turkey carcass soup...

each year, matt and i snag the turkey carcass from my mother in law on thanksgiving and we make some yummy soup with it.

this year at our house, we have much to be thankful for and decided to celebrate with an early feast last friday. i could go on and on about what we are thankful for, but i'll save that for another post.

with thanksgiving just around the corner, i thought i'd share this fall recipe of ours, its not only a tradition for us, but a favorite. normal people would call it turkey and vegetable soup, not us, but we never claimed to be normal. enjoy this turkey carcass soup!

turkey carcass soup

once the turkey meat has been cut off of the bones for dinner, put the turkey carcass in a large pot and fill it with enough water to cover. bring it to a boil, then simmer it for an hour or so. pour the liquid and carcass through a strainer into a container (save the liquid). pick the meat off of the bones and put that back into the large pot. pour the liquid back into the pot. add all of the following and let it simmer for an hour or two.

3 carrots - chopped

3 celery stocks - chopped

1 onion - chopped

2 zucchini - cut in small pieces

1 large potato - peeled and chopped

1 cup barley

1 t. salt

1 t. white pepper

a lesson from my mother in law...

this photo was taken at the last family dinner, we celebrated shirl's 81st birthday.

a lesson from my mother in law...

she recently passed away and now her four children have the very difficult task of going through her belongings. watching matt do this is harder than i ever imagined, this is the only house any of them have ever known their mom to live in. it has been hers for 51 years. the kids have to decide who will take what, what to donate and what just get rid of. although this all doesn't have to take place now, there are certain things that do need to be taken care of right away...like the food that remains in the house.

yesterday they began that job. matt brought home a very full box of food, 4 cases of water, 2 cases of diet coke and a fancy glass bottle of water. as i looked at these items, i was reminded of what a sweet and thoughtful woman my mother in law was. its amazing how something like a box of cookies or bag of chips can take you to a different place, a distant memory.

she had a combined total of 25 children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. she knew what each person liked to snack on, what they liked to drink. she made sure she had plenty on hand, just in case any of us happened to stop by. she knew i preferred diet coke over diet pepsi. she knew levi and matt loved green tea and taylor was a water drinker. she was always stocked up on all of these things, just in case we came over for a visit.

as matt and i put our goods away in our kitchen, i thought about how she always had something for us to drink or to snack on when we just stopped by. i thought about my friends and family. do i know what they like to drink? do i have those things on hand? do i stop what i'm doing to make that friend or family member feel welcome when they stop by?

i really hope that as we sort through the things in her life, we not only see deeper layers of who she was, but that we also grow in ways that make us just like her.

who doesn't like an easy pasta dinner?

i love recipes that are easy. i found an old campbells soup recipe booklet and made this dish. i substituted the plain pasta for the tri colored and it not only looked pretty, but had spinach and tomato in it. the kids didn't know the difference. here is the recipe straight from campbellskitchen.com

campbells country skillet

Prep: 5 minutes

Cook: 25 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef

1 medium onion

chopped 1/8 tsp. garlic powder OR 1 garlic minced

1 can (10 3/4 oz.) Campbell's® Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup

1 can Campbell's® Condensed Beef Broth

1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves, crushed

1 can (14 1/2 oz.) diced tomato

1 small zucchini, sliced1

1/2 cups uncooked corkscrew-shaped pasta

Directions:
Cook beef, onion and garlic in skillet until browned. Pour off fat.
Add soup, broth, thyme, tomatoes and zucchini. Heat to a boil. Stir in pasta. Cook over low heat 15 min. or until done.

i have to say, it was good!

meals made easy

for anyone who knows me, you know that i love to feed my family fairly healthy while saving as much money and time as possible. it's also quite a challenge to find something that we all enjoy eating. i know i'm not the only mom who faces this, so when i come across a meal worthy of sharing, i'll be sure to post it.

last night's dinner and today's lunch were super easy, quick and inexpensive, and we all loved it! (an added rare bonus!) this one took 15 minutes at the most and cost under $8 for our family of 4.

french dip sandwiches made easy
6 french rolls (they come already cut!)
1 package of deli sliced roast beef lunch meat
2 cans beef consomme
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon of garlic
2 tablespoons flour

in a saucepan, melt the butter and add the garlic, saute for about a minute, add the flour and stir. add beef consomme and heat to almost a boil. (while that is cooking, toast the open french rolls in the broiler.) add the lunch meat to the saucepan to get the meat warm. if you are anything like me ~ throw away rolls because they are burned and toast more rolls. add the meat to the rolls, cut sandwich in half at an angle. serve with a cup of the au jus sauce for dipping.
enjoy with fruit and chips.


lunch today would have made a perfect summer dinner, served with chips and fruit. we all loved it! this one too, was prepared quickly and was very inexpensive.


chicken ceasar wraps
4 very large tortillas
half cup of cut up cooked chicken
bag of ceasar salad mix

make the salad, add the chicken, wrap in a tortilla and it's done!

i found a bag of chicken already cooked in the freezer section of the grocery store, but i could have bought it on sale, cooked it ahead of time and stored it in my freezer for times like this.

do you have any quick and easy recipes that your family enjoys?

elvis in alaska

my little levi, or "elvis" as he's called in alaska ~ (same letters just mixed up), has been fishing with the locals for the past week. here are a few pictures of their fish from dip netting on the kenai river. they caught 87 reds one day and 70 another day.

elvis' job is to pop the gills so the fish bleed out and stay fresh. i'll spare you the details, but it's a dirty job that would make mike rowe proud of my little 8 year old fisherman.

i miss this kid, stink and all.

saturday morning crepes

we recently discovered a fabulous recipe for crepes that quickly became a jarrett family favorite. you can almost guarantee that we will be stuffing ourselves with this delicious breakfast every saturday at about 7:30am! (we don't sleep in!) the recipe was given to me by a sweet young lady who posted it on her blog. thank you jeanette!

here's the recipe for 8 crepes (2 per person):
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil or butter
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons maple syrup
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

mix all of the above items together with a whisk until lumps are gone. spray pam on the pan or griddle before pouring the mix into the pan. we like to top the crepes with whatever fresh fruit we have on hand (strawberries and/or boysenberries are good). we also blend whatever fresh or frozen berries we have to make a sauce to drizzle over the top, the frozen berry medley at the grocery store is a favorite, you may need to add water to thin it a little. sprinkle the crepes and fruit with powdered sugar and whipped topping.

mmmmm!

easter egg hunt

yesterday, april, the new neighbor, (she moved in almost two months ago,) came over to tell us that the easter bunny was making an early visit to our street. now don't freak out, our kids know that easter is about the death and resurrection of Jesus. but taylor and levi are still little and soon won't be interested in kid things. we've never told them there is an easter bunny, but we've also never told them that there isn't one. so saturday at 8am, an empty easter basket was delivered to our door and taylor went outside to collect the eggs and gifts that were left in our yard. each yard had their own supply of goodies that april delivered at 5am. we were so incredibly blessed with not only goodies but we got to spend some time drinking coffee outside with our friends. we love living on a cul-de-sac and have grown to love our neighbors. did I mention i also got a goodie ~ $25 Starbucks card?! You'd think this new neighbor has known me forever!

The only bummer was that matt and levi were spending time in the desert and missed the fun. i'm sure i'll have pictures and stories to post about them when they get home.

taylor is patiently waiting in the front yard before she searches for the eggs. i couldn't pass this up.

this is the view from my house, some of the neighbors are enjoying their coffee.

kaitlyn, who is new to the neighborhood, and taylor. they have become fast friends!

brandon, levi's best friend

the kids of los feliz court

and some of the adults (april is on the left)

drive in

friday night we had our first experience at the drive in. it was so much fun. we went with another family whom we just adore! we brought pizza, drinks, popcorn, candy, blankets and wore our pjs. the movie was funny and we even stayed for the second one - however everyone except levi fell asleep. melinda and i both brought our cameras and attempted to document this memorable night. here are some of the shots that i took, none are good, but will be in my mind as the most fun to take thus far. we were laughing so hard because it was completely dark outside and the flash on the camera went off several times before actually snapping the picture. we were all totally blinded many times before the movie began. it was definitely a night we'll remember!

melinda and her camera

taylor trying to keep her eyes open for the picture

levi and loren

brett was blinded

levi couldn't keep his open

several blinding attempts at taking a picture with all 8 eyes open was unsuccessful. but here is one where they all smiled! i can't wait to go again!

taylors first soccer game

today i was a soccer mom, a very loud and excited soccer mom. my sweet taylor tried out for the school team and made it. she is one of just a few 4th graders to make the co-ed team of 4th-6th graders. yeah taylor! when she started playing soccer, we affectionately called her "turn around taylor" because she would aggressively take the ball, take it down the field, shoot and score...for the wrong team. i yelled "turn around taylor!!" all season long.

this year, it looks like she will be called tough girl taylor, she was the only child to get hurt during the game - and it didn't just happen once, it happened twice. she didn't cry nor did she come out of the game. once she fell flat and the other she was knocked in the face. she may wake up with a fat lip, but she'll wear it proudly to school. harvest beat the other team considerable but we stopped counting at half time. it was very exciting!

here is taylor head to head, er, um chest with an older girl from the other team.

her coach is telling her the position she will play

one of the times she was knocked, she took a penalty kick.

she's aggresive during the game, look at her go!

praying for maria

i got to spend the day with two very special people - maria and my mom.

this is my sister, maria. she came to our family 12 years ago, when she was 9. she has been through a lot in her life and is a blessing to us. she is currently at western med stumping the doctors with her "episodes" which now know aren't seizures. we don't know what they are or what is causing them. poor girl is so tired of the poking and meds. she has been a trooper.

my hero in this is my amazing mom, who has been by maria's side non stop. she is tired and feeling worn out, but she won't leave, maria needs her. maria is deaf and has faced more in her 21 years than anyone should ever have to face in their life. my mom is selfless, she is the most patient, giving, caring and strong woman i know. she is maria's advocate.

please pray for maria to heal. pray for the doctors to gain wisdom. pray for my mom continue to be filled with God's love, strength, grace and mercy.