Thanksgiving is fun to get ready for, from the food to the decorative table. However, leftovers after the Thanksgiving feast is great for a couple of days, but after a while, especially if you were the one hosting the dinner. The leftover seems like they will never disappear. You really don’t want to toss it out and waste food, but you are tired of eating that turkey and all of its fixings the same way as the first day. What you can do is be creative with the leftovers and use them in other ways to create new recipes.
Unique Ways to Use Thanksgiving Leftovers
Turkey Shepherd pie
1 onion, chopped
Sm. can mushrooms (or 1/2 c. fresh)
1 tbsp. oil
4 c. diced cooked turkey
1/2 c. peas, steamed
1/2 c. corn, steamed
1 c. carrots, steamed
2 tsp. Worcestershire
1 1/2 c. gravy
Salt
Pepper
4 c. mashed potatoes
Saute onion and mushrooms in oil. Add turkey, peas, corn, and carrots. Add Worcestershire and gravy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir to mix. In 2 quart greased casserole place meat mixture. Top with mashed potatoes. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Sweet Potato Fritters
1 lb. sweet potatoes or yams
1 egg
2 tbsp. flour
Plus flour for coating
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
Oil for frying
Quarter sweet potatoes. Put in a large of water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes. Cool and peel. Put in a food processor with egg, 2 tablespoons flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Puree until smooth. Stir in cinnamon and nutmeg.
Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a large frying pan. Flour your hands and shape potato mixture into patties. Coat patties with flour and fry until brown, about 3-5 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
Breakfast Bread Pudding with Berry Sauce
Since you would already have your bread pudding as a leftover, all you would need to do is make the berry sauce to pour over the pudding.
Warm Berry Sauce
2 c. frozen raspberries
2 c. frozen strawberries
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. fresh squeezed orange juice
3 tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
Powdered sugar for dusting
Raspberries & strawberries for garnish
Combine berries, sugar and orange and lemon juices in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly until the fruit begins to break up, about 5 minutes. Puree in a food processor or blender, return to same pan and heat until warm. To serve, dust the top with powdered sugar. Pass the warm sauce and fresh berries at the table.
Oh and there is always the open faced turkey sandwich!
How do you use your Thanksgiving leftovers?
Image: istockPhoto
