a peek inside the fishbowl

Are you the kind of person who likes to get the Christmas shopping done early? Or maybe, if you’re like me, you’re not exaaaactly the type who thinks about Christmas in October BUT you love it when a great sale happens at one of your favourite Ottawa stores. :)

I recommend you jot this information down in your calendar RIGHT NOW:

Mrs. Tiggy Winkle’s is a longtime Fishbowl patron and I’m very happy to let you know that their famous 20% off sale is ON again and it’s coming up very soon. It’s all going down October 20-23, at all locations. This sale is NOT to be missed. In fact, I’ve already done some prep work. I had a good look around the Westboro store last week and I checked out the website so my shopping game plan is already in place. (I can’t spill the beans but I’ve been scoping out board games, puzzles, and tech toys. Shh! Please don’t tell my family.)

Are you a Lego fan? You should take note of a few extra details: the sale EXCLUDES all LEGO but the store is will be offering 10X Mrs. Tiggy Winkle’s Reward Points on all LEGO purchases made during the sale that can go towards a future purchase. (!)

I have more great news for fans of Tiggy’s young and old: I have a $50 gift card to give away to one lucky family. It’s very easy to win, but please read the next part carefully:

• This giveaway is for one $50 gift card that will be given to one individual. It can be used at the sale or anytime afterwards.
• In order for your entry to qualify let me know how you would spend your winnings in the comments below. CONFESS! Would you buy something for yourself or the kids? Check out the website to see what’s new! One entry per email address please!
• A BONUS second entry goes to folks who leave a comment on this Facebook post as well. Just make sure you come back and let me know in a second, separate, comment that you did so.
• This giveaway is void where prohibited by law.
• If you can’t post your comment for whatever reason you can email it to andrea at quietfish dot com. Please note, I cannot be responsible if your entry is misdirected or gets stuck in my Spam folder.
• I will draw the winning name using Random.org at 9 a.m. EST on October 21, 2016. I’ll contact the winner via email at that time and post the name here as well.
• The winner will need to pick up the gift card at a Tiggy’s location of their choice in a timely manner.

Good luck!

p.s. Speaking of fun and games, I’d like to let my Westboro friends know that Mrs. Tiggy Winkle’s is hosting a SUSHI GO tournament on Saturday, October 29. It’s a free event, open to anyone age 7 and up, but registration is required as space is limited. There’s more info on their Facebook page if you’re interested in this unique family outing. :)

As I stirred a spoonful of cranberry sauce into my plain yogurt this morning it occurred to me that I am a bit of a nutbar as it pertains to using up leftovers. I really hate food waste. I mean – I REALLY hate food waste –  and so I will do everything I can do to use it all up.

There are, of course, a number of ways to do this:

• Make less to begin with. I went overboard for Thanksgiving, but I usually don’t make massive dinners. I am usually pretty good at making the right amount, so there isn’t a lot left over.
• Choose dishes that easily convert into other meals when faced with leftovers. For example, pulled pork is excellent for this. On day one we’ll have pulled pork sandwiches. Day two, we’ll have pulled pork tacos. And if there’s a day three, I use the rest to top a pizza.
• Make use of the backyard composter. This doesn’t apply to leftover meat, cheese, or dairy, but a head of wilted lettuce or sad celery will eventually make some nice soil for my flower pots next spring. In my mind, this makes it less of a loss, knowing I’ll be using it.

So what about that Thanksgiving turkey? Well, we had it TWICE yesterday – in different formats. Mark used up some leftover gravy and made a hot turkey sandwich. I opted out of the gravy and made my own sandwich (yes, there is stuffing in that sandwich):

Last night we just had a second turkey dinner. I ate up the rest of the glazed carrots and the stuffing (as well as the turkey) and some cabbage and salad. Everyone else had variations of this. The carcass will be dumped in a pot of water today to make soup for dinner. The leftover meat might go into this curry (it’s my favourite way of using up leftover turkey!) although my eldest has asked me to make butter chicken, er, butter turkey. I picked up a jar of Farm Boy sauce for this and will serve it with rice.

I’d love to hear how YOU use up leftover turkey in your house!

I’ve been locked out of my own blog for some reason. Long story, but I can’t update it in the usual way so I am using a workaround to post this. Hopefully it doesn’t disappear into the ether. Sigh. I’ve been dealing with some technical issues and it’s really starting to wear on me.

We had our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday and you know what, I didn’t take a single photo. On one hand I am a little sad about that. I think these moments are worth documenting, but at the same time, in hindsight I am happy that I was able to put down my iPhone and STEP AWAY for a bit. I think my brain is better for it, actually.

I DID, however, want to post our menu today… mostly for my own benefit so I don’t lose the recipes. :)

• Roast turkey
• Stuffing
• Cranberry sauce
• Honey-glazed baby carrots
• Cooked cabbage
• Poutine (YES! I pan-fried some potatoes, and served with Farm Boy turkey gravy and St. Albert’s cheese curds. It was soooo good.)
• Salad (I used this recipe but used pomegranate seeds instead of dried cherries)
• Yorkshire pudding (premade, PC brand)

For dessert there was pumpkin pie and apple crisp. Suffice it to say we were stuffed and there are tons of leftovers. Oh well. I guess we have our meals planned for the next few days…

As for today, we are aiming to go on a family hike, destination TBD.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!