Ideas on what to make with Christmas leftovers

Im heaving a collective sigh that Christmas is done and dusted for another year. Hooray!! Its such a busy time of year. We had Christmas lunch over 2 days with my family and I am stuffed. Now what to with all those leftovers...

Gingerbread can be rehashed into ice cream. Photo and recipe here. Or you can just put some ice cream into 2 gingerbread cookies like a sandwich lol.

Kobe got a candy cane off most kids for the end of year class gifts and my friend Michelle made some delicious chocolate peppermint bark using them. It has changed my life!! I even tried to make some twice myself. The first time I used condense milk and it didn't set properly but the next time it turned out great. Michelle made the ones pictured above using this recipe and recommends not to use the food colouring in this recipe as it can go gluggy.

My favourite recipe to use up leftover chicken (or even turkey) is Bang Bang chicken with a peanut sauce (I made the recipe and chucked in leftover shredded chicken at the end) , rice paper rolls or a banh-mi. My lovely friends Rach and Louie suggested quiches, topping on pizza, cheese and mayonnaise toast (I had this for breakfast), creamy pasta and in wraps which are all equally delicious.

Pork is a hard one for me to turn into something yummy. You can't go past a delicious fried rice or pork taco.

I would love to hear what your go to leftover recipes are? Please share in the comments below.

Happy Thursday friends!!
Grace

Things to make and gift this Christmas

If your like me and get the nervous sweats heading to the main shopping centres I have done a round up of things I am making at home this Christmas or have made previous Christmas's to gift.

*I had so much fun rediscovering cross-stitch (my new mindful activity) and sewing reusable stocking gift tags for the boys and family. We are loving the Grinch this year.

*Kobe and I made his class cards and gifts this year. This was a mammoth task and had to be done in a few stages; painting stencil onto cardboard (from cereal boxes etc), cutting up scraps of fabric and card then glueing it on, stamping brown paper bags and making chocolate crackle. Kobe whinged for tv the whole time... But was delighted once they were finished.

*Bird seed hangers. My neighbours and a couple mum friends at school and close friends are getting some bird seed feeders with an upcycled gift card (I cut up last years card to make a tiny gift card).

*DIY bon bons with activity sheet and homemade crown (or a crown saved from previous Christmas lol). This year we are using the wrappers from Who gives a crap toilet paper.

*Beeswax wraps. I went to a class earlier this year to learn how to make this. I did not realize how easy it was. All you need is scrap fabric (or christmas fabric would look amazing!!), grated beeswax, towel and iron. You place the grated beeswax over the fabric. Cover with the towel or tea towel and iron. Then it takes less then a couple minutes to dry. And goodbye gladwrap!!

*There are so many great options to make food to gift; preserved lemons, lemon curd, jam, cookies, cake, gingerbread cookies, chocolate crackles, rocky road, coconut roughs, the choice is endless. Just make sure of any allergies or dietary requirements first. Its no use giving someone on a diet a upcycled jar full of sugary treats.

*Clay ornaments. This was a messy exercise but Im happy with how they turned out.  All that is left for the kids is to paint them. There are also some dough recipes online but they will disintegrate over time. I used Crayola air dry clay.

*With the plastic bag ban in full swing and if you have basic sewing skills, make a boomerang cloth bag. You can never have enough reusable bags.

*Santa sacks. Grab some Christmas fabric and cut into shape of a pillowcase (leave around 3cm for stitch length) and sew. I made my boys a few to store grandparents gifts in.

Well I hope you got some handy ideas. I would love to hear what you are making and gifting this year.

Happy Tuesday friends:)

Grace