Peeps!

We made it through another holiday! Some of you are putting up christmas decor, and beginning to stress over christmas gifts and things to buy.

In any event, I would go on the record to say 99.9% of us really don’t want to see in side our kitchens for a while. Adding to that, we have leftovers for at least a week. What is a cook to do?

Well, today, I’m going to share with you our tradition, and new things to do!

First, even though you just got done with dinner, the turkey needs to be deboned(striped of the meat) the same night. It’s unsanitary to sit in the roaster or on the bones after cooking, so debone whatever is left.

Now, you look at the meat, and you think “leftovers, and turkey sandwiches. We are good”. Why stop there?

One thing we look forward to in our family is the leftovers the next day. My mom makes this turkey salad with some of the turkey, and you guys, it’s soooo good!

Turkey Salad

Turkey Breast or a quarter of turkey diced

3-4 boiled eggs, diced

1 1/2 cups miracle whip

1 cup relish

Salt

Pepper

Now, before I continue, I made my turkey with Honey Orange Marmalade. It gave it a citrus-sweet taste, which made the turkey salad on the sweet side.  Keep that in mind when yo make the turky salad. Whatever seasonings you cooked your turkey, will come out in the salad.

In a bowl, mix all ingredients, and store in the refrigerator. You can normally get about three to five days out of it, but keep an eye out on it. It’s like tunafish but cooked meat. It may last three days around here.

Taking it a step further, triple the recipe, and store in freezer bags(which is what we do). Put one in the fridge, and freeze the other two. Instant lunch, or lazy dinner down the road. Frozen turkey salad is good for about 6-8 months.

Another way to reuse leftovers is burgers. I thought of this idea working at a sandwich shop in Vegas a long time ago. In this recipe, you have, and I stress this, you have to use ground turkey. I’ve tried ground beef, and it’s overkill.

Stuffed Thanksgiving Burgers

6 pounds ground turkey

3 pounds leftover turkey, diced

2 cups dressing

1 can of whole berry cranberry sauce

Spinach lettuce

Tomato

Make a patty out of the ground turkey, but hollow out the bottom half. In a bowl, mix the dressing with the chopped turkey. Make another patty to place on top. Take a half scoop and put into the burger half that hollowed out. Top with other patty, and make sure it’s sealed.

Heat oven to 350. Bake until cooked(20-30 minutes).

While waiting, cut tomatoes, and wash off lettuce. Top buns in this order:

Top: Cranberry spread, in a generous amount, then lettuce.

Bottom: Tomato, then cheese(optional).

Once done, build burger, and serve with sweet potato fries or leftover yams.

If sandwiches aren’t in the cards for you, there are other ways to make the turkey get used other than a sandwich.

Turkey Mac Casserole

(I make my mac and cheese from scratch, but you can do it from the box as well)

Olive oil

Flour

Milk

Elbow Noodles

2 bags Colby Jack Cheese or Mozzerella Cheese

3-4 cups chopped turkey

2 cans sweet corn or cream corn

Oregano

Salt

Pepper

If using boxed mac and cheese, use 3-4 boxes, and cook accordingly. If not, boil your pasta as directed on the box. Meantime, mak a cheese rue(gravy) for the mac and cheese. You want it to be loose but not runny. Drain the pasta, and mix the pasta, 1 bag of cheese, and remaining ingredients. Top with other bag.

Spray a pan with non stick spray, and bake for 20-35 minutes or until browned on the tips.

If you want something a little lighter……

Thanksgiving Salad

2-4 cups chopped turkey

Spinach Lettuce

Grape Tomatoes

2 cups chopped red onion

1 cup shredded cheese of your choice

1 cup sliced almonds

1 1/2 cups cranberries

Raspberry Vinegarette Salad Dressing

Combine all ingredients in a huge bowl, and chill for 30 minutes to a hour. Serve chilled with french bread and seasoned crutons.

These are some of my ideas to reuse turkey after the holiday. All but the sald you can make bigger batches to freeze and use later. Don’t just settle for plain turkey sandwiches, jazz it up! Then eat it while stressing for christmas, hannakah, or new years……….

Let me know what you think! Leave a message on the facebook page or here! Remember, come tuesday it will be a magical winter wonderland!

~CSM~