Thursday, December 26, 2013

WHAT TO DO WITH LEFTOVER TURKEY



If your wondering what to do with your leftover turkey, here's a post on how to make homemade turkey stock from nourishingmeals.com.  DELICIOUS!

How to Make Turkey Stock



For many of you Thanksgiving  revolved around a turkey, right? You can make good use of the leftover bones and skin and create a nourishing bone broth. Stock made from leftover vegetable scraps and the bones of animals is extremely economical. Think of how much that box of organic chicken broth costs at your local grocery store? And think of the added flavors and strange ingredients in those store-bought stocks. A gigantic pot of homemade stock can be made for less than the cost of one store-bought carton of stock.

Turkey stock is dark and richly flavored. It can be used to make soup (such as wild rice and veggie soup or turkey-noodle soup), turkey tetrazzini, turkey meatballs, in sauces, or simply heated with garlic and herbs to sip on if you have a cold. And it is remarkably easy to make! All you need to do is add veggies, water, and the leftover turkey bones and skin. Then cover and walk away from it. Come back a few hours later and strain into jars. That's it!



Homemade Turkey Stock

If your turkey carcass is still whole, you will need a large pot in order to make this. I use my canning pot. The trick to making a good stock is to have a good balance of water to veggies and bones. You can salt it or leave it unsalted. I like to add a moderate amount of sea salt to my stocks. Some people prefer to omit the salt because it is easier to cook with this way. For example, you might end up adding too much salt to the recipe that the stock is used in. Feel free to add a variety of vegetables and vegetable scraps to this stock. Most varieties of mushrooms work well with turkey to create a richly flavored stock. I used shiitake in this batch. Don't add squash peels, potato peels, or tomatoes. Leeks, onions, garlic, carrots, celery, mushrooms, savory herbs all pair well with poultry stock. I add a little vinegar to my stocks which helps to pull the minerals from the animal bones creating a nutrient-rich stock. This is especially important for growing children and pregnant and nursing mamas.

1 turkey carcass, meat all pulled from the bones
2 large onions, chopped
1 leek
1 head garlic, cut in half cross-wise
2 to 4 large carrots, chopped
4 to 5 staks celery, chopped
1 pint mushrooms, chopped
handful of fresh rosemary
handful fresh thyme
handful fresh marjoram
handful fresh sage
half a bunch parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
2 tablespoons sea salt
6 to 8 quarts water
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Place all of the ingredients into a very large stainless steel pot, at least 12-quart, if not larger. You will want to add enough water to just cover the turkey and vegetables. It might be more or less than what I have indicated above.

Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 to 6 hours. Turn off heat and place a large colander over another large pot. Pour the stock through the colander. Let the vegetables and bones sit in the colander over the pot for at least 10 minutes to fully drain.

Then take about 6 to 8 clean quart jars and place them on your counter. Use a ladle to fill each jar. Leave about 1 to 2 inches of space from the top of the jar if you plan on freezing them. Let them cool. Then place what you want to into your freezer, uncovered, to leave room for expansion. Cover them once they are frozen.
 Source: www.NourishingMeals.com

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!


Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from 

 LITTLE HOUSE ON THE NARROW WAY!









Wednesday, December 18, 2013

FREE CAN OF SNOW PRINTABLE!


Can of Snow! Exclusive Free Printable | How Does She...

Make a can of snow

Living in Texas, we rarely get snow, so we MADE some.  We made some of these last Christmas and the kids loved them.  Remember, MAGICAL, my favorite word, these were definitely magical.  We also made some and gave them as gifts.  These are a great to make as gifts because they look like you spent a lot of money on a little novelty can of snow, when really you can make them yourself for just a little.     

Click here for the FREE CAN OF SNOW PRINTABLE.



THAT'S RIGHT, UNDERWEAR



Someone gave me this sign last year when I was in the hospital having our 9th precious little one.  (Yes, she turned ONE last week.  I can't believe it.)   I saw it in the hospital gift shop window the morning I went in to deliver and  just had to have it.  One of the volunteers at the gift shop found out I wanted it and bought it for me.     


Thursday, December 12, 2013

****FREE VIDEO FROM SANTA****MAGICAL***

FREE  ***MAGICAL*** VIDEO FROM THE PORTABLE NORTH POLE

Last year our kids each got a personalized video email from Santa and let me tell you it was MAGICAL!!!!!
They have waited allll year to get their new videos and today was THE DAY.  Well, actually only one or two at a time will get one each day until all nine have received them individually.

Here's the link for the free video you can personalize for your precious one or ones.......

FREE VIDEO FROM SANTA  





Wednesday, November 27, 2013

MY NEW FARMHOUSE TABLE

Hubby and two oldest sons have taken a break from building on the house and built a farmhouse dining table for me.  Isn't it beautiful? It's made from scratch with ash boards that were milled especially FOR MY table!




z
Gonna have a great Thanksgiving on this baby.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Psalm 136:1


Tuesday, November 19, 2013

BEGGAR AHEAD



Baby-ism's

"BEGGAR AHEAD"


One of my sweet children and I were going shopping yesterday and we saw one of these signs on the side of the road.  "Momma, what does that mean?" she asked.   I told her it meant there was a construction flagger up ahead.  She said, "Oh, I thought it meant beggar ahead."    Awwwwwwwww.  Isn't that so sweet?  It's always a blessing to see things through the eyes of a child.   

 

 

 




Friday, November 8, 2013

BANANAS



NEW ADDITIONS

Hey you guys!  I've been missing you.  It seems like I am getting to post once a month.  I'll tell you the truth,  the reason I don't post as often as I would like is this.  I figure if I don't have time to study my Bible, pray for others, hug on my kids, read to my kids, kiss on hubby, clean up around here, fix them something to eat and talk to my friends and family one on one, well I feel pretty guilty sitting down at the computer to blog.  Sooo.....here I am today. Which means I got all of that done, well, most of it anyway.  Yay!  Excited!

We have a new member of our family.  No not another baby ( I wish), but a DOG!  I would show you her pics but she is in the dog hospital.  She is a black lab and she adopted our family about a week ago.  She got very sick Saturday and so yesterday we took her to the vet hospital and she is all better today.  She should get to come home this afternoon.

I was telling you they started phase two building on our house.  Two days after they cut off the roof, it rained.  It rained and rained and rained and rained.  The rain came down and the floods came up.  My house didn't come tumbling down but all the rain came pouring in.  Sad.  We got it all cleaned up though and we are now at a stand still until God decides to send the rest of the money to finish.  It's all framed and I am so excited at the thought of having all that room.  They vaulted my family room ceiling so I can't wait to put up a HUGE Christmas tree.


Our Church is getting ready for our Walk through Bethlehem. It's very cool.  Watch our Walk thru Bethlehem here.  Don't you love how we talk??? CUUUTE.  The church is so amazing.  They work so hard to put this together.  Hubby and I will be Mary and Joseph.  The last time we had WTB another couple were Mary and Joseph.  They are the ones in the video.  Last year I was pregnant with Baby Well Well and due on December 12th so the church decided not to have it.  I can't believe Baby Well Well is almost a year old.

I would maybe post a video of our new addition, both house and dog, but I think you would make fun of how I talk, but maybe, maybe.  Adios.



Friday, October 4, 2013

HYPOCRITES???

Boy, does this look familiar.........

UPDATES, TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR KIDS, BOOKS OF THE BIBLE SONG AND MEGA FAMILY BLOGGING

I just noticed it's been a month since I posted anything, sometimes I wonder if I will EVER be able to post anything.  It's kind of crazy around here.  We are adding on to our house once again, this is stage two.  We are adding a huge family room and a huge guest room/bathroom.  After my grandmother had to go in to the nursing home, we began thinking about the future care of our parents and began to prepare room in our home to do so.  We did the last addition, stage one, debt free.  We added a $25,000 addition for around $5,000 and none of that was out of our pocket, God provided every last cent.  We have amazing stories of His provision and He has already started providing for stage two.  We'll keep you updated when we get the chance.

On another note, yesterday I was reading to the kids at nap time.  Well, technically can you call it "reading" if it's on an android?  Anyway, I kind of got sidetracked and started searching you tube for alphabet videos. I was so excited when I found this Ten Commandments video for kids because I use these very flashcards to teach the Ten Commandments to our kids.  I am SUCH a Visual Learner.  If you try to teach me something by telling me - BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, that's what it sounds like to me.  Remember Charlie Brown's teacher?  Yeah, that's what it sounds like.  My two and three year old liked the video, but  they like ANYTHING at nap time as long as it delays nap time.  



 
 
Here's a song to learn all 66 books of the Bible in less than two minutes, except they made a typo in the video.  The first Zechariah is supposed to be Zephaniah. 
 

 
Also, we are now part of Mega Family Blog.  The families on this blog make our little family of 11 seem small.  You can check it out here:
 
 
Mega-Family Blogs

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Story Bots

We had some fun at StoryBots.com this morning.  The Story Bots web page features all of these cool things:

9 apps for iPhone/iPad
42 videos
31 books 
104 activity sheets
 Your child is the star!




Put your child in fun videos of classic children's songs!  

Starring You Videos



Row, Row, Row Your Boat
 Row your Boat
 
Mulberry Bush
 Mulberry Bush

 Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

   Twinkle Little Star

iOS Apps for Kids




Starring You BooksSTARRING YOU VIDEOS
Learning VideosLEARNING VIDEOS
Tap & SingTAP AND SING




iOS Apps for Parents


 Beep & BoopBEEP AND BOOP


 Kids' RadioKIDS RADIO

Kid QuoterKID QUOTER

Share TimerSHARE TIMER

Coin FlipCOIN FLIP

Learning Videos


Hooray for AHOORAY FOR A  B is For Boogie B IS FOR BOOGIE

Activity Sheets


Tracing TRACING Word Find WORD FINDS & MORE!
StoryBots.com is certified by the kidSAFE Seal Program.

What I really like- THERE ARE NO ADS!  Parents and kids explore the StoryBots universe ad-free.

There are no unsafe links and they never link to inappropriate apps or websites

They let you try it for free to see how you like it.  You’ll have fun, fun, fun and lots of laughs.  You can visit them here .














Tuesday, September 3, 2013

IF THE SHOE FITS……..(SHOE ORGANIZING FOR A BIG FAMILY)


Hubby was outside most of the day today.  When he finally came in, he brought one of his great inventions back with him. 
20130902_181405
What is this? Glad you asked.  You would know and appreciate this mysterious contraption if you were here when it was time to go somewhere and you had to help us find MATCHING shoes for 22 feet.  It’s a shoe organizer and I love it!!!  He always brings me these amazing creations, which make me so thankful I am married to a man who can do ANYTHING, and I mean ANYTHANG ya’ll. Winking smile 
Would you like a closer look at my amazing shoe organizer?

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He put two rows on top to fit teeny shoes……..


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……and wa-lah, 5 hours later, after finding all the mates and ditching all the loner shoes, here we have the BEST SHOE ORGANIZER SETUP EVER. Thanks Honey.
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How sweet is this………….

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If you haven’t seen the jewelry box he made me, check out the post titled MAXIMIZE THE ACCESSORIZE. Thanks for comin’ around.  We like you hangin’ out with us.

Monday, September 2, 2013

WHO STOLE THE COOKIES FROM THE COOKIE JAR?


Hubby bought me the cutest cookie jar at a flea market this weekend, I think with the expectations it would be filled with cookies by now.Winking smile  He said every mother of nine ought to have a cookie jar.  Isn’t it adorable?
20130902_225051
Look what I found this evening, a snooper……
20130902_225318


20130902_225242
Alas, no cookies he found……..

20130902_225742
20130902_225554
 

                                       
20130902_225134

20130902_225935



 

Earlier this evening…………………


20130902_230139

Not really, we were just havin’ some fun, BUT if you want a recipe that will cause YOUR cookie jar to be empty, this is the one.

Tummy Yummy Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 sticks melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla (2 tsp. if using imitation)
2 1/4 cups all purpose four
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 cups chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350°. Blend butter and both sugars until soft. Add eggs, vanilla, flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well. Gently mix in chocolate chips. Scoop by tablespoon size onto cookie sheets. Bake at 350° for 5-7 minutes, or until lightly brown. Take out of oven and pat with spatula and put back in oven. Bake 1 additional minute. Let sit 2 minutes on cookie sheet before removing to cool.  Makes 2 dozen cookies.