10 Stocking Stuffers for Adults

Just because they are "older", doesn't mean adults have to stop getting a stocking from "Santa". It just means we need to adjust our thinking to accomodate adult life instead of a child's life! IT really isn't that hard! You can go fun and frilly, goofy and mindless or..... practical and useful - and therefore welcomed and enjoyed! The laughs and smiles will still show up giving everyone yet another reason to enjoy the holiday! Just because it is practical, doesn't mean someone won't want it and won't appreciate getting it.

Here are Top Ten Stocking Stuffers for the adult in your life!

Top Ten Stocking Sutffers for Adults

Thanks for reading and I hope you will get some great ideas for the adults in your life! Don't forget to vote for my article!

Merry Christmas to you!

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10 Homemade Holiday Gifts For Grandparents

Ten Homemade Holiday Gifts For Grandparents

1. Make a mini scrapbook photo album. The kids can do this themselves, with some help from you! Use a single photo on each page of the grand child and the grand parent (or one or the other) and on the opposite facing page, do some journaling about that photo or about feelings or memories the child had of the grand parent. Write the journaling like the child were writting a letter to the grand parent. "Grandma - I loved it that day you took me to the park and we fed the squrriels..." or "Grandpa - you helped me make that project and it got me an A in science class! I was so proud to have had your help..." If the photo doesn't particularily have a "reason" it was taken, just the two in the photo - have the child write their feelings about the grand parent. "Grandma - you mean so much to me and I am so glad that you are my grandma....". It doesn't have to be a long album - just a couple of pages. But make sure you put some blank pages at the end so more memories and photos can be added as they come along!

2. For distant Grandparents, take a couples days or weeks and prepare a "Here's My Life" kind of video. Walk through the child's day and video tape them doing chores and the comments they make about the chore. Video the child going to school, introduce their friends to their grand parents on video. Have the child talk about what they do, their enjoyments in life, show them doing something with their parents and "talk" to the grand parent like they are right there! For instance, if they are washing the car with Dad, and Dad sprays them with the hose, the child can run to the person holding the camera and saying, "Grandma, Dad is spraying me, make him stop!", kind of thing. This actually includes the grandparent and makes them feel like they are there. As a grandmother myself, I love it when my grand child runs to me for any reason! Include other members of the family and what they are doing. If you have more than one child, give each chlid a segment on the video to "do their thing". What distant grandparent wouldn't love to have 2-4 hours of their grand kids anytime they want it!

3. Create a Gift Card Collection - In the "olden" days, this was called a "coupon book". But in this new millenium where gift cards are the "in" thing, we can make that change too - and even elaborate on its creation! Cut some cardstock to size 4x6. Now, using your creativity and card aking/craft supplies, create 10, 4x6 inch "gift cards". Decorate them anyway you like and add the description of the "opportunity" being offered. Make the "opportunity" being offered fun and meaningful, as well as useful and specific to the grandparen's wants or needs. For instance, "Present this Gift Card to (child's name) and redeem it for 1 days work around your house. This includes anything you might need done, as well as waiting on you "hand and foot", working in the attic or helping you with a craft or hobby". Structure the gift card to what the grandparent does - whether it be fun or work! If the grandparent lives close enough, make a gift card for "breakfast in bed" or a "free lunch at (grandparents favorite resturant),but you'll have to drive!" How about "This gift card is good for 2 hours of my time to spend anyway YOU like". Punch a hole in the corner of each "gift card" and lace ribbon through each hole and tie a nice bow. This makes for a beautiful presentation as well as being able to remove the "gift card" for cashing it in! Give it some thought and find some new ways to make your grandparents not only happy, but enjoy the time with their grandchildren!

4. Make a donation to the grandparents favored charity. Make a "certificate" showing that X amount of dollars was donated to (name of charity) by (grand parents name) and put it in a nice frame. The grandparent will feel wonderful to know that the child is thinking of others while thinking of them.

5. If the grandparent has a favorite food or dish, prepare them a basket of all the ingredients. If Grandpa loves to make pizza, buy all the ingredients and assemble them in the basket! Include some tools useful for making the dish like a new pizza board, pizza cutter, etc. Add special napkins that reflect the theme of the food. If Grandma loves to bake cookies, get all the ingredients and include pans, spatula, measuring spoons, even have the recipe created on a beautiful card so she has it handy.

6. Find out what community service or organization the grandparent volunteers at and present them with a coupon or certificate stating "This certificate is good for 2 days volunteer work at (organization name) with you". They are helping others, and at the same time, creating a bond between grandparent and grandchild. Generations can connect if given the opportunity. And what grandparent doesn't love showing off their grand kids and how proud it will make them to have their grand kids at their side while they all help others.

7. For the younger kids, make some homemade clay and press it into a pie pan and have the child make their hand imprint (or foot!) then sign and date it. Put a hole in the top (before you bake and dry) for a ribbon to be the hanger. Decorate as you like. What a wonderfully cute wall decoration! You could also get cement (it comes in kits with a mold at craft stores) and make garden stepping stones. This would be a great gift to do every year - grand parents can line their garden or patio with their grand kids hand prints and remember the kids every day!

8. Make the grand parent a "Fun Box". Find out what they realy like to do - whether it be a hobby or an outing. Get a paint can (at a craft supply store) and decorate the can. Fill the can with things that fit the theme of what the person likes to do. For instance - if they love going to the movies - include tickets to the theater, gift cards for getting food AT the theater and also for dinner before or after the movie. A gift card to buy the DVD when it comes out! If they have a favorite craft, fill the can with tools and supplies for that craft. You could even offer them something different to try - fill a can with lotions, nail supplies, bath salts, bubble bath, etc for the grandmother for a "home spa" day. For the grandpa, how about a "Emergency Repair Kit" and fill the can with small containers of nuts, bolts, nails, and other household repair items. And what Grandpa wouldn't love to have a bucket filled with his favorite car cleaning supplies! A nicely deocrated can allows the can to be set out in the room so that the contents are always handy! You could also use a wooden box or any other style of item that has a closing lid.

9. If the grand parents love coffee - create them their own "coffee house". Fill a large wooden box or basket with a variety of coffee flavors, add some wonderful mugs with a design that they would like and matching spoons and napkins. Add some flavored creams and sugars, and include a elegant box of cookies or biscuits. They will think of their grand child every morning they prepare their wonderful, flavored coffee!

10. Personalize a calender for the grandparents. Buy a blank calendar and choose photos of the kids, and have the kids deocrate the calendar page with the photos and other embellishments. Have each child write a short message to the grandparent(s) on each calander page. If there are any holidays or birthdays or other rememberance days in the month, use stickers to mark them. The grandparent will have a wonderful note from their grandkids to enjoy all month while not forgetting the special days in that month.

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10 Handmade Gifts for Teachers

Here are 10 handmade gifts that are great gifts for any teacher. My children and I did many of them during their school days. See which ones you'd like to use!

10 Great Gift Ideas for Teachers


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You Can Have a Wonderful Christmas on a Frugal Budget

Everyone thinks you have to spend a ton of money at Christmas. Gifts, decorations, food, clothes and on the list goes. But these days, it just isn't that way anymore. You don't have to go into debt to have a nice Christmas. You don't have to max out your credit cards buying gifts. You don't have to spend every dime you have!

You CAN have a wonderful Christmas on a frugal budget!

I highly recommend lists! You can't go wrong! They are life savers! I am a list person from way back. They have never failed me and they continually make things easier to orchastrate. Whether you use old fashioned pencil and paper (my personal preference!) or a spread sheet or a PDA or day-timer.... MAKE YOURSELF LISTS!!!

Since they come out first, start with your decorations. Now this might be something that you "start" this year to accomodate your saving next year, but it is never to late (or early) to start! Like everyone, you probably have quite a few boxes of decorations in the garage or attic. Do you know what's in them? You probably have a general idea, but most likely, you don't remember EVERYTHING. So before you go shopping for decorations, go through your boxes and look to see what you already have and make a list of general things you need (like lights, ornaments - the usual stuff) and then make a list of things you would like to get this year (speciality things)

Weed out things you don't really like, or is broken or just something you don't want anymore. You have to make sure you know what you have so you don't waste money buying things you already have. After christmas when you are putting things away, don't forget to add to your list what you got this year. And remember....There does comes a time when you have all you need, so keep your list so you know when that time comes. Storage space could be your first clue that you have all you need! And don't forget, you can throw out broken things, or give away things you don't anymore. You don't have to keep everything for 20 years. Have a yard sale the first week in December and sell what you don't really want, and then you can collect some money to buy new things!

The biggest thing you have to remember is.... if it goes up, it has to come down. Things are usually easier to take out of the box and put up, but taking it down and putting it away - it can be harder and frustrating, and is more time consuming as you have to allow for proper packing and storage space. Make sure you want to take down what you put up. Also remember about storage space. That stuff has to be stored for 11 months - do you have room for it all? You really don't want to be tripping over it all year long!

Now, decide which things you NEED (things like ornament hooks, wrapping paper etc) that you don't have and things that you would like to get (decorations, new table cloth,christmas cards, etc). Make sure you actually need the items, not just want more or just because it is cute or just cause it is "on sale". Wrappng paper can be cute and fun, but don't spend a lot of money buying to much. A good idea is to buy a different color of paper for each family or family member you are buying for. The red print will be for family A and the green print is for Family B. Helps keep who gets what straight. And for any paper you have left after Christmas, it makes great shelf lining paper!

Once decorations are satisfied, the next step is to decide how much money you have to spend and settle on how many people you will be buying for and start a Christmas List. DON'T USE YOUR CREDIT CARDS if at all possible! But if you have to, set yourself a limit. Tell yourself "This will be a $500 Christmas" and stick to it. Divide $500 by how many people you are buying for and that is the amount you will spend on each person. If someone complains that you didn't spend enough on them, well, they must not care to much about you if the price of the item is what matters to them. They know you are on limited budget or trying to pay off bills or trying to make ends meet - They should be proud of you for sticking to your budget.

And now for the biggest decision: Check the number of people on your Christmas. How many do you have? 10, 20, 60, 70? Well, here's where you need to just sit down and make a very important decision. Can you accomodate gifts for 70 people on $500? If you can, great! If your "per person" amount comes to $5 a person, you may need to rethink your list. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BUY FOR EVERYONE YOU KNOW! Make the decision to buy just for immediate family. Christmas cards to the rest. Decide to buy just for the kids. Do name draws for adults. Buy one large "family" gift per family that they all can share. Make homemade cookies or treats for those that you don't buy a gift for. 2 dozen of the best chocolate chip cookies are a wonderful gift! Make homdmade gifts. Remember, it doesn't have to have a huge price tag on it to be a "good gift". My favorite gift to my family members was a very large tray or basket of a variety of baked goods. They told me that they looked forward to that every year!

Start NOW watching the store ads from the sunday newspapers. All stores will be having their sales from now till the day before Christmas. Your watching should include not only the decorations you would like, but gifts and food items. You could even take a look at Ebay and surf around to see if there is something there that you need. Buying online can save you money not only in the cost of the item, but also in gasoline costs!

Doing your shopping now and getting all the gifts done now, will help you save money on those impulse buys that grab us all. And with those last minute sales, you are facing the odds that they will be "out" by the time you get there so those types of sales are not always something to wait for. And if the store is "out of stock", you have to go search someplace else - there goes your time (time is money) expense of gas and you still might not find it and you end up buying something more than your expenses allow. Solution? Start shopping now!

Keep receipts...just in case. Get an envelope and label it Christmas Receipts and after each trip, drop the receipts in there. What a waste of money if you have a gift that has a problem and you can't exchange it or return it.

Remember the US Mail? They call it "snail mail" now. Well, I'm here to tell you that everything old can become new again! This year SNAIL MAIL YOUR CHRISTMAS CARDS! I love getting mail in my mail box! Just think of how happy your friends and family will be to go out to their mail box one day, and have not only something other than a bill or junk mail in there, but a beautiful Christmas card - addressed to them!!! And from their dear friend or relative! How good is that!!! You will have made their day, given them a smile, and isn't that really what Christmas is all about anyway?

Mark on your calendar with all the things you want to do - parties, get-togethers, shopping days, baking days, present wrappng days. Mark down what you know of right now. Keep that calendar handy and visible so you can add things as they come up.

Between the first of November and Christmas, all the baking items are always on sale at most grocery stores. Start stocking up! You don't have to open the item until you are ready to use it. Remember, we have New Years parties and Valentines Day coming up that baking is often a major part of. Buy the ingredients now at a low price, and have the ingredients you need for those holidays! You can even start your baking now on many items. Get the dough all ready and FREEZE it! Come 1-2 weeks before Christmas (or when you need it) take it out, thaw and bake! Cuts down on the time you have to spend at the last minute! If you are making sugar cookie cutouts for Christmas, double the recipe and freeze half the dough. Now, come Valentines Day, you'll have the dough ready for those heart shapes cut outs!

Don't wait for the After-Thanksgiving-Day Sales. There are sales right now, and no crowds! Stores can only make their prices so low - they have to make money too!

Don't forget stores like The Dollar Tree or Big Lots! They might not have fancy names, but these types of stores can save you a bundle! They have a great selection of housewares, decorations, toys,wrapping paper, ribbons, tape, foods and so much more - probably anything you might need for Christmas! It is also the most perfect place to shop for stocking stuffers!

And think about practical stuff for gifts. Does one of your people love a particular brand of shampoo/conditioner? Go buy them a couple sets of it! Do they love a certain kind of make-up? Put together a makeup bag of their favorites! What about favorite foods? Does someone like nuts? Put together a basket full of a variety of nuts! Put together a basket of the makings for their favorite dish! The options are only as limited as your mind allows them to be!

And for those great "year round" gifts - GIFT CARDS! I was never a fan of them, but now that most stores have them, you can get someone a card at their favorite store or a store that they love treating themselves at. This way, not only do you give them a gift they will love, but everytime they use the card they will think of you! If they buy something to wear, everytime they wear it, they will think of you! But look at what is out there - don't just get one at the local discount store. Find a "speciality" store. Buy the girls - even little girls - a gift card to Bath and Body Works so she can treat herself to wonderful soaps and lotions. How about a card to Starbuck's Coffee - everytime they get their favorite cup of flavored coffee, they will think of you! Gift cards are also great for those hard to buy-for kids - so buy them a variety of gift cards from their favorite fast food places!

And remember - shopping AFTER Christmas is a great time to buy those decorations you wanted but couldn't afford prior. Stores don't want to have to store all the christmas stuff that didn't sell, so they mark them down pretty good come January. You can buy then, pack it up when you take down your decorations and have it ready for next Christmas! Don't forget to add the new items to your list!

With just a little bit of re-adjusting your thinking, re-organizing your budget and re-analyzing your priorities, you can have a wonderful Christmas on a frugal budget.

© 2006 Frugal Money Saving Ideas

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Double-Duty Your Thanksgiving Day Work

With Thanksgiving coming up - it is the perfect time for stocking up on things that will be on sale so that you can have good meals at a very low price in the future. It really helps if you do double batches and freeze half or later. You have all the ingredients and are making the mess at the moment - if you double the recipe now, you won't have the big mess or time-consuming chore to do late! You'll be able to spend that time doing something else. Pull double-duty when you can and watch your time and money increase!

Here are a few ideas:

Turkeys are always on sale! Watch the ads in the papers. Get one for Thanksgiving Day and another one or two, to freeze for later! If you don't have a freezer to use for multiple turkeys, buy an extra one and cook it the same time you do the one you will be having on Thanksgiving Da...just don't eat it! Let it cook, refridgerate it and the next day start picking it apart to seperate into meals portions. If you are not having T-day dinner at your house, pick a day and cook 2 turkeys then and seperate them both into meal size portions and freeze the meals! If you make your own soup stock - you now have the bones to do that. Cook the stock, pour it into containers or zipper freezer bags and freeze it!

Hams - same thing - buy additional ones if you can - I have seen them for 49¢ a pound at holiday time and that same ham for $1.99 off season. Why pay more if you dont have to! Again, bake it, slice it and freeze in meal sized portions. This way also takes up less freezer space so you have more space to utilize.

Canned goods - cranberries, pumpkin, vegetables - all those yummy side dishes... buy a few extra and have them in your pantry for meals next month. Canned goods have a long shelf life, so no worries about when you have to use them. Boxed stuffing is also a good thing to buy now so you have it ready to go with that turkey you have in the freezer. Just think, a turkey dinner in February!

Baking goods - sugar, flour, spices, margarines - all these great ingredients are usually on sale in November. Get what you need for the holidays, but grab a few extra while they are on sale and you'll have them for later months baking needs. You have baking for Christmas, New Years and Valentines Day coming up!

Fresh foods - like yams, sweet potatoes, scalloped potatoes - make 2 dishes, serve one and freeze the other! Remember to freeze in meal-size portions so all you have to do is grab a container out of the freezer in the morning and let it thaw in the fridge all day while you are at work. When you come home, pop it into the microwave or toaster oven to bake while you change clothes and get the rest of the meal ready.

If you make your rolls/biscuits from scratch - depending on the receipe, double the dough recipe and freeze half of it for baking near the Christmas holiday. Or to have on hand to bake for guests and drop-ins. And remember, Christmas is coming up next - so if you make double dishes now, you will have meals ready to eat that will cut down on your time spent cooking when you want to spend your time celebrating, caroling, or just visiting friends and family! These dishes are also great for those drop-in guests, unexpected or last minute, stay-overs guests!

The week or so after Thanksgiving Day, check out things like decorated napkins, paper cups, table cloths and other Thanksgiving theme items. These things are marked down pretty cheap as the stores don't want to store them until year. You can save them for next year, but hey - no reason you can't use a napkin with a turkey on it come January! Use this same method for after Christmas or any other holiday for that matter! Ijust purchased Hallowen napkins - 50 for 25¢. I cut the four-fold napkin in half. Now I have 100 napkins for less than a penny a piece! They are great for those not so messy wipes for adults, and perfect for little faces! My little grand daughter loves opening her lunch box to see a cute little jack-o-lantern (napkin) smiling at her! She is quite the talk of the lunch table as the "luckiest girl"! And the paper plates I got for 50¢ for 75 plates after 4th of July - perfect timing for Veteran's Day!

So keep your eyes open, your freezer available and a stock of freezer bags....time is important and time is money. Pull an easy double-duty when you can and you'll have extra time for later events.

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Election Signs - How to Make Your Candidate Save You Money

I'm all for voting and the "democratic way", but it sure is annoying that these political candidates and their campaign teams, put up a tremendous number of campaign signs, all over the cities of America.....and just leave them there. Whether it be city,state or national elections, the streets are literally littered with campaign signs. In my particular area - a nice size, popular, main stream city - for weeks prior to the election the streets of the city are bombarded with these "Vote for..." signs. The closer to election day, the more they put up. The city is littered with them. Talk about looking trashy.

But, okay, fine, get the work out to vote, but people are driving - they should be watching the road and traffic, not the advertisements along the way, but more than that...for weeks and even months after the election is over, these campaign signs are not taken down. They continue to litter the streets until the weather wears them out and they blow off their stakes and litter somewhere else. Seems to me that if the candidates can't be bothered to clean up their own mess, how am I supposed to believe that they will clean up the messes of where they represent to make it a better place?

Well, since that is never going to be addressed muchless taken care of, we have to look at it from a frugal point of view. Here are 10 ways for YOU to use those signs and banners to save YOU money!

Put 2 same size signs together, back to back (so both sides of YOUR sign are blank) and:

1. Make your own YARD SALE signs. These campaign signs have great stakes and they are very easy to put in the ground. No more taping or nailing on telephone poles, street signs or cement walls! They are a nice size with plenty of space to write your directions. Plus, they are easy to grab up and trash when your sale is over.

2. Make "direction" signs for the kids in the back yard! Have them "map" out their "imaginary" travel path. If they like to re-create the adventures in a book they read, or just create an adventure on their own, these signs can mark all kinds of places of destination! For instance, if the kids like playing Star Trek, have a sign for each planet they will visit in their playtime excursions through space! There's several places in 100 Acre Woods that they could go meet Pooh and his friends!

3. Save them for the holidays. Assemble them and then slide them to the side in the closet or in the garage. Come each holiday, create a sign! For Thanksgiving, it could be "All turkeys eat here", Christmas could be "Santa, please stop here". Easter is "The Easter Bunny hopes here". The kids would have a blast begin able to create their own sign. And who says it has to be limiited on one sign per holiday? Halloween could be grave stones (push the sign in all the way to the ground) and "beware" signs.

4. Keep some of the smaller signs for craft projects. Take the sign off the stakes and on the blank side of the campaign poster, have your child draw their best art work, then mount it on the wall! (No one will know what's on the back!) The heavier poster board style (the smaller campaign signs that literally litter the sides of the roads) are particularily good for any glue and glitter art work or gluing on beads, rhinestones or other "bulky" type of item.They are strong enough to handle the extra weight!

5. Use the stakes or stands as plant climbers! Tomatoe plants need support to do their climbing. Have some
house plants that you want to stake up? Use the campaign sign stakes! I have seen some pretty tall signs on
those streets! Don't be afraid to take a look at what's available!

6. Got a painting job coming up? Those really large campaign signs, (the ones that obstruct the view of a driver as they are driving by looking for direction signs!) grab those and use them to cover your carpet or other areas you don't want to get paint on. If you are using a spray paint gun, these large signs would be great for taping to the wall you don't want painted so no over spray gets on them. You could tape a few together to make a dividing "wall" to keep the paint spray out. If you are spraying or painting outside, the very large paper signs are great for protecting the ground around where you paint.

7. Are your kids actors? Use those really huge campaign signs, as the "stage curtain". Have the kids decorate the back side of the sign with the name of the play or whatever they are doing. Then, depending on where your home "stage" is, use the paper signs to roll up, roll over or pull away the "curtain" of the stage and let the show begin!

8. Most of the signs are thick poster board. So they would make great moving supplies material! Cut the smaller signs in half and slide them between breakable plates before you wrap the plates up. Make divisions in the box between the glasses that you wrap in newspaper. USe them to add strength to the boxes and any other protection you need. They are light weight so it doesn't add much weight to the box but are great protection materials!

9. Take the poster board sized ones, and cut them into smaller sizes - they make great like "tools" for when nothing else works. Got a table that wobbles because one leg is shorter? FOld a piece of heavy poster board up until it is the right height to slide under the leg to stop the wobbling. Need a door-stop? Again, fold some poster board up to the shape to fit under the door to keep it open. Need a wedge for a window or a "partition" between two things so they don't rub together - poster board fold-ups to the rescue!

10. Roll the smaller but heavier poster board signs into a roll, secure with tape or glue or a rubber band and stand it at a slant in a lizard's cage so the creature can have something to climb on. Cut the roll in half and lay it down so he has something to hid in. Use them to line the bottom of a pets cage, the bottom of a kitty litter box or the bottom of a bird cage.

There's alot out there available! Go take a walk and pick what you want your candidate to do for you!

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Make Your Thanksgiving Day Meal Work for You!

It's great to enjoy that Thanksgiving Day meal, but how about making that Thanksgiving Day meal work for you! Here's a few suggestions on how to accomplish that.

Know your turkey. A "tom" turkey is a male turkey and is usually on the tough side and a larger bird. Watch your cooking temperatures and if all else fails, if you cut this tougher meat into bite size pieces and pour some delicious gravey over it, the toughness isn't so bad! a "hen" turkey is a female turkey and smaller and and more tender.

When you are making up meal-sized portions to freeze for meals later, think about how much each of your family members eat and consider this when you are portioning your meal-sized servings. In your family of four - will the men/boys eat 1/2 lb. each and the women/girls 1/4 lb. each? Then make your serving size 1,1/2 lbs of turkey meat.

Most cookbooks suggest you thaw your turkey in the fridge, instead of out on the counter at room temperature. Being poultry, you have to be careful it doesn't get warm. So take your turkey out of the freezer a day or two (depending on how many pounds it is) before you are going to cook it and let it thaw in the fridge.

When you are cooking the bird, make sure you line the pan with heavy aluminum foil and cover the bird. You want all the juices and moisture to stay inside the foil, so as not to let the turkey get dry.

Some say stuff it, some say don't. But if you do, just make sure you tie the legs closed so that the stuffing stays inside, and doesn't dry out or spill out in all the juices. But don't forget to take the ties off for presentation!

In a way, you could say, that the bird will cook itself. So set the temperature, cover it properly and let it alone! Don't keep opening the oven door or pulling the foil cover back to "check" on the bird. It isn't going anywhere and every time you open that oven door, you let the heat out, and that lowers the temperature inside the oven, which means you aren't cooking your bird at the same temperature. It might take longer to cook or not get done properly because of major changes in the cooking temperature. If you choose to baste the turkey, then just open it at certain time intervals and open the foil as little as possible so the heat and moisture doesn't escape.

Peel ALL the meat off those bones! The tiny little bits are great to add to canned chicken stock to enhance the flavor. Small pieces are great for making a turkey salad. The dark meat is hardly noticable if it is covered in delicious gravey. Or course that white meat is great by itself or on a sandwich. As you are slicing, seperate the "pieces" by size and then just fill them freezer bags!

Also, in a favorite magazine of mine, Family Fun Magazine they have this to offer:

Defrosting Do's

Remember that you have to allow 24 hours for every 5 pounds if you're going to defrost a turkey in the refrigerator. That means a 15-pound turkey will take three full days, so get started on Monday. If you miss this deadline, you can defrost the bird faster in a sinkful of cold water, allowing about half an hour for each pound of turkey and changing the water occasionally. (It will still take 7 1/2 hours for that 15-pounder, so do it after work on Wednesday, then refrigerate it.)

Roasting Times For a Fully Defrosted Turkey

10 to 18 lbs. - 3 to 3 1/2 hours (unstuffed) or 3 3/4 to 4 1/2 hours (stuffed)
18 to 22 lbs. - 3 1/2 to 4 hours (unstuffed) or 4 1/2 to 5 hours (stuffed)
22 to 24 lbs. - 4 to 4 1/2 hours (unstuffed) or 5 to 5 1/2 hours (stuffed)
24 to 30 lbs. - 4 1/2 to 5 hours (unstuffed) or 5 1/2 to 6 1/4 (stuffed)

Happy Cooking!

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A Family Oriented Magazine - I just have to recommend it!

I just have to highly recommend this magazine to you all. It is the perfect magazine for moms, kids, teachers, scout leaders, grand parents - anyone that wants to have fun with kids and/or their families. It is the best family related magazine I have ever seen. I have had a subscription for 3 years now and just renewed it for another 3 years!

It has the best crafts, kids cooking/recipes, stories (even from the kids themselves!), games and activities and other features that are fantastic! Vacation places, best places to go, things to do, cooking and recipes for the kids, ways to help the kids and help them learn to help themselves. Tips for packing a lunch that a kid will love to eat, ways to teach them to help out and be responsible. There is just so much in this magazine!

It is absolutely packed full of usable and wonderfully helpful projects, ideas and creations! And they are all FAMILY ORIENTED! The holidays are covered, but also time themes like back-to-school, summer vacation times. I enjoy just reading it all! My grand daughter is nearing the age that she will be able to do all the crafts and cooking, so I plan to pull out my past 3 years and the two of us will have a blast! And with all the things offered, crafts, recipes, hints, tips and such, you are sure to save money while you and your family have tons of fun!

The magazine is called FAMILY FUN

This months issue features:
Celebrate Thanksgiving with crafts, Recipes, Traditions for the Holiday Weekend!
The Year's Top 10 Toys!
Make Our Magical Gingerbread Train
Creative Holiday Card Ideas
Treat of the Month
Simple Crafts
Get Ready for Santa Season
Instant Fun (games)
Snacks and Goodies
Family Solutions
and more!

If you are interested in this magazine, I offer you a place you can get it for only $9.95 for 1 year, plus you get a FREE $5 gift certificate for every subscription you buy from More Magazines, Please! It's a great bargain! And what a great Christmas gift! And quite accomodating to your Christmas budget! And that price! Amazing! I know the owner of this site and I know that you will get great service.

Note: I receive NOTHING from this magazine or the web site selling it, for making this promotion. I just think the magazine is wonderful and wanted to pass it along. And if I can help you save a couple bucks with a recommendation and you and your kids have a lot of fun - that is satifaction to me! Remember - Save a Little to Save Alot!

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To make money, save money or just stretch what you have-continue reading articles for more tips, ideas and ways to do all 3!