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During the holidays, I tend to make a lot of food during the entire season. There are always friends and relatives to feed and we enjoy the eating and the visiting and the festive atmosphere. I tend to over prepare and then I end up with loads of leftovers. Not being one who wants to waste food, I try to find ways to use what is left in creative ways to help feed us easily in the quiet moments and to help save money and reduce waste by using up what we have.
After Thanksgiving, I had leftover ham. And, since we are trying to add more vegetables to our diet, I decided that I would make this a soup where the vegetable is really the star and the ham and cheese are just nice background accompaniments.
I have to confess that when I make soup, I don't measure very accurately, so if you want less ham and more broccoli and onions, it will still be nice. The ham adds a nice smokey flavor. Also, as I typed the recipe, I couldn't remember if I put garlic in it, so try it if you want to do that. It will be good either way.
You can also substitute any type of cheese that you would like to use. I actually used a blend of cheddar and jack cheeses in this batch. That is why the color is lighter. This is a leftover soup, so it can vary with whatever ingredients you have on hand. Some corn would be good in it I think. But, no matter what, it is tasty soup! My husband packed up 3 servings to freeze and save for his lunches.
Here are some soup bowls that are similar to mine. I love having a little handle to hang onto with a hot bowl of soup. My bowl is ancient! But, these have a more modern look. I really like them.
I just feel in love with these bowls that have a spot to hold your crackers! Genius!
Soup bowls and a soup mix in a jar would be adorable Christmas gifts. With those bowls, you could add the box of crackers! Or, just the crackers and no soup mix, ha ha!
Here is a past post you might like that shows another way to use leftovers. Keep it in mind for after Christmas or any time of year! What are some of the ways that you like to use leftovers? Let us know! Meanwhile, here are a few other cool soup related gift ideas (I love beautiful soup tureens):
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This is that cookie baking and eating time of year and as a matter of fact, Monday is National Cookie Day! When I asked everyone what their favorite cookie is, I got two answers from my daughters. Chocolate chip, or Oreos. Even with all of the gingerbread and sugar cookies around for Christmas, those two still were the hands-down favorites. So, we decided that for today's Friday Faves, we would take our two favorite cookies and turn them into holiday cookies, festive enough for gifting! Not only that, I will give you my time tested tips on having your kids help with the cookie decorating. (By the way, this is Friday Faves #42!)
How do you turn your favorite cookies into holiday cookies?
Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Lindsey and I decided to take on this all time favorite. Chocolate chip cookies are so delicious and never get old. Especially when you eat them with a glass of cold milk to dip them in. Everyone has their favorite recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies. I pretty much use the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag with just a couple of variations.
Now, here is how Lindsey takes chocolate chip cookies and gives them some holiday flair!
She says, "I bought some holiday Alpine mints and mixed them into the cookie dough with the chocolate chips. In the past I have also added some peppermint extract and red and green M&M's
You could also crush up starlight mints and mix them in, or sprinkle them on top before you bake them." Peppermint is always such a good holiday flavor and these would look great on a holiday platter of cookies! I decided to use my gingerbread people pan for my chocolate chip cookies. Some people love the idea of decorating gingerbread people, but don't really enjoy eating it. So, here is an idea for chocolate chip people instead! It all starts with this baking sheet:
I can't find one just like it, I have had it for some time. But here is a similar one by Wilton that has gingerbread men and trees.
I just spread the cookie dough into the mold and baked at 375 degrees for about 10 min. You will have to experiment with the mold you have. Click on the photos below to explain it all.
I did one extra little thing with some chocolate chip cookies, since I had the chocolate frosting. I made smaller round cookies and turned them into sandwich cookies and piped on a wreath of frosting. They came out super cute!
Oreo Cookies:
Maddy came up with a sophisticated look for her Oreos. She piped on a little more frosting around the outer edge of the cookie and rolled them in silver and gold sprinkles. They would look great on the table at a nice Christmas party! You could use red and green sprinkles as well and they would look so festive!
Alicia also used sprinkles, but first she dipped her Oreos in chocolate! I like how she sprinkled just half of the cookie with sprinkles and let the chocolate show on some of them.
Alicia also thought of making reindeer with pretzel antlers, but she has a 2 year old who got in on the act. Well, his reindeer became a Halloween/Christmas mashup! I am glad she got a picture of it because this will be a great memory!
Speaking of decorating cookies with kids, I have some experience with this. I have done it with my own children, with my school children with church children and with my grandchildren and I have come up with ways to keep the mess down, and still have lots of fun. Here is what I have figured out over the years:
What is your favorite cookie that you would love to turn into a holiday cookie? How would you do it? I gave one other idea here. It is December 1st! Day 1 of Light the World! How will you light the world this Christmas Season? |
Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
May 2024
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