What to do with all that left over wrapping paper, bows, and ribbon?

It's the afternoon of Christmas and it looks like your tree threw up everywhere.  You have piles and piles of wrapping paper, bows and ribbon everywhere.  But what to do with it.  You know it's wasteful to toss it but what do to with it.  Well I have some ideas, here they are.

• You can make paper bows with them for next year and save yourself some money in the process.  Win Win. 
• You can use them to make some paper ornaments for your tree next year, or for gifts for next year and have a real big head start.  Also it would make a great reminder of the years that past like a yearly ornament.
• I posted earlier about keeping your children writing this winter break and making thank you cards.  Think how cute it would be for your friends and family to get thank you cards made with some of the wrapping paper that their gift came it.  And knowing your child made it.  
• You can use it to make garlands, you know those paper chains.  For next year for the tree or decorations.  You can make them during the break with your children and put them up in a box or flatten and save the paper for next year and start making the chains after Thanksgiving.
• You can reuse the left over bows and ribbons on other gifts in the upcoming year as well.
• You can use the smaller pieces of paper to make gift tags for next year or when ever. 
• You can shred it or just wad it up and use it for packing materials.
• Use it to make Christmas cards for next year.
• Use it in your scrapbooking with your holiday pictures.
• Use it for stuffing for your purses, hats, shoes and boots and anything like that.  It will help them hold their shape while in storage.
• You can use them to make Origami a great craft to do with kids.  
• Use the back side as scrap paper by the phones and on the desks.
• Use it to line drawers and shelves for the year.
• You can use the wrapping paper with decoupage, from boxes (think shoe boxes) to anything wood like ornaments.
• You can use them to mat your holiday photos.
• Use time to line the envelopes for your Christmas cards for that extra special touch. 
• Use it to make clothes for a paper doll. Dolland clothes templates 
• Frame a nice piece and you have decoration for next here.  Find some great subway art to add to it.  Makes a great gift as well.
• You can use it to make book marks for your favorite holiday books.     
• Cover your holiday storage boxes with it.
• You can use it as book covers use the white side and it can be used year round and kids can draw on it
• You can use it as a liner in the kitty box or any other critter cage
• You can make place mats with it.  Attach it to cardboard and then laminate it. This would be a great craft to do with the kids.
• You can make coasters, you can use the same process as for the place mats or you can decoupage it to coaster size wood titles and seal it.  Same with normal tiles from the hard ware store.  This idea but with wrapping paper.    
• Use it to decorate picture frames, a great way to make the ones from the dollar store look nice
• Use it as filler in gift boxes and gift bags
• You can make magnets with it,  attach the wrapping paper to cardstock or a light weight card board and laminate it, then attach a magnet to the back.
• Make a festive bulletin board, take wrapping paper and cover cork board.
• Make paper jewelry.
• Use it to make Sculptures.
• Make paper with it.  For a how to video click here         

This list is a great starting off point, please be inspired and have fun.  And if you come up with an idea share it please.  I would love to see anything that you make with your left over wrapping paper.  It will be nice not to toss such pretty paper.

Merry Christmas! Merry Yule! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Holidays!

Holiday Safety Tips

Holiday Safety Tips

This holiday season I want everyone safe and sound so they can enjoy there Holiday.  I have a few tips that I have picked up on over the years and around the web.

• Check your smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector and make sure they are working.
• Make sure any holiday guest know what to do in case of a fire and where to meet up.
• Make sure your holiday guests know where the fire extinguisher is and make sure you have one or two just in case you need them.
• If you have a fresh Christmas/Holiday tree make sure you water it daily the needles shouldn't fall off when it's touched.  A well water tree doesn't burn as well as a dry tree.
• Keep you tree and other flammables 3 feet away from heating vent, fire places, and space heaters.
• Use Candles with care, Never leave them unattended, in the reach of pets or animals.  Always blow them out when you go to sleep and leave the house.  
• Keep Candles 12 inches away from any flammable and place them on/in holders that are sturdy and large enough to hold all the melted wax.
• Maintain your Chimney to prevent fires, if you haven't done so already for the winter now would be a great time to do so.
• DO NOT drink and drive, DO NOT get in the car and let someone drive that has been drinking.  You can always pick up your car later.
• DO NOT text and drive, it can wait.  If it can't pull over into a parking let and send the text
• DO NOT talk on the cell phone and drive unless you have a hands free device.  It can wait if it can't and you don't have a hands free device pull over and make the call.  
• Have kit in your car in case of an accident or bad weather and your stuck in your car.  Have bottle water, flashlights, blankets in the car, food and a first aid kit to include flares or other reflective items.  Make sure you have enough for a couple of days and everyone in your car.
• Leave early and don't speed I know this is common sense but it's ok to be late if you get there in one piece.
• Don't leave your car running in the garage because you want to prevent CO (carbon monoxide poisoning) 
• Dress in layers if it's cold out.
• Never Ever put your child in a car seat with the jacket on.  Take it off and buckle them in them put the coat on them backwards or a car seat poncho or blanket on them
• Always clean all the snow off your car
• Before a long car trip check the fit of your car seats.  Check out carseats.org should you need help.
• Food safety, always was your produce.  Cook your meat to proper temps as well.
• Keep cold foods out for only 2 hours at room temp and then put them back.
• Watch the products you use in your home make them as toxin free as you can.  If not please don't mix them.
• Watch for little pieces from gifts and decorations with little ones around remember not all homes you will visit are child proof.
• Check all your decorations for safety.  Frayed and cracked lights need to be replaces an don't plug more than three strands together at a time.
• Watch over loading circuits.
• Use out lights only outside.
 

Well I know I missed tons of tips but this is what I have for now.  Please post below any tips you have.  Please have a fun and a safe holiday!

Family fun ideas and activites for the long winter break.

Winter break starts at the end of the week for me and I thought it's time to come up with fun things to do.  Winter break is different than summer break for me.  Winter break is more fun than summer break but it's so short.  So I sat and came up with some fun ideas of things to do.  Some can't be done everywhere because where you live but I am sure there is enough here to keep you busy or inspire you as well.  Please share your ideas.   Some of these ideas are meant to reduce the time if front of the screen too.

• Up first is one of our favorite things, we do this year round it's family game night.  Now we don't have many board games and it's hard to find one that everyone can play but we have fun.  We also play a lot of card games my 6 yo is learn rummy.  It's such fun.  Lately we put on Christmas Carols and find we can play for hours before we know how much time has passed.  We are going to do this on new years with finger foods to snack on during the day!

• Next is one that involves screen time but is something we enjoy.  We are a large family of six and we don't get to movies much so we do them at home.  My popcorn is better anyways LOL.  So have a family movie night.  If you watch out you can find a code for a free red box movie rental but this time of the year there are many on tv.  We tend to get new dvds for Christmas too so if that's the case we watch one of them or even an old one.

• Before Christmas, go caroling I know no one seems to do it much anymore but you can get a few neighbors and print out songs from here and go and have some fun make some peoples days. 

• I know with the cost of gas these days this is one some people might cut back on.  But take a drive take some or get some hot chocolate and look at Christmas lights.  Nothing I have found gets a child in the mood more than Christmas lights.  Play some carols in the back ground and you have a family fun night without a tv.  Your area might even have a special display.  I know that my area does.  We have nature in lights.

• I don't know about your children but mine love to cook you can have a pizza party and depending on your skills depends on how much you do.  You can use can biscuits and have your children flatten them and top them as they like with their favorite toppings and bake.  Or you can make the dough together  and then make your pizzas.  You can also buy pre made dough as well.  The options are endless.  And if you want to add reading and writing to the mix, have your child make the shopping list before you go shopping and have them read it to you while in the store.   Don't forget to add a salad and help round out your meal.

• This is one I plan on doing on Christmas eve and Yule as we watch holiday movies, have a hot chocolate bar.  Before had you can cover spoons  with chocolate and sprinkles or the end of candy canes with chocolate too.  Don't forget the marshmallows which you can buy or make the same with your hot chocolate too.  Get some fun mugs and just have fun.  Oh and don't forget whipped cream and chocolate syrup.

• You can also make Salt Dough ornaments for your tree and you can do hand prints and foot prints as well.

• Weather permitting you can talk a walk through nature, there is such beauty this time of year. 

• Make gifts for your neighbors.  This could be a great thing to get to know them as well.  It doesn't have to be pricey here are some great ideas for something simple.

• Bake or buy some treats and goodies and drop them off at fire house, police stations and er remember those that are working on Christmas and Christmas Eve.  Please call and check what the rules are before you do this in your area some may not allow this.  But some may and this is a great thing to do with your children.

• Check out your local library for story hour and maybe even your books stores.

• Take some toys and books and donate them to the children's ward or hospital.  Again this one may vary based on rules please call ahead of time but think of the children in the hospital for the holidays.

• This one may lead to a new member of the family but call up one of your local rescues and see what you can do to help from cleaning cages to just walking dogs I am sure they will have something you can do to help them out.  And it's a bonus if you fall in love with one and give them a forever home.  Just please make sure your ready to be that forever home.

• Make snowman soup, which hot chocolate, marshmallows and what other toppings you like.

• A good old standby favorite make cookies, (these make great neighbor gifts walmart has tins for about 2-3 bucks each and the dollar store too)

• Go visiting at a senior center, bring a book and have your child read to the members, bring cookies, sign have fun.  Call visit and see the what the rules are.  I believe you want the Rec. Director when you call.  They can also help you visit those that don't get very many visitors.  I know many seniors would love this and children too. 

• Puzzles, pick up a few for the holidays and then spend a day as a family putting them together.  It's funny how something so simple can be so much fun.

• Weather permitting, have a snowball fight or get the neighborhood in on and it and have a block wide snowball fight, then have a hot chocolate bar to warm everyone up afterwards.

• Weather permitting, have a block wide snowman building contest, or coloring contest something that is fun.  Make the prize something simple.  The stuff to make smores or a tray of cup cakes or cookies.  It's just for fun remember.

• Now if you can't go out.  It's time to build FORTS and TENTS.  I have yet to meet someone who didn't have fun doing this.

• You could turn your living room into a drive in make cars out of boxes and have some yummy food and watch a good movie together.  Just a different take on family movie night.

• Read with your child, have them read to you.  Reading is fun.

• Plan a trip to the library.

• Have your children make and then fill out thank you cards.  Or spend the day scrapbooking memories from the holiday or the year leading up to the holiday.

I know it's a long list and I missed some.  Please add yours. 

How to get your children to keep reading and writing over the winter break.

I have fond memories as a child of winter break, from staying up to late to reading good books.  I even practiced writing my name.  I also watched way to much T.V.  but I also spent time with my family.  But I thought I would share some great ways to help your children to keep reading and writing over the break but to make them fun.

• Have you children make and write thank you cards.  I hate to say but this isn't something that I have done in the past and regret doing.  It wasn't something I was raised to do.  But this year we are starting it.  A few days after Christmas have your children start making thank you cards and help them write out a little note thanking the family member for their gift.  This lets them be creative by making the card, also thoughtful about the person that got them a gift, and it has them work on their writing skills.

•  Read holiday themed or any book aloud.   Reading out loud to your children is a great thing to do.  Even if you read just one short book to them it will help.  Did you know reading to children is something that less and less people are doing these days?  I don't like to read out loud but it's my goal to do it more.  Also have your child read to you as well.  This will help them with their reading skills and it will make them feel special.

• Write a winter break journal.  This is something great for those older children, just pick up a simple notebook or a nice special one and suggest that before bed they just write about their day, or their thoughts.  If they are really stuck (this is stolen from my step mom) have them write 5 things that they are grateful for that day.  These can be as big or as little as they want.  This could be fun and really get them thinking.

•  Have them help with the holiday menu.  My children love to help be it from reading a recipe to me to helping measure out ingredients for recipes.  This also helps with math skills.  Also having them follow the step in order teaches them following directions as well.  It's great how something so simple has baking cookies can be so educational.  You can also have them make menus for the holiday meal let them write out what your having and decorate them.  They can then put them on the holiday table.

• Have them help with the grocery list.  Before that last big shopping trip to the store for the holidays let your child help with the list.  Have them write out a part of the list for something that they want to make with you.  Like the items for making cookies.  And then make it their job to pick up those items at the store with your help.  This helps them with writing skills and their reading once they are the stop.  This would also be a great time to teach them about reading labels on products as well.

• Write their own holiday story.  Gather up some supplies to make your own book and have your child write their own holiday story.  This would be a great thing to do year have year and to save them.   And every year they can be one of the holiday stories that your read out loud during the holiday break.

•  Scrapbooking.  Now this isn't something that I have done in a long time but it is something I found fun.  You can have your children help you scrapbook your Christmas memories.  This lets them be creative and you can encourage them to write the captions on the pages which will work on their writing skill.

• Take a trip or two to the library.  I know everyone loves the feel a of new book.  I know that I do.  But there is something about a library and a child that is wonderful.  My children love love love the library.  To them it's like going to the store and really we sign out like every book we can and they read at least ten while we are there.  So take your child get them their own card if you can and teach them the love of the library.  Also find out about the library's story hours and holiday break programs.  They may have some that are fun and your child would like to try out.

• Don't be afraid of tech.  I know that there are children out there that think tech is the coolest thing in the world and the only thing that matters and that reading is boring.  I have a child like this.  I got him to love reading by putting his books on my ereader (I have a sony so pdf files work great for this).  I am also using it as a teaching tool.  There are many of the classics out there free like Alice in Wonderland, Robin Hood, White Fang and many more.  Also many of the bi g stores and ereader companies have software you can download on to the computer to read ebooks. Here is Nook for the PC, Kindle for PC, and Sony.  Some free classics to get you going. Free from Kindle, Nook, and Sony.  Other than a quick glance I didn't see tons for kinds but you can also barrow ebooks from the library so please look into that but this is a great start with the classics and some books for those older children in your home.  And some fun for yourself as well.

Now I am sure there are other ideas out there that I forgot.   I hope that this is a great jumping off point for you.  Reading is such a great thing and books are a great adventure parents and children alike.  I hope you have a great holiday season and winter break.

What do you get with one half pound of sauasge?

You get dinner for six.  Well ok you get the sausage in our gravy for dinner.  We had sausage gravy over biscuits for dinner.  This was easily under five dollars to feed us all.  I don't have the cost break down as I used left over frozen sausage I had in the freeze.  And I tried a new big biscuit recipe which you can find here.  These were very good but huge. One goes a long way.  I cheat and just use my cookie cutter and cut them into squares instead of rounds this way I handle the dough less.  These turned out to be about 1.5 - 2 inches high they started at an inch high.  I highly suggest you at least try them.  I did make a few changes, I used butter instead of shortening.  And I used 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 unbleached AP flour (I have this premixed at in my flour container on the counter so everything is made with 1/2 WW flour).  Other than that it's all the same.

Excuse my cookie sheet it's a cheapie from the dollar store it does the job.

Then I just made a basic sausage gravy with sage, and peppers and onions since that was mixed in with my pre cooked sausage.  It's simple cook your meat,  once it's cooked if you have a lot of fat drain some off but you want some to use to make the rue.  (is that the right spelling?) cook that a little bit and then add some milk and your spices.  Let thicken and serve over yummy biscuits.

Now just add I nice side of fruit salad or some other nice fresh fruit or veggies and you have a great meal in our house.  It's a great way to feed a lot of people with a little bit of meat.  What is your favorite breakfast for dinner item?

It's Tradition!

It's tradition to start decorating for the holidays the Friday after Thanksgiving.  So I started with my blog.  Please tell me what you think.   I was aiming for something that I could leave up most of the winter.  There will be more changes to come too!  Happy Holidays everyone.

A wonderful Thankful meal

I hope that you had a wonderful holiday meal as we did.  Our day was spent watching movies, playing and just having fun spending time together.  I didn't go crazy over our meal this year but made some favorites and excluded some.  I can't believe the amount of food that is normal for our holiday meal blended from my husband's family and my own.  Thing we thought we had to have but this year we cut it back and I am glad the work was less but the meal still great.

We had bought a 20 pound turkey for the day and for the six of us.  Now I know that's a huge bird but we have plans to make it last.  We are already on day two of it and it's not even half way gone.  And I hot this turkey at a great deal.  I was .79 a pound but I had a coupon from this store for a free turkey up to 12 pounds or the credit for a 12 turkey off you bill so in the end my turkey cost me 6.92ish for the whole bird.  And honest I am sure I did the whole meal for about $20 with enough for two days of meals and more with the turkey.

But by far my favorite thing to make was my stuffing.  I make my own bread with all the spices and herbs in it so it tastes like stuffing.  I will be making more tomorrow for sandwiches with the left over turkey.  I am telling you this is a great way to have thanksgiving later in the year when you want that taste.  So I thought I would share my recipe with you.

Ingredients

4 cups flour (1 cup whole wheat, 3 cups ap is what I used)

2 packets of yeast

1 tsp fine sea salt

1 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

1 tbsp sage (we love this flavor in our stuffing please add as much or as little as you like)

1 1/2 tsp rosemary

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups warm to hot water (start with 1 1/4 and add more should you need it depends on a lot of factors with your flour and who dry your home is if you need more than the 1 1/2 add it slowly with buy one tbsp at a time)

1 tsp sugar 

The herbs used are what I use in my stuffing so use what you like it doesn't have to be the same as  mine.  And please share if you change it up and what you used.  

 Add Salt to the bowl

 Add your spices, herbs, and seasonings to the salt

 Add your flour and make a well

 Add your sugar and cover with yeast

 Add water next

 Cover with plastic wrap and let the yeast do it's happy dance.

 About five minutes later it's happy time to mix

 Knead until it's smooth

 Place in an oiled bowl and oil the dough ball.

 Recover with the plastic wrap you used earlier and let rise until doubled in size.  Punch down and form into your loaf (what ever style you like) bake about 20 minutes at 425 until golden brown on top.  I top it with melted butter when it comes out.

 Mmm....yummy bread.  I don't think you can see the herbs and everything but it's there and it smells like stuffing.

 To use in stuffing I just cut it up into cubes and then make your stuffing as normal. I made mine with apples, sage, my bread, sage sausage (we like sage this time of year LOL) carrots, celery, onions and turkey stock.  Salt and pepper as needed.  It's about one third bread, one third veggies and apple, and one third meat (this is really under about one third)

 Apples, celery, carrots, onion Cook them in evoo and butter with salt and pepper and other seasonings.  I like a bite to our carrots so I don't cook them down like the celery and the onion, the apples I leave with a bit of bite too.

 Sage sausage browning in the same pan I cooked me veggies in.

 Once the sausage is cooked I add back the veggies and apple.

 Then I add them to the bread crumbs which after cubing I baked at 325 for about 20 minutes. or until dry.

 Add turkey stock that I made last month

 Mix add more stock if needed.

 Added to your turkey (if you stuff) or to a baking pan and cover bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, remove foil and bake another 5-10 minutes for a crunchy top.  (the pic above was taken before I added more stock but we like our stuffing not as wet as many out there so add what you need and want to get it how you like it)

 My plate of food it was too much but worth it. LOL

So who was your Thanksgiving?  Did you try anything new?  And if you try my stuffing bread please let me know and give me feedback and don't be afraid to ask any questions should you need them I am not in the habit of writing recipes so if I made a mistake please point it out.  And now the last questions....Did you go shopping today?  What is the deal you were seeking out?

My Wild Girl Turns 3!

Autumn Lily is my wild child and only daughter.  She turned three last weekend and I am just now getting around to sharing her pictures.  We did a simple party at home.  We made cupcakes and she got a few presents that's it.  It's prefect for us.  We also had one of her favorite meals.  I cheated and used a box mix and frosting. She got pirate cupcake wrappers because she is a pirate kick now but we made the frosting purple because she is also a princess.  I wish I had gotten a picture of her with her head band on when she was saying I princess.  I wish more I had gotten pictures when she put it on daddy and said he was princess and the same with her big brother.  I didn't get pictures of her gifts but Daddy took her shopping which she loves and got her a dolly, stuffed horse, and a ball all for under ten bucks LOL.  I wanted to give something I had picked up for Christmas or Yule but Daddy wanted to take her shopping.

Well here are the pictures, please excuse the mess and her wild hair no matter how much I brush it, it looks this way five minutes later.

 Pirate princess cupcake lite

Blowing out the candle.

I know it's fuzzy it was hard to get.

 Can't we do it again mama?

 Yay! Time to eat!

 Yumm!

 Alen, your turn!

 Mmm

 Ricky, get your own

 Hiding from her puppy.

 Frosting is her favorite part.

LOL I know so many are the same it took for ever to get the one shot I wanted and then when I looked at them all I liked them.  Happy Birthday my Pirate Princess I hope it's just one of many that brings you joy!

On Turkey how many meals, 6 in total, quick catch up plus Thanksgiving turkey leftover ideas

So I am not a great blogger LOL.  I got two more meals out of the turkey a pot pie and a soup.  I also got a few lunches as well.  That's not counting all the meals that the stock will go into.  One 12-14 pound turkey is a great source of meat for a family of 6, and if you plan your meals out right and watch the portions, you can get a lot out of it.  Now this turkey cost me about 21.00 so we will use 20 as a middle number and for six meals for the meat alone that is 3.33 a meal, that is not counting in the savings from making my own stock and the meals it will go into and the lunches that were made from left overs or the meat itself.

With thanks giving around the corner so many people are going to have lefts overs and wonder what they can do with them so I thought I would share what my ideas are.

• salad, you can use it like chicken on top of a salad
• home made hot pockets with broccoli and cheese
• you can use it in pasta sauces
• take a jar of bbq sauce and make pulled bbq turkey sandwiches
• pot pie
• so many soups
• I like to bake it into eggs with spinach and feta and veggies
• you can use it with beans and taco mix for tacos
• pretty much I use it like I would chicken
• Chili

I know that this isn't a lot of ideas but it's some.  This year for thanksgiving we got a 20+ pound turkey, and I can't wait to cook it up for the holiday nor can I wait to play with the left overs I have so many ideas that I am not sure if they will work or not but I am planning on that bird to feed us for a week.

I have also decided I will post my Thanksgiving meal, the prep and what not.  Now I know I am not the best cook out there but I am sure going to try and have one yummy meal.  I am finalizing the menu in the morning and I will post it then. 

One lasagna three meals

So to night we had the last of the lasagna for dinner with salad.  One pan of lasagna lasted for three meals for all of us.  We got two dinners and one lunch with it.  This isn't a meal I make all the time.  About once every couple months or so.

I didn't take any pictures but it was very close to the last one I blogged about that you can find here. I made this same size pan but cut our amounts down and added a salad.  I would say for each meal that we had we came in under $10 but I haven't done the math yet.  I will have to up date the post tomorrow when I do it.

One Turkey how many meals? Day Three Stock or Broth

We are talking Turkey stock or broth which from my research seem to be pretty much the same thing.  For two days I worked at making this stock and my house smelled great.  Like Thanksgiving turkey all day long.  Broth is something that is great for you, and easy to make.  So I thought I would share how I did it.  First off I read this great article on Cooking Traditional Foods you can also find them on Facebook here. The article is great and pretty much tells you how to do it step by step.  But I thought I would type up what I did with pictures because I am silly like that.

First thing I did was pick as much meat off the turkey bones as I could and then roast it.

I also pulled out the jars that had the drippings from when I roasted the turkey.

And then it was all into the pool, eh I mean stock pot.

Then I added water until it was covered and many I was lucky my pan was barely big enough.  Next time I will break the bones down more.  In all there was 2 gallons of water added to the pan.

Then I added the vinegar 2 tbsp per quart of water.

Then I let it sit for an hour to let the vinegar do it's thing.  After that I turn on the burner and brought it up to a simmer.  Once it was simmering I went to bed, I let it simmer for 30 hours (you can do more or less time this just worked this time for me.)

I then turned it off and picked out all the big pieces of bone and such.  Then I let it cool down a bit before straining it the first time.

My set up for straining, stock pot strainer, and a kitchen towel.

Straining the first time.

After straining it.

After I strained it I put it in the refrigerator over night.  So that the fat could get hard.

 

Then I used a spoon to skim the layer of fat off the top.  And strained it again.

The set up a bowl, kitchen towel and a strainer.

All strained and ready for storage.

At this point I was almost done, all I had last was to jar it up.  We reuse glass jars here so that's what I did.  I got six quart sizedish jars, (one is a pickle jar not sure about it's size) and half gallon or so in a ziploc bag (ran out of jars).  I labeled them and froze them.  I should be able to get a few meals out of this ALONE.  I can use this stock for soups, or just cooking my beans or rice in to give it added flavor.

 This is my best looking stock to date.

 The ziploc bag before it went in the freezer

Six yummy jars of turkey goodness.

The $20 I spent on this turkey has saved me already, from the two meals I have gotten plus a few days of sandwich lunches, plus all this stock is great.  I still have about 6 cups of dark meat in the freezer for other meals and ideas.  I can't wait to use them.  I am going to try some new recipes.  I hope this helps you out when you make stock.  It is easy I know it looks like a lot but the hard work is over you cooked the turkey and took the meat off the bones.   In all I would say my active time doing this was maybe an hour (I have small children so it was a stop and go thing sometimes)  that's straining it twice (over two days) and jarring it all up. Which would have taken less time had I had a funnel. LOL Instead I had to use a ladle to fill the jars up.