk and pour over everything. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.

     

  • Easy Cranberry Sauce Recipe

    Easy Cranberry Sauce Recipe

    Here's an easy cranberry sauce recipe to transform canned cranberry sauce into a delicious, homemade-tasting side dish with just a few simple additions. This quick hack will take your holiday meal up a notch—without the extra time or hassle.
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    Make Canned Cranberry Sauce Taste Homemade

    Here's an easy cranberry sauce recipe to transform canned cranberry sauce into a delicious, homemade-tasting side dish with just a few simple additions. This quick hack will take your holiday meal up a notch—without the extra time or hassle.
    Print Recipe

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    Here’s an easy cranberry sauce recipe to transform canned cranberry sauce into a delicious, homemade-tasting side dish with just a few simple additions. This quick hack will take your holiday meal up a notch—without the extra time or hassle. Perfect for any festive table, this easy upgrade brings out rich, fresh flavors that taste like you made it from scratch!

    • Author: Tawra Kellam
    • Yield: 1 1/4 cups

    Ingredients

    1 (15 oz.) can jellied cranberry sauce
    2 Tbsp. lemon juice
    1 tsp. mustard
    1/4 tsp. ground clove

    Instructions

    1. Mix together all ingredients.
    2. Serve.

    This cranberry sauce recipe is good as-is, but it also makes a great topping for ham or turkey. 

    This cranberry sauce recipe is from Volume 1 of our cookbook.

    [dining]

  • Cutting a Turkey in Half

    Cutting a Turkey in Half

    Ask The Butcher To Cut Your Turkey in Half

    We have often advised readers to ask the butcher to cut a turkey in half if it’s too big for your family. Then you can cook just half as much at a time.

    Just so you can see, this is how the butcher will cut the turkey in half for you. My family can’t eat an entire turkey at once so we have them cut it in half. Sometimes they will wrap both halves together but just ask them to do it separately and they will. At .69 a pound that’s a great deal on meat!

     

    Here is a picture of the tomatoes that I got from my neighbor on Halloween. They are ripening very nicely. I put them on a tray lined with newspaper and then put a newspaper on top. It keeps the gases in so they ripen faster. They don’t taste as good a vine ripened but they sure taste a LOT better than the store tomatoes!!

           -Tawra

    I like using those boxes you get at the grocery store with the 2 in. or so sides.Jill

    garden tomatoes