Using your left over Thanksgiving turkey

Using turkey left overs a few years ago HERE

Even if I don't host Thanksgiving dinner, I always buy a turkey to make a Thanksgiving dinner for just my family usually right after Thanksgiving to ensure I have left over turkey.  At the price they offer turkeys during the holidays, I just can't afford not to buy one.  I love using left over turkey! 

Yesterday, I made some baby food by combining my pumpkin puree (tired of hearing about that yet? Don't answer that...) with turkey and a little bit of water and pureeing it.  Everett loved it.  Yay!

baby food always looks gross....

This week, I'll post a few of my other favorites to make with left over turkey. 

Do you have any favorites recipes you use with your left over turkey?  Please share!!  You can link to them in the comments!! 

Re-purposed baby food containers

 

I know I said I wasn't going to buy any baby food this go around, and I have stuck to that (99%).  However, someone gave me a bunch of baby food and of course I have to keep all of the containers!  I did have to train my husband not to automatically throw them in recycling.  I also have some of these that I use in my craft room for odds and ends from when Jonah ate baby food, but I wish I had more!

I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but they are perfect to pack kids lunches with!  Most containers you buy are too big, but these are the perfect size!  John has a tendency to just pour a bunch of goldfish (enough for four people) in a bag or something, but these little containers are the perfect size for my kids snacks.  I also pack snacks for Jonah in one of these containers if we are headed shopping for the day and just throw it in my purse!   

You guys, I'm practicing major self control not to go out and buy baby food just to have more of these containers!!!

As my uncle asked me once, "Do you throw anything away?"

The answer is, very, very little...  :) 

Homemade Pumpkin Puree

You guys know I'm crazy.  Well, this might be crazier than the time I went shopping the day after I came home from the hospital when Jonah was born...  This was a 9 hour project!!  By myself, while taking care of my kids!!!!!!!  But, I'm not going to lie, on days like that I wish I had a farm and was Amish (but with electricity and such....)  Oh, the simpler life...

Anyway, the day before Halloween I took my kids to the Pumpkin Patch to pick out their pumpkins to carve.  (Better late than never, right???)  The lady was super nice and I got a steal for three pumpkins (I thought I would have to pay more!).  I was chatting with her about what they do with the pumpkins after Halloween and she said they just throw them away!

My mouth probably hit the ground!  She told me if I came back the next night after six I could just have whatever I wanted.  I probably dreamed about pumpkins that night and could not wait until the next evening. Who cared about candy??!!  I was going to make pumpkin puree!!!

I went on Halloween night to get my pumpkins (of course after I took the obligatory photos of my own trick or treat-ers, put candy on my door step, and agreed to meet up with my husband and kids after getting the pumpkins only five minutes down the road).  There were two men there (surrounded by the aroma of alcohol I might add...)  getting free pumpkins and such for their chickens and hogs.  They were a little to chatty and I loaded up my trunk with pumpkins as fast as I could!  The lady was so nice and I told her if she was there when they sold Christmas trees (same farmer uses same lot) I would bring her some pumpkin goodies in December!

I had originally thought I would can it, but turns out the FDA says not to do that.  In fact, you shouldn't even eat pumpkin butter that was canned.  (Pumpkin puree you can can pumpkin chunks if you pressure cook the crazy out of it!)  Anyway, I was a little bummed when I read about it (and researched it a lot just to be sure!).  Turns out I could have asked my Grandma, because she told me when she was young she canned pumpkin puree and her aunt told her it would go bad, and it did!

So, I got 21 pumpkins and had to throw away two by the time I was able to get to them.  I still have two more to do actually that are just sitting in my kitchen floor...  I just can't bring myself to do them.

You guys... there was pumpkin from one spot of my kitchen to the other - pumpkin was absolutely, insanely  everywhere!!  It was such a ginormous mess!

17 pumpkins made 38 - 2 cup bags full for my freezer!  Can you even believe I almost bought some canned pumpkin at the store today knowing that?  It was only 89 cents a can though!! I did refrain however.

Anyway, I use the puree as baby food for Everett, and I've already made some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  However, cooking with this pumpkin puree doesn't give the cookies that darker color that canned pumpkins give your cookies.  But, they were still delicious!!!

Can you even believe all that meat??  It would have just been thrown away, I can't even believe it!

Okay, so there are a few ways to make pumpkin puree.  I did most of them.  I cooked some in the oven (Please use a cookie tray under yours....  just a tip...).

Then peeled off the peeling, then had to cook some a little more on the stove, then puree...  I did both ways since I was doing so much and my pots could only hold so much at a time.  My preferred method is below. 

You guys, that was only a VERY SMALL portion of all the pumpkin...

Homemade Pumpkin Puree How To

1.  Cut your pumpkin in half or really however you want to.  Clean out the inside guts and seeds.

2.  Peel the skin off of your pumpkin.  Cut your pumpkin into pieces.  (like how you make mashed potatoes)

3.  Put just a little bit of water in a large stockpot.  Put pumpkin in pot and cover with lid.

4.  Boil and steam until pumpkin is super soft and well cooked.

5.  Drain liquid.

6.  Puree pumpkin pieces. (I used my immersion blender)

7.  Line strainers with paper towels, pour in pumpkin puree, and allow to drain.  Repeat to get more liquid out.  I use fresh paper towels each time.

8.  Allow to cool, then put in bags or containers to freeze! 

Pumpkin before drained

Getting the liquid off

Look at all that pumpkin puree ready to be bagged!!!! 

Some of the bags... 

I actually overworked my small chest freezer by putting too much in at a time... Now I know for next time!!

Yay!! I can make pumpkin whatever without having to run to the store!!!!

Make and store your baby food - Product Reviews

I have made a little bit of baby food for all of my babies, but I used mostly store bought baby food.  This time around with my fourth baby I have decided to make my own only.  I have bought a few jars of baby food with some coupons making them about twenty cent each, but other than that I have made my own.  It really is so much cheaper I don't know why I didn't do it myself all along! 

I use our Magic Bullet to puree my baby food, but if I wasn't at the end of my baby making career I would totally buy a Baby Beaba!!!   It cooks and purees your food in one container!  (But, buy it at Kohl's when you can use your percentages off deals...) 

Anyway, I needed to freeze some of the food I was making and I wasn't going to use an ice cube tray to do it because it didn't have a top, and I wasn't going to freeze it in a tray and then transfer the cubes to something else. 

I found these, and I'll tell you which is my favorite... You can see the following two products and their prices here.  Though my ice cube tray ones were cheaper than the price listed online.

Pears and Blueberry Pineapple

This is my favorite product!!  It is a BPA free silicone tray with a cover.  When you are ready to warm up your food, you simply press on the bottom and the food comes right out!  Love!!!  So easy - totally my favorite!

And it has a lid!!

So, I went back to the store to buy another one of the above, and they didn't have anymore of the above product.  I needed some more storage things that day, so I just went ahead and bought the product below.  It comes with two trays with locking lids.  Basically an ice cube tray with lids.

These are not my favorite.  I just recently realized there was an easier way to get the food out.  There is a divet on the side of the individual cubes that you try and raise the food out.  But you have to soften it a little on the underside with warm water first. 

And - it gives the food freezer burn!  Lame!

sweet corn

My vote is for the slicone tray!  Love it!  I seriously can't believe I didn't make all of my kids baby food!!  It's super easy and less expensive!