Archive for: leftovers

Thanksgiving leftover ideas

With several hours between you and a food coma, it’s just about time to start thinking about what to do with all those Thanksgiving leftovers. After all, even if you’re not going to be able to eat more than a mouthful or two of toast until lunchtime (and the overall feeling of fullness finally starts to dissipate), it doesn’t hurt to have a plan in place for that fridge full of food.

• With leftover mashed potatoes, you can make mashed potato pancakes. Essentially, all you have to do with these is shape them and fry them on the stove top or in the oven. Perfect football-watching food.
• With leftover cranberry sauce, you can make something like a cranberry ribbon cake, where a stripe of sauce colors an otherwise plain dessert. Leftover cranberry sauce pie is also an option. Alternatively, you can simply use it to garnish a turkey sandwich.
• With leftover stuffing, you can use it up making more football munchies, such as stuffed mushrooms or bell peppers, or turn it into some stew for a full meal. I often just reheat it for about 20 minutes at 375 to give it a crispy top and eat it on its own.
• With leftover turkey, you can do just about anything. Sandwiches are easily my favorite way to use it up, although soups and salads are good options, too. A handful of suggestions include:

  • TurkeyTetrazzini, Turkey Nachos or Turkey Enchiladas 

  • Brown Rice Salad with Leftover Turkey, Red Cabbage, and Pecans 

  • Leftover Turkey and Sweet Potato Soup Recipe with Black Beans and Lime 

  • Leftover Turkey Chili

  • Mini Turkey Cornbread Muffin Sandwiches

Mini Turkey Cornbread Sandwiches

I remembered a post on My Adventures in the Breadbox that Alice did way back in March and decided that some of my leftover turkey was just the thing to make mini-muffin sandwiches. The only question in my mind was to decide what type of muffins to make.

Cornbread always goes well with turkey, so adding cornmeal to the muffins was an easy decision. I wanted them to be slightly sweet and not too dry, so I added a small amount of brown sugar to them. I planned on using some leftover cranberry sauce with the turkey, and because cranberry and citrus work so well together, I also opted to add some orange juice to the muffins. I didn’t add any zest, though the juice was fresh squeezed, because I wanted the flavor to be subtle enough to prevent it from competing with the turkey.

Because I did not use muffin liners, which, by the way, I would not recommend for muffins you intend to use in sandwiches, these developed a nice little crunch, as well as nice browning, on the bottom. They were not dry, but mini muffins can be overcooked quickly and they will dry out if left in the oven too long. These made great little sandwiches and I would make the cornbread again for any corn muffin occasion. I might also use the mini muffins again as a holiday appetiser.

+Continue Reading