Green gift wrapping

Gift wrapping you can do yourself with old envelopes and help the environment... This idea to give a personal touch to my gifts I found on Martha Stewart website.

A nice and green way to reuse the huge amount of envelopes I received and saved throughout the year. Also, I reused some old paper bags.

You can print the template here or just trace the lines of pine cones on a sheet of paper/old envelopes and cut them out. Punch some holes to add ornaments.

  

Turkey pot pie with cornbread crust

Did you know that pumpkin leaves and flowers are edible? And so are the stalks! I learned this when I was a little child and my parents had  pumpkin vines spread in the backyard. My mom used to fix delicious pumpkin omelettes with leaves and flowers all together.

Here is what I did with some leftover turkey, a pot pie! And as an accompaniment pumpkin leaves and stalks sautéed with olive oil, salt, garlic, onion, and pepper.

Turkey pot pie with cornbread crust

Filling:

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups turkey gravy or water
2 cups finely chopped roasted turkey
1/2 cup frozen sweet peas
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1 cup corn kernels
1/2 tsp. salt
black pepper to taste

Crust - Cornbread
1 cup flour
1/2 cup white or yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

For the filling:
1) Preheat oven to 400° F (205° C). Spray a 2-quart casserole with cooking spray.

2) In a large sauce pan, heat butter and olive oil. Add onion and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in  carrots and cook for 2 minutes. Add flour and cook for 2 minutes. Add turkey gravy or water and heat until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Stir in turkey, corn kernels, peas, black pepper and salt if using water. Pour mixture into casserole.

For the crust: In a bowl, stir cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, oregano, and salt. Stir in milk, egg and  oil until well combined. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients stirring until mixed. Spoon the batter evenly on the turkey filling. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 22 to 25 minutes.