Turkey noodle corn soup

I think I’ve mentioned before (or maybe I’m losing my mind and just think I mentioned it before) that I didn’t learn to cook until I was in my 30’s. I don’t really remember much about dinners before that. Somehow, before I had a child to feed, I didn’t think it was that important to cook a meal at dinnertime. And then all of a sudden it was.

I’m still only the kind of cook who makes things from recipes. I’m really good at following directions (except when I don’t want to, which is frequently), so I don’t find cooking from recipes all that challenging.  But I don’t think of it as really being able to cook.

So I’m really, really proud of myself when I do something without a recipe. And I’m even prouder when I make something without a recipe and it actually tastes good. And I’m even prouder yet when I make a something without a recipe and it actually tastes good and I made it from stuff I already had on hand.

So last Saturday, I made turkey noodle corn soup.  I had made a turkey breast in the crock pot, and I had lots of turkey left over.  So here’s what I did.

1. I took all the (already cooked) meat off the bone and put the meat back in the refrigerator.

2. I covered the bone(s) with water, added a cup of chopped celery, 3 small chopped onions, and some salt and pepper, and I boiled it for 2 hours.  (If the meat is uncooked, you can just boil the whole thing until the meat falls off the bone.) This part made the whole house smell great.

3. I boiled a bag of egg noodles.

4. I threw away the bone and saved the broth. (Note: if you are boiling the breast with the meat on it, you probably want to put the broth in the refrigerator overnight and skim the fat off before adding all of the ingredients, but since I had already taken the meat and skin off the bone before boiling, there wasn’t much fat in it.)

4. I cut up the turkey meat, and added it to the broth/celery/onion, threw in the noodles, added about 1/2 bag of frozen corn, added 1 tsp. of nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste, and then heated it up.

I bought a loaf of good Italian bread, and we got about 2 1/2 meals out of the soup/bread/(Girl Scout cookie) combination.  Everyone loved the soup. Even David, the world’s pickiest eater. (Emma said it was as good as Nana’s.)

And yes, I’m really proud of myself.

We are the world

Today I’m going to write about something that really has no consequence whatsoever (other than from a fundraising perspective, of course.)

The remake of the We Are The World video.

Yes, it’s really cheeseball. But I got all choked up when I watched it anyway.

And then I went back and watched the original. (Thank you, YouTube.) And I liked the original so much better.  (Again, I know it’s cheeseball. I know, I know, I know. I don’t care.)

Now, there are probably several reasons why I like the original better. For one thing, I know who all the performers are.  In the new version, the only people I know are Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Tony Bennett and Barbra. (Yeah, that doesn’t make me feel old.)   Everyone else is an “I think”: I think that’s Pink. I think that’s Miley Cyrus. I think that’s Wyclef Jean (who sounds like Kermit the Frog. I’m sorry, but he does.)  Second, it takes me back to a time when the world seemed much less complicated. 25 years ago, I was a senior at Juniata.  (How can that be?)

But I think the main reason I liked the first one was that everyone seemed like they were having so much fun.  Even though they were singing about a terrible situation, they were joyous and hopeful. In the new version, everyone looks like they’d rather be having a root canal. The situation in Haiti is tragic, people, so let’s be serious.

So, for those who haven’t seen it, here’s the new version:

And here’s the original. (For some reason, it ends at 6:19. Don’t know why.)

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

Hearts and Hundreds

This week, David had to do a school project for “Hearts and Hundreds” day at school. (I’m not sure what the connection is between hearts and hundreds, except that Valentine’s Day and the 100th day of school both happen to fall in February. Who knew?)

So anyway, he had to find 100 things in the house and attach them to a giant pink cardboard heart. It could be 100 of the same things, or 100 different things, or any combination.

Now, the instructions said to “glue” each thing to the heart. Which I took to mean, “attach by any means necessary to make it actually stick to the cardboard.”

But then I found out from the teacher on Thursday that other parents took it to mean, “go out and buy a glue gun.”

This idea never crossed my mind.

(I would attach a picture of David’s heart here, except that I forgot to take a picture of it before I took it to school. Of course.)

So imagine a big pink heart with 100 pieces of popcorn, pennies, washers, Halloween stickers, alphabet stickers, and Cheerios. (True confession..it’s possible that it was actually 99 or 101 pieces. I found that it was very difficult to get an accurate count after about 65.)

Much of them stuck on with tape.

(I have to say that even if I had a glue gun, I think we still would have had to use tape on the popcorn, as I can’t imagine that even a glue gun would have worked.)

David, I’m sorry that you are stuck with such an art-challenged mother.  I would say that I would try to improve, except that my philosophy is that it’s better to spend your time trying to get better at things you’re already good at, vs. trying to be mediocre at the things you’re bad at.

This post turned out to be sort of rambling, but I’m just wondering…are you an “affix by any means necessary” kind of person, or a “go out and buy a glue gun” kind of person?

Sick daze

We  are so fortunate that my kids rarely get sick. Knock wood.  Other than the occasional 24-hour stomach bug, or head cold, we have made it through the last several Winters with ease, illness-wise.

And now we are on Day 2 of the routine-variety 101-degree fever and nasty hacking cough. The fever responds well to Motrin (a wonder drug if I’ve ever seen one)…he’s basically a normal-acting kid with a cough while the drug is in his system. But the moment it wears off, the fever spikes again. Bad-dream, moan-in-his-sleep fever.

And on Day 2, I start asking the questions:

– Will I ever return to work again, and if so, when?

– Is it bad to fill him with Motrin tomorrow morning, and act surprised if I get the “fever call” from the nurse later in the day? (“Gosh, that’s so surprising that he has a fever!”) He was probably more contagious Monday at school than he would be tomorrow, after all. (She rationalizes.)

– What will I do if (more like when) Margaret gets it?

– What will I do if I get it? (Which is unlikely, as it seems to be striking only kids)

– Is it bad if I take him to run errands, so I can get out of this house for a few minutes?

– Will David’s ability to read and write with the letter M (this week’s letter) be affected by missing two days of school? (Future p/t conference feedback: “He’s so good with the other 25 letters, but “M” really trips him up.”)

– Does a child’s brain really turn to mush if he continually watches television for two days’ straight?

Tune in later to hear the answers to these and more exciting questions…