Weekly Roundup: Making Money on Poshmark, Tater Tot Appetizers & the Hallmark Binge Pass

The kids are off from school and my house is full, and somehow I've convinced myself that this means I've got more time to get things done. 😂😂 Things like finishing shopping for gifts and wrapping them and getting them under the tree. Planning out my menu for Christmas dinner (and breakfast). Sending out our holiday cards. Mailing holiday gifts to loved ones who don't live nearby. Wow, my to-do list is longer than I thought! I'm going to hop to it and leave you with these tidbits below (I've marked affiliate/referral links with a *, which means I may make a little bit of money if you make a purchase or sign up using that link - thank you!):

I sell a few things on Poshmark, so I couldn't help clicking on this article about a woman who's making six figures by selling on the site.

I have half a bag of tater tots in the freezer, and this fancy appetizer idea is right up my alley - I love caviar, and now I know how to use up those tater tots!

Am I the only one who's sad when it's all Christmas movies all the time on the Hallmark Mysteries channel? It turns out that you can log in to Hoopla with your library card and borrow a Hallmark Binge Pass. I'm totally getting my cozy mystery movie fix now!

This time of year is a little crazy, and I thought about not doing a menu plan until the new year. But then I thought about how having a menu plan, even if I don't follow it, somehow keeps me sane. Last week, for instance, three of the nights completely deviated from my planned menu. And the carnitas moved from Friday to Sunday night. Nevertheless, my days and nights were a bit easier because I had a plan of some sort, even if I didn't follow it.

Menu Plan - December 16, 2024

Monday: Breakfast for dinner - Blueberry Skillet Pancake, Sausage, Eggs, Fruit (if this looks familiar, it's because I was supposed to make it yesterday)

Tuesday: Boys' choice (I've got a girls' night out so I'll leave my men to figure things out for themselves 😂)

Wednesday: Cheesy, Spicy Black Bean Bake

Thursday: Spinach Artichoke Dip (from ATK's Complete Slow Cooker*) and a Charcuterie Board

Friday: Turkey Pesto Sandwiches (this is another old Cooking Light recipe with a pin that doesn't go anywhere anymore so I'll have to re-create it)

Saturday: Asian Beef and Noodles

Sunday: Baked Ziti using meat sauce I've got in the freezer

Please let me know if there's something you'd like to see in the roundup. And don't forget to sign up for my monthly periodic email newsletter!

Weekly Roundup: The History of College Applications, Book Recommendations and this week's Menu Plan

My friends and I can't stop talking about how crazy it is that Thanksgiving was a week and a half ago, and this is now the last week before school gets out for winter break. None of us can understand why we don't go another week and then start school on January 13 instead of the 6th. But it is what it is, and so this week is just crazy busy. I'm optimistic that it means next week will actually be rather chill. 🤞 Is anyone else's kid getting out this early? Here are this week's finds (I've marked affiliate/referral links with a *, which means I may make a little bit of money if you make a purchase or sign up using that link - thank you!):

In a recent Admission Beat podcast, they talked about the history of the college application and I learned so much. 

One of my favorite writers, Dan Pink, suggests writing a user manual for yourself to make you easier to work with. (I recently re-listened to his book Drive* - highly recommended.)

A list of 100+ book recommendations from independent SoCal bookstores.

RecipeTin Eats is my favorite food blog, but Nagi is in Australia so I always get thrown/amused by her comments about Christmas being hot! 😂

The Chargers fan in me died a little last night when the Chiefs' kick bounced off the upright and then through. Their luck is ridiculous and unbelievable, but my sense of humor is restored by this old Travis Kelce interview and this Mahomes post-game interview from last night.

Menu Plan - December 9, 2024

Monday: Steak, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Air-Fried Asparagus, Copycat Red Lobster Biscuits, Apple Tarte Tatin (we're celebrating my son's 18th birthday - I still don't understand how that happened!)

Tuesday: Salmon Chirashizushi

Wednesday: Baked Spaghetti Squash 

Thursday: My college son's choice (he'll be home, and I suspect he'll choose take-out from our favorite Japanese restaurant)

Friday: Slow Cooker Carnitas, taco fixings (and I'll freeze the leftovers for future Mexican Sliders and Ripper Nachos)

Saturday: Cauliflower Parmesan**

Sunday: Breakfast for dinner - Blueberry Skillet Pancake, Sausage, Eggs, Fruit

**If you're like me, you balk at NYT recipes because you have to subscribe. But check your local library! The LA Public Library has 72-hour passes that you can access from this page. I use the library so much (ALL digitally) that I donated to them on Giving Tuesday.

Please let me know if there's something you'd like to see in the roundup. And don't forget to sign up for my monthly email newsletter!

Weekly Roundup: Hot Target Deal, Info for Local Booklovers + This Week's Menu Plan

I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving! I think we've finally polished off almost all of the leftovers. There's some cranberry sauce left, and I've been mixing it into yogurt for a delicious and relatively healthy concoction. I haven't put up my Christmas tree yet, but I'm excited that it's December! Here are some tidbits I thought might be useful (I've marked affiliate/referral links with a *, which means I may make a little bit of money if you make a purchase or sign up using that link - thank you!):

All Things Target reports that next weekend (12/7-12/8) Target Circle* members get 10% off on up to $500 in Target gift cards.* I do this deal every year because it's double the savings of the 5% off I get on almost all purchases with my Target Circle credit card.* You can do this deal in-store, but I usually buy a gift card online* and send it to myself. Then I add it to my Target account and use the Target app to pay.

The latest FAFSA update: Since FAFSA opened up last month, I went ahead and submitted it with both of my kids. The question about direct unsubsidized loans is still deceptive - almost all folks should answer "NO" so the student is considered for full federal aid eligibility. That question aside, as long as your tax info can be imported from the IRS and your finance and family circumstances are relatively straightforward, the form is quite easy to fill out and submit. It look less than an hour for all three of us to get it done.

For locals: a journalist put together a map of local independent bookstores.

Also book-related: The Los Angeles County Library accepts book donations for prisoners. (Click through to read the guidelines; for instance, paperbacks only.)

In case anyone else was curious: a journalist learned how much Instacart shoppers make.

Menu Plan - December 2, 2024

Monday: Mac & Cheese (I don't follow a recipe, just a basic method - make a roux, add milk, thicken, add cheese, add cooked pasta, and bake. I'm going to make 2 pans so I can freeze one for later.)

Tuesday: Roasted Salmon (or maybe a different kind of fish - I'll see what they have at the farmers market; I decided we'll take a break from chirashizushi this week 😂)

Wednesday: Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

Thursday: Meatball Heroes (I have raw meatballs in the freezer, so I'll bake them up - this is one of my son's favorites)

Friday: Cannellini Aglio e Olio with a baguette, definitely

Saturday & Sunday: Plans for dinner out

Please let me know if there's something you'd like to see in the roundup. And don't forget to sign up for my monthly email newsletter!

Weekly Roundup: Charities, FAFSA Update, Abbreviated Menu Plan for Thanksgiving Week

I think I'll be doing a weekly roundup if only to post my menu plan for the week. I hope you find it useful - I know having a menu plan saves me a lot of time and stress, even if I deviate from it like I did this past week.

Since it's the season of giving, let me advocate for one of my favorite charities, One Simple Wish - they fulfill the wishes of people of all ages (but mostly children) who are or were in foster care. One thing they do incredibly well is share the stories of those they help, so you really feel your donations are making a difference. (And they have a four-star rating at Charity Navigator.) Some of the wishes can be pricey, but there are less expensive wishes, and you can always make a donation toward a wish too. Do you have a favorite charity I should check out?

Ever wondered how to get coffee/tea stains out of a white mug?

The 2025-2026 FAFSA is now open for filing. I've got my fingers crossed that this year will go more smoothly than last year!

Is anyone else enjoying the newest NCIS show, Origins?

My menu plan for this week is really simple because I just moved over two items from last week that didn't work out and since I'll be cooking up a storm for Thanksgiving, we'll be eating leftovers or very simply through the weekend:

Menu Plan - November 25, 2024

Monday: Clam Chowder (still with modifications - I'll add bacon, use whole clams, and bottled clam juice)

Tuesday: Salmon Chirashizushi (yes, again, we have it almost weekly)

Wednesday: Oven-Baked Chicken and Rice

Thursday: All the Thanksgiving eats

Friday-Sunday: Leftovers and ?

Please let me know if there's something you'd like to see in the roundup. And don't forget to sign up for my email newsletter!

The Cranberry Sauce I Make Every Thanksgiving

Finally, I'm sharing my Aunty Toki's cranberry sauce recipe. She was my great-aunt, and she passed away earlier this year in Northern California, where she lived. She and I connected over food in particular, and I treasured a handful of index cards she'd sent me some years ago, full of hand-written recipes. 

I latched on to the cranberry sauce recipe immediately, but I realized that over the years, I've modified it quite a bit. My kids enjoy my homemade cranberry sauce so much that I end up making it at least twice in addition to Thanksgiving Day!

Aunty Toki's Cranberry Sauce - CFO Version

1 lb fresh cranberries

1 1/4 c granulated sugar, plus more to taste

zest and juice of 1 orange

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 10.5-oz cans of mandarin oranges, drained

1. In a large bowl, wash the cranberries and toss out any spoiled ones. (I always find a few that are mushy.)

2. In a medium saucepan, combine the cranberries, sugar, orange zest and juice, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, then reduce heat and simmer until cranberries have broken down to desired consistency. Taste and add more sugar if desired, then cook until sugar has dissolved. If you like your cranberry sauce super smooth, give it a whiz with an immersion blender.

3. Remove the cranberries from heat and let cool for at least 30 minutes. Fold in drained mandarin oranges (you can add a third can if your kids are like mine 😂). 

Cooking Light's Streuseled Sweet Potato Casserole

As promised, here is the recipe for the sweet potato casserole I've been making for ... oh, it must be around 20 years now. It's been so long that Cooking Light is no longer published (it used to be a fabulous magazine, and I can say that because they paid for one of my recipes once upon a time 😂). For many years after CL went defunct, you could still find their recipes at MyRecipes.com. But the site has changed dramatically and if there's a search engine there, I can't figure it out. So let me immortalize the recipe for my own sake as well as yours, adapted the way I make it. (Note: I'll be back to add pictures after Thanksgiving - the image here is one I was able to salvage from the pin I've still got saved.)

Streuseled Sweet Potato Casserole

adapted from Cooking Light

14 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 5 pounds)

1/2 cup half-and-half

1/2 cup maple syrup, preferably dark

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or 3/4 teaspoon other salt)

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/2 batch of my Easiest Crumble Topping

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13x9 baking dish and set aside.

2. Place the cubed sweet potatoes in a large stockpot and add enough cold water to cover. Cook over high heat until water comes to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook until sweet potatoes are soft. Use a colander and drain the sweet potatoes.

3. Place the sweet potatoes in the rinsed stockpot or a large bowl. Mash the sweet potatoes to the desired consistency. If you want them very smooth, you can use a hand mixer or even a stand mixer.

4. Add the half-and-half, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and egg to the sweet potatoes and mix well. Transfer the sweet potato mixture to the prepared baking dish and spread it out evenly.

5. Top the sweet potatoes with the crumble topping. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes, or until the topping has thoroughly browned and the casserole is piping hot.

Notes:

- The casserole can be prepared and frozen for up to one month - cover with plastic wrap and then foil, and take it out to defrost the day before you plan to bake it. Alternatively, the casserole can be prepared, covered with plastic wrap, and refrigerated up to a day in advance.

- This recipe is hard to double because 14 cups of sweet potato is a lot. I don't have a bowl that could hold twice that. However, if you need less than a full recipe, I highly recommend making the full recipe and then dividing them into two 8x8 or 11x7 baking dishes. Bake one now and freeze the other for later.

- The streusel topping in the original recipe calls for 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 1/4 cup cold butter cut into small pieces, and 1/2 cup chopped pecans. Cut the butter into the flour, mix in the sugar, then stir in the pecans. (I don't use this version because to me the flour taste never really cooks out and I never cook with nuts because of allergies.)

- It's a casserole, not a cake, so you have some wiggle room with the cooking time and temperature - important factors when you're using the oven for a lot of other things too. Just make sure the streusel topping doesn't burn and it'll be fine.

I'm back! Weekly and Thanksgiving Menu Plans + An Update

It's getting to be quite a refrain, but I'm back - again! This time it was an unplanned five-month break from the blog, and I can't believe how quickly those five months have gone by. Did you miss me? My apologies if you did. My older son is now in his second year of college, and my younger son is in the midst of college application season. So am I, in my first season as a certified college counselor. I've spent a good part of the last five months figuring out what to do with that certification, or rather, what to do with myself now that I'm certified.

I still don't know.

Which makes it easy to sympathize with students who look at me blankly when they get to the part of the college application that asks them to choose a major. 😂 A lot of times, students can select "undecided," but some colleges require a selection, so I always remind them that they can change their mind later and that about 80% of students change their majors. Although, sometimes the choice of major can impact a student's chances of getting in, which then requires a totally different conversation about whether a particular college allows changes of major and how easy or hard it would be to change from a major the student isn't interested in to one they are.

But I digress. My current focus is on helping my son get through his senior year (he didn't want to to do college visits before he applied, so I'm anticipating quite a few in the spring), and then I'll worry about my own future. I do know I have to do something. Every time I think about my empty nest, I get weepy. The kitchen remodel last year was the best thing I could have done when my older son headed off, because it was such a distraction. I'll need something even bigger next fall.

(I've marked affiliate/referral links with a *, which means I may make a little bit of money if you make a purchase or sign up using that link - thank you!)

In the meantime, I'm also focusing on the upcoming holidays. We're hosting a very small Thanksgiving family dinner with those in town, so I've ordered my turkey from ButcherBox* (that's a referral link good for your first box for just $20, a savings of $149, plus FREE ground beef for life - good for the first three people who use it, with my thanks!) and made up my menu:

Thanksgiving Menu 2024

Roast Turkey with Gravy (LA Times recipe)
Stuffing (going to try Mel's Kitchen Cafe recipe)
Aunty Toki's Cranberry Sauce (I've been promising to post this and I will!)
Streuseled Sweet Potato Casserole (a Cooking Light recipe I've been making for years that is no longer online - I'll post the recipe without pictures and then add photos after Thanksgiving)
Classic but Homemade Green Bean Casserole (RecipeTin Eats recipe)
Cauliflower Gratin (Smitten Kitchen recipe with some reader-suggested adaptations)
Caesar Salad (Alexandra's Kitchen recipe)
Popovers (recipe from The Joy of Cooking* - yes, I still go old school sometimes!)
Apple Tart (another Smitten Kitchen recipe)

I had added a pumpkin cake to my menu but one of our guests offered to bring a pumpkin pie, so I'll skip that. Right now, my biggest task is figuring out how to get ahead so I'm not drowning on Thanksgiving Day. Here's my game plan:

THIS WEEK:

- Freeze sweet potato casserole (done! all I have to do is defrost, top with the streusel, and bake)
- Make and freeze the streusel (making extra - leftovers are great for baked apples)
- Make and freeze the pate brisee for the apple tart
- Plan out my serving dishes (what's going in what)
- Plan out my cooking times for the day of

MONDAY:

- Measure out the dry ingredients for the popovers
- Grate all the cheeses (gruyere and romano for the gratin, parm for the salad)
- Make the salad dressing

TUESDAY:

- Season the turkey
- Dry out the breadcrumbs for the stuffing
- Measure out seasonings for the stuffing
- Chop the mushrooms for the green bean casserole

WEDNESDAY:

- Chop cauliflower, onion and celery
- Make the cranberry sauce
- Blanch the green beans
- Fry onions for the green bean casserole
- Make sauce for the green beans
- Move the sweet potatoes, streusel and pate brisee into the fridge to defrost
- Take out all of my serving dishes
- Set the table

THURSDAY:

- Roast the turkey
- Make and bake the apple tart
- Make the gravy
- Make the stuffing
- Assemble and bake the green bean casserole
- Make the salad
- Make the popovers

I'm lucky enough to have a full oven in my Bosch induction range* as well as a countertop oven.* So I can cook the turkey in the big oven and bake the tart in the countertop oven. I should be able to bake the sweet potatoes and green beans with or after the turkey, and I'm planning to follow the directions for cooking the stuffing in the slow cooker. I'll pop the popovers into the oven just before we eat so they're piping hot.

Whew! That's a lot, but I have a plan now. 😊

I still need a menu plan for this week, however:

Menu Plan - November 18, 2024

Monday: Lobster Ravioli & Asparagus (I bought a jumbo pack of ravioli at Costco last week!)
Tuesday: Salmon Chirashizushi
Wednesday: Stuffed Shells (I have a pan in the freezer, made with leftover lasagna filling)
Thursday: Make Ahead Sandwich
Friday: My son is coming home from college, so we'll probably get take out from his favorite Japanese restaurant
Saturday: Oven-Baked Chicken and Rice
Sunday: Clam Chowder (with modifications - I'll add bacon, use whole clams, and bottled clam juice)

Let me know what's on your Thanksgiving menu!