Do you crave that perfect baked potato? The ones that you order at your favorite restaurant with the perfect skin and fluffy inside. Then you’re going to love this recipe.
-Start by picking the best potatoes, make sure there isn’t any green on them.
-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
-Scrub the potatoes clean with a stiff brush under cold running water since you will be eating the skin.
-Look the potatoes over and remove any bruised spots with a knife.
-Pierce each potato deeply with a fork 3-4 times on each side to allow steam to escape during baking.
-Rub olive or vegetable oil over the skin of the potato for a soft, edible skin.
-Roll potato in coarse or sea salt and rub over skin.
-Place potatoes on oven rack and cook for 45-60 minutes, depending on size and how many you are baking.
-Test for doneness by gently squeezing the center of the potato. If it gives easily, it’s done.
These are seriously the best baked potatoes ever and the skin is the best part. You’ll want to make these every week, if not more often.
And since you’re making the best baked potatoes ever, why not have a potato bar? I love this easy meal that my whole family will eat, even my picky eaters since they get to chose their toppings.
Have you made a Thanksgiving Banner yet this year? Whether you’re hosting Thanksgiving dinner or just wanting to add something more to your mantel or shelf, here’s some fantastic banner ideas to get you started. Some are purely decorative and some are a perfect way to record what you and your family are thankful for during this season of gratitude.
Organize & Decorate Everything This one has a card in the pocket of each letter to write something you’re thankful for. It can even be used as a countdown with every family member writing on a card daily.
Organize & Decorate Everything I used a simple leaf shape with cut out letters glued on top of each leaf. Then I glitter clothpins to give the banner a bit of sparkle.
Organize & Decorate Everything This one is by far the easiest by using bias tape and tiny clothespins to hold the decorative letter cards in place.
Emilee’s bed was about 1/2″ to low for the storage boxes that needed to fit under it so I was going to purchase bed risers. The only problem was I just couldn’t pay $20 for something I could make for a fraction of the cost, so I made them myself. It’s not like bed risers are pretty and they’re going to be hidden by a ruffle anyway.
I started with this fence post from Home Depot. It was my lucky day! It was on sale for a whole $1. I wish I needed more of them for something. It’s hard to pass up a deal like that. Anyway, I cut four 4″ pieces for the bed risers.
I didn’t have a drill bit big enough for the bed post to go into so I made 3 smaller holes to form one big one.
It worked perfectly. We took the wheels off, because frankly they were stupid. The bed post fits about 1/2″ to 3/4″ inside the riser to give it stability.
Now the storage boxes fit perfectly under her bed. You do what you have to do when you move to a smaller place and have limited space.
Have you been wondering what you’re going to do with all that leftover turkey in a few weeks? Don’t worry, Melissa has you covered. She is sharing some delicious recipes with you today. How many are you going to try?
So, it’s already November! Can you believe it!? I can’t be the only one that feels like this year is slipping away. Before we know it Thanksgiving will be here and we’ll be enjoying family time with turkey and pie. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, so I am getting excited just thinking about it!
When the big meal is over and you find yourself with leftover turkey I have rounded up some of the very best recipes to use that leftover turkey in. There are so many fun and tasty options for leftover turkey that nobody will even know they are eating leftovers! The best part is that all of these recipes can be used any time of the year with leftover chicken as well.
I made a turkey last week and I’ll first share some of the leftover recipes I made. The first is a fast and easy Turkey Mac and Cheese Casserole. It was comfort food with a twist and a great casserole for the whole family. The broccoli adds some color and nutrients. I like to also serve this with a fresh and crisp green salad to add even more veggies to the meal.
Turkey Mac and Cheese Casserole
(Serves 10)
1 lb. medium shell pasta
1/2 cup onion, diced
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup grated parmesan
3 cups grated cheddar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
3 cups broccoli, chopped and steamed for 4 minutes
2 cups roasted turkey, chopped
Directions
Bring a large pot with cold, salted water to a boil. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for less than the recommended time, 5-6 minutes. Pour the pasta into a strainer and set aside. Meanwhile, butter a large baking dish, 9 x 13″ or larger and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In the same large pot, cook the butter over medium-high heat. Whisk in flour, cook for a couple of minutes, and then gradually whisk in the milk.
Turn heat to low, add the diced onion and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the cheeses, salt, and spices. Then add the broccoli and turkey, and then fold in the pasta. Remove from heat.
Spoon everything into the the baking dish, and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.
Let stand and cool for 15 minutes.
I also made this incredible turkey pumpkin chili. I love pumpkin and always forget that it can be used in savory dishes as well. This was a perfect fall chili!
Turkey Pumpkin Chili
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium sweet red or yellow pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
3 cups chicken broth
2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
2-1/2 cups cubed cooked turkey
2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
2 teaspoons chili powder
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and pepper; cook and stir until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.
Add pumpkin and chicken broth to 5-qt. slow cooker, whisk until combined. Stir in the onion and pepper mixture and remaining ingredients. Cook, covered, on low 4-5 hours.
Now here are some of my favorite leftover turkey recipes from around the web. There are great sandwiches, wraps, soups, stews, casseroles, appetizers and many more. Click the link above the photo for the recipe.
I need a little color pallet cleansing between Halloween and Christmas so my Thanksgiving mantel is always pretty calming and neutral. I love adding texture to give it the dimension it needs.
This candlestick has actually been broken twice but I keep gluing it back together because I love it so much. I painted the pumpkin last year by painting the circles on with white craft paint then spraying it with a light coat of metallic Champagne spray paint.
I made the Give Thanks sign by taking the back off an old picture frame and adding gold metallic vinyl letters to the front of the glass.
I love the texture of the grapevine pumpkin against the softness of the feathers.
More texture and finish variations with the glass leaves, wood pumpkin, ceramic pumpkin, and glass candlestick.
I love branches so I cut some out of the backyard to add to the white pitcher then I hung these awesome felted acorns from the branches. My friend made them for me, now I want to make more. Aren’t they the cutest?
Have you decorated for Thanksgiving or have you skipped to Christmas? I can’t skip Thanksgiving, it means to much to me.
When you’re renting your decorating options can be limited. We’re not allowed to paint or put holes in the walls. I’m going to cheat on that last one a bit because I just can’t have empty walls, but I’m using Command hooks and sticky tack whenever possible.
Since it’s my craft room I can take some liberties and make the wall fun and colorful. My craft room holds all my craft and decorating supplies so it’s very colorful. I decided to limit the wall to blue, green, and yellow.
I didn’t have a penny to spend, so I used things I had in my craft stash and some spray paint and within a couple hours I had a newly decorated wall.
I also used prints I received at events. Free! They were the right color, appealed to me, and had meaning, so on the wall they went.
I love this print by Rhonna Designs with the quote by Helen Keller. I just used washi tape to stick it to the back of the frame.
This is another print by Rhonna Designs I love. The back even looks pretty with the washi tape securing the print to the frame.
My daughter made this magnetic board for me for Mother’s Day. I added my favorite Summery vintage postcards to the front. They’re relaxing to look at while I’m creating.
She also made this sign for me and it was the perfect color to fit in the collage.
I dug through my wood letter stash and hung my initial on the wall just for fun.
My favorite thing about the wall is that it will be very easy to add new things to it if I get the urge. I kinda love it!
Welcome to Day 31 of 31 Days of Getting Organized by Using What You Have.
Wow! I can’t believe this is the last post in the series. I hope I have given you a lot of ideas on how to use things you already have to get organized and save money at the same time. I wanted to take this last post to look at things you already have in a different way. If you have an organizing dilemma and you’re not sure how to solve it, take a look around and think outside the box. You might have the solution right in front of you.
What items have you used in unusual ways to help you get organized? Leave a comment if you’d like to share.
Thank you for joining me this month as I shared 31 Days of Getting Organized. If you missed any of the posts there is a link to all of them in the first post of the series.
Welcome to Day 30 of 31 Days of Getting Organized by Using What You Have.
As you can probably tell by now I love reusing containers, especially when they already have divided compartments. I’ve used these cardboard carriers in multiple ways for organizing spaces in my home. Since my computer still isn’t back to 100% I’m only going to be able to show you a couple personal examples, but I also have awesome ideas from other sources to share with you.
If you like the design on the outside you can leave it as is or you can decorate it in other ways. I’ve previously painted mine, used scrapbook paper, washi tape, glitter, or anything else you can think of. This one holds scissors and paintbrushes in my craft room.
I took the soda out of the carrier and used it to hold individual packages of chips for the party. You can also use it to hold utensils and other party supplies.
Here are more great ideas on using cardboard soda carriers to organize your spaces.
Welcome to Day 29 of 31 Days of Getting Organized by Using What You Have.
We have recently moved and for some reason that has made my daughter think she needs new bedroom decor. She has even decided to change one of her colors. Since we have zero budget, I used spray paint and a little imagination to make her a jewelry organizer.
I started with things I already had around the house and re-purposed them to hold her jewelry. Since giraffes are her favorite animal and it has such a long neck I knew it would be perfect for her bracelets.
I kinda adore spray paint. What an incredible transformation, don’t you think? I’m sure you can tell her bedroom colors by now. I used Valspar Frosted Berry and Valspar Everglade Glen.
Color can bring random objects together but I needed something else to make it feel like it all belonged so I used the mirrored tray I made a few years ago as a base.
Just add jewelry and you’re good. The tray is also perfect for holding some of the bigger pieces. What do you think? Have you ever gathered random items together to make what you need?
See you tomorrow for the next post in the series 31 Days of Getting Organized by Using What You Have: Organize Using Cardboard Soda Bottle Carriers
Welcome to Day 28 of 31 Days of Getting Organized by Using What You Have.
I’m sure you have a ton of hangers hanging around the house. Get it? Hanging! Sorry, that was lame. Anyway have you ever thought of using them in ways other than hanging your clothes on them. Here are some great ideas on other ways to use hangers in your home.
