My mom used to make a variation of this casserole to use up leftover turkey and dressing and we loved it. It freezes well and can be made while putting away Thanksgiving dinner so there is no extra work.

Turkey Delight Casserole:
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes
4-6 cups of dressing (stuffing)
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 C milk– stirred into soup
4-6 C diced turkey
1 ½ C frozen peas
1 T diced onion (or more to taste, can use dried)
In a 9 X 13 pan that has been either greased or sprayed place a layer of dressing, then the soup, then more dressing. You can sprinkle grated cheese on top if desired.

My mom used to use the leftover gravy instead of the soup when she made this casserole. That was yummy too. Happy eating.

Happy Thanksgiving from my home to yours.

Here is some turkey trivia for light reading today after what was probably a yummy, filling dinner.

•The turkey was considered a sacrificial bird in Mexico.
•Turkey is the state game bird of Alabama.
•The Wild Turkey is the official state bird of Oklahoma. An alert reader commented (see below) that this was FALSE, the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is their official bird. I looked it up and it is beautiful.
•The Wild Turkey was designated the state game bird of Massachusetts on December 23, 1991.
•Turkey eggs are tan with brown specks.
•Domesticated turkey hens that are artificially inseminated, lay around 80 to 100 eggs during a 25 week laying cycle and each egg takes 28 days to hatch.
•The typical 15-pound turkey is seventy percent white meat and thirty percent dark meat. White meat contains less calories and less fat as compared to dark meat.
•When Neil Armstrong and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin went on the moon, they took ‘roasted turkey’ and all the trimmings with them.
•Turkeys have heart attacks. When the Air Force was conducting test runs and breaking the sound barrier, fields of turkeys would drop dead.
•Benjamin Franklin called the turkey ‘a true original native of America’.
•Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the official bird of the United States but eventually lost out to the bald eagle.

I send my best wishes to you and your family for a very happy day!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I have a tasty and easy salad recipe to share. My friend has made this when we have met together for lunch and I love it.

Green Pear Salad:
1 Lg package green Jello
1 large can of pears
1 8 oz pkg. cream cheese
8 oz cool whip

Dissolve Jello in 2 cups of liquid—measure the pear juice first and add enough water to equal 2 cups. Heat liquid in a sauce pan and stir in Jello until dissolved.

In a blender add the can of pears, cream cheese and dissolved Jello. Blend; pour into a bowl and wisk in 8 oz cool whip.
Pour in a 9 X 13 pan and chill in the refrigerator.

I think a sprinkling of shredded cheese on top would be tasty too. Enjoy

P.S. I just have to say Happy Birthday to my daughter–she is our last child and such a delightful talented young woman, wife and mother. Happy Birthday Janice. Her sister Cindy is giving a birthday tea for her today to celebrate her special day.

It was so exciting last week in our state. Two rival college football teams were preparing to play each other on Saturday. Leading up to the BIG game was rivalry week. The tension and excitement in the air was huge all week. You just know each team had their game plans hoping to beat the other team. And that got me thinking about grocery shopping—having a game plan.

Shopping for food for the holidays or any time is easier with a plan. To make your holiday shopping easier here are some organizing ideas:

1. Know the layout of your store. When you shop you will save time by buying like items together and not running all over the store back and forth.
2. Make a list of what you are going to buy. My friend says stick to it and you’ll save money. That is true, but sometimes I just can’t resist that good buy or a special treat.
3. Make your list by category. These are the categories I use for my shopping list: canned, produce, meat, dairy, bakery, frozen, dry goods, cleaning and miscellaneous. Just by writing down what I need by category saves me tons of time.
4. Type up a template with the categories you need, and print it off so you’ll have a new one every week.
5. Keep it in your planner so when you’re at the store you don’t have to try to remember what it was you needed.

I hope these organizing ideas make your food shopping easier and more pleasant. What tips do you use when you food shop to make it pleasant and fast?

By the way, my team won!

I only have one brother and when I first got married we got together with him and his wife to discuss how much we would spend on each other for Christmas. This worked well for several years. But after the children left home it was difficult to buy for each other as we lived in different states and didn’t know what the other would like and it was silly to exchange money.

I came to the bright idea that I would contribute money to a charity in their name. I didn’t ask them if that was okay with them I just wrote a letter saying this was what I was going to do and I did it.

My sister-in-law loved the idea. Each year we both give as much as we want to donate and send a card telling to whom and how much we donated.

I wish I would have thought of this one little organizing tip years ago as it has saved time and frustration to know what to get for them. And it feels good to be helping someone else and not building up clutter in our own homes with unwanted gifts.

What creative gift solutions have you come up with in your family?

Anne who is one of my blog readers left these great organizing tips on a blog I wrote called “Lost and Found Camera”. They are such great organizing tips I asked her if I could share them and she said yes.

“I am writing to comment about your “Lost and Found Camera….” entry. After a large community dinner, I found a video camera. I began calling people who attended and finally discovered the camera actually belonged to my brother-in-law.

Since then, I have placed an address sticker on the bottom of my camera. A name tag on the camera case would have also helped.

And reading about the 8×10 picture on a utility pole to find the owner of a lost camera gave me an idea that I am going to use immediately - why not write your phone number and/or address on a piece of paper and take a picture of it on your digital camera to always keep there to identify the owner in case it is ever lost”.

Anne, what fabulous organizing tips! Why didn’t I think of that? At this holiday season many of us are out and about in busy places taking photos. These organizing tips could just save us the agony of a lost camera. I have now used these tips to protect my camera and case. Thank you

I cringe whenever I hear someone say, “This year make your gifts to save money.” It does not always save money.

I was working in a fabric store and I remember a woman spending $30.00 to make her husband a robe. At that time she could have bought one just as nice and it would have cost her less in money and time. (She didn’t even know how to sew).

When people make the assumption it will cost less to make a gift rather than buying one, it just may not be true. Here are a few organizing ideas on how to decide if making or buying is the best decision for you:

1. Do some price comparisons first if saving money is important to you.
2. Budget for the projects, don’t just think because they are homemade they don’t cost money.
3. Plan several months ahead to buy the materials you will need to make a project.
4. Give yourself enough time to make the item so you aren’t spending Christmas Eve finishing the project. I know many women who work into the wee hours of Christmas morning finishing projects and then they don’t enjoy the day.

I make beautiful quilts and knitted items for my family but I don’t do it as a way to save money, because frankly it doesn’t. But there are other reasons to make a handmade gift other than just to save money.

Have you found money saving ideas when you make your Christmas gifts?

My third daughter was due to be born on December first. As you know December and the weeks before Christmas are busy any year let alone having a baby at that time.

I have always loved Christmas and I didn’t want to give up the joy and happiness of this season of the year by being overwhelmed with the birth of my baby. I made a plan and I stuck to it. The following organizing tips are what I did then and still do to this day:

1. I set a goal to have all of my Christmas gifts bought or made, wrapped and delivered before December 1st. And I did too, then she didn’t come until December eighth so I had bonus time.
2. I made a detailed list of everyone I would give gifts to and what I wanted to buy them. This way when I saw a sale early in the year I was able buy what I wanted at a reasonable price.
3. I planned time with my other two children by making goodies and paper crafts with them that we later delivered to families surprising them with goodies every night for 12 days before Christmas.

It has been over 30 years since that Christmas but it has been one of the most memorable. Because of the planning and preparation that I thoughtfully put into it in advance; * there was time to get gifts for everyone, *enjoy the decorations and music of the season without being rushed, and *spending time with my family and *being able to help another family at this
busy time.

What organizing tips do you use to plan ahead for the holidays that have made them easier and more organized?

We are into our fourth day of our Holiday marathon on how to make the holidays less stressful with organizing tips and organizing ideas to use now and all year long. The reason I called this a marathon is because it is several weeks to the holiday and to participate in a marathon (the running kind) the runners pace themselves. To stay away from the stress zone during the holidays we to must pace ourselves and do a little at a time.

You know how Santa makes a list and checks it twice? That is exactly what we need to do. Make a master list of what you want and need to do before and during the holidays. Here are some organizing tips to get you started making out your list:

1. Decide on a budget and stick to it. I know that is easier said than done, but come as close as you can.

2. Write down your gift list. Do this on the computer and you will have a template for the next year. Make different categories; one for family, one for friends, neighbors, and for others at work or clubs where you exchange gifts.

3. If you mail gifts you know how expensive it has become. But did you know you can mail in a priority mail flat rate box for $9.80? The beauty of this is it doesn’t matter how much it weighs. (This is in the U.S.)

4. Designate an envelope for all receipts and put them in it before you leave the counter when you purchase an item. Even if you just know it won’t be returned—do this. It will make your life easier if you or the recipient has a return to make. One of the best organizing tips I can give you is: set up a filing system (I love Freedom Filers system) and in the system label a hanging folder for receipts. When you get home, put the receipts in this folder and return the envelope to your purse.

What organizing ideas are you using to reduce stress?

I have a friend who tells me how overwhelmed she is every day I talk to her. We came up with some organizing tips to help her get out of her stress zone. These are great organizing tips for all of us that feel overwhelmed, especially during the holidays.

This is what we came up with for her organizing tips.

1) Make a list of things to do that day.

2) Number the list in order of importance.

3) Start with number one and work down the list marking off each goal as it’s accomplished.

4) If the list is not completed that day she moves it to the top of the list for the next day and rejoyces in what she got done instead of beating herself up for what she didn’t get done.

By using these four organizing tips she has greatly reduced the stress in her life. By breaking down the many things she has to do into smaller amounts she is getting more done which makes her feel happy. Her loads been lightened.

She will continue to do this daily through out the year.

What organizing tips do you have for getting out of your stress zone?