Black Friday means LEFTOVERS galore! I love everything about Thanksgiving. From coming up with the recipes, stressing, the traffic, gathering around the table and creating new memories.
Last night’s turkey made my brother in law, Carlos. Yum!
Turkey, a true American icon. It’s not one of my favorite meats, but it’s a must for Thanksgiving. So what do you do with the leftovers? Save your energy juices for Black Friday shopping…I came up with this handy dandy list of 31 different turkey leftover dish ideas so that don’t need to do any thinking and know that there are more options beyond casserole. Enjoy.
Salads:
Turkey Cobb Salad
Chinese Sesame Turkey Salad
Turkey Caesar Salads
Soups:
Turkey Kale and White Bean Soup
Turkey Vegetable Soup
Turkey Broth
Turkey Corn Chowder
Mains:
Turkey Quesadilla
Turkey Tinga
Chinese House Special Fried Rice w/ Turkey
Congee/ Porridge with Turkey Broth and ginger (my fave)
You know you’re adulting when you’re paying special attention at open enrollment. You’re evaluating that matrix with all the numbers, costs, and health care options to choose from. I am not going to complain. Having healthcare is a luxury. It’s just a lot of work and I manage to stress myself out. My evaluation and decision making process includes thinking about all the “what if’s.” What if I break my leg and I end up in the ER this year? What if I need to have some type of surgery this year? What is the best plan for me? I swear, in my twenties I was invincible and hardly ever went to the doctor’s office and never had to think this hard over a health plan.
I was so focused on making a decision and increased costs that I failed to appreciate the overall value of my plan. Since I was happy with Health Net last year, I ended up selecting a Health Net HMO plan this year. A week later my card arrived. I looked at the card and double checked that everything was correct. My name, address, my copay for doctor’s visits and ER visits. BUT this time…I noticed something different…there’s a new line item, Minute Clinic copay. What is this? At this point, I didn’t bother to check. Well, if you want to save time, money and get immediate attention when you are sick and who does not want all of the above?You need to read this.
Be sure to check with your provider and see if they cover or offer a Minute Clinic discounted copay. I know Health Net does!
Have you ever needed a prescription or medical attention, but your doctor is fully booked? You likely have something you’re prone to (whether it’s an ear infection, UTI, sinusitis, allergies…whatever it may be) and you just need the prescription so that you can get better? Call your very qualified doctor but can’t get an appointment? Let’s face it. Any great doctor is almost always booked. Based on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the worst), your pain and misery level has gone from a 4 to a 10+ in the span of an hour.
Last Friday, I was at a 10+. I was at work and got a terrible infection. Seeing that it was already 2PM, I knew I needed to see my doctor soon or it meant that I would have to go to ER over the weekend. I called my beloved doctor’s office and begged for an appointment.
Me: Pretty please, I need to see him.
Dr’s PA: Sorry, you are going to have to wait until Monday.
Me: Monday?!?!? Sweet Jesus. That’s two days away. I will be dead by then. Can you just have him see me? I can go there right now.*
Dr’s PA: Can you wait…let me see what I can do for you.
(Wait forever)
Dr’s PA: Yeah, we can’t take you…
Me: Seriously?
Dr’s PA: Yeah, you need to go to Urgent Care if it’s that bad. Good luck.
We all know there is not a single thing urgent about urgent care. I was in pain and before I allowed myself to get pissed, something came over me. I remembered that new line item on my Health Net card, it said, “Minute Clinic.” I quickly googled it and in less than 20 minutes, I was meeting with a Nurse practitioner at a CVS pharmacy (only select locations offer this). She diagnosed me, sent my prescription over to the pharmacy and 15 minutes later, I got my antibiotics. A few days later, they also called me to check in on how I was feeling. How amazing is that?
Sometimes we get so stressed over the cost of healthcare that we forget to educate ourselves of the overall value of what our plan may have to offer us. The best part to this whole story is that it’s a complete win all around. Not only did I save on time, it was just about 30 minutes of my time compared to seeing my doctor which is typically a half day ordeal! This is also much more cost effective since the copay is less than what I would normally have to pay to see my doctor.
The entire process was seamless and convenient since I was able to get personal medical attention in a quick and efficient manner. If you like to save time and money, do yourself the favor and check to see if your health plan includes the minute clinic. As mentioned earlier, my Health Net HMO plan provides a discounted rate for this service, but not all carriers cover this. Also, be proactive about it and find out where your closest Minute Clinic is…you just never know when you’re going to need their services. I am so thankful for CVS’s Minute Clinic and that Health Net covers this service at a discounted rate! Now that I know about this, I’m sure that this isn’t the last time I will be there. (Let’s just hope not any time soon).
I realize that in reading this that it sounds like a sponsored testimony for Health Net and CVS’s Minute Clinic and I assure you, it’s not. As you know, I am new to this whole blogging thing. My goal is to ensure that in sharing my experience, you know what your resources are when you may be in desperate need for simple medical attention.
*Yes, I was being a little dramatic but it’s worked before.
It’s still not too late to make this November one to remember. I hope your November has been kind to you. With Thanksgiving coming up, it’s almost over and I have been MIA. I had many exciting goals and wanted to accomplish so much for this month, but have found myself fighting to get a hundred. Our trip to Mazatlan was perfect. Despite the fact that I ended up in a medical clinic the morning of my flight, it was still perfect. I am a weak sauce and my stomach was not able to handle it anymore. They call it “Montezuma’s Revenge.” Thankfully, I was able to get some medical attention and three shots later, I was able to function a few hours later. The recovery since, has not been a lot of fun. I have been operating on about 70-80 and hope to be at 100% soon.
A sunset to remember (Mazatlan, MX)Being the second to the last month of the year, November has always been a very hopeful month. A month where we can still work on a few resolutions that we have may have neglected. A month where all the feasting begins and gives us many excuses to try out a new recipe and of course indulge. It’s also the perfect time to start on some new holiday crafts.
Despite a few setbacks, I am still determined to make this November one to remember. Yes, there’s 8 days left, but I plan to make it a memorable one. How are you going to make your mark this November?
Here are a few of my goals of what’s left of November:
Get well and be a hundred percent
Share quality time with family and friends
Complete my Christmas shopping
Master a few new Thanksgiving dishes (green beans w/ bacon and shallots, roasted yams with pecans, and a creamed spinach)
Start on my personal keepsake craft Christmas gifts (tutorial coming soon)
We have arrived…to Mazatlan. Oh, em. Gee. The shrimp. So damn Good.
We landed. It’s humid (hopefully it’s going to be great for my skin). I was hangry and we pulled over to have some of the best shrimp in my life. I met someone who told me that Mazatlan is the shrimp capital of the world, I later looked it up and read that was in 2011…still not sure if that’s the case, but who cares? Come here and have shrimp.
Seriously, Sammy?! 