Leftover Land
(whose fridge looks like this!?, this is not really a pic of mine but might as well be)
Hope everyone had a stupendous Thanksgiving! Ours was absolutely fantastic, it got a little crazy there in the last couple hours before game time but we finished everything, kept it hot and it tasted great! I think this was the best turkey I've ever made! It's all about the brine baby. If you have never brined a turkey, you are missing out. Its a salty concoction that you soak the turkey in for 12-24 hours before cooking (use a brine bag). I added brown sugar, bay leaves and orange peels to mine usual recipe this year and buttered the top of the turkey for the last hour, huge difference!!
Okay...so if you're like me, you have toooonnnss of leftovers! I don't have too much turkey left, mostly dark meat (we're a white meat family) but here's what I am doing with mine so that I don't waste a thing!
Chicken Noodle Soup:
We have a lot of egg noodles left so, I am cutting up 2 carrots, 3 celery and 1/4 of an onion and throwing it in my crockpot with 48 oz of chicken stock. I also tossed in a raw chic
ken breast. I set it on high and walk away. About 30-45 min. later, once the chicken is fully cooked, I'll shred the chicken throw it back in the pot and dump my left over egg noodles
in the pot and turn it down to low and let it cook for another 30min to an hour. And Tada! Chicken noodle soup!
Shephards Pie:
We also have a lot of gravy, green beans and mashed left. So take your leftover dark meat that no one is eating (ha!) shred or chop and add it to some sauteed onions in a skillet. Next stir in your leftover gravy and layer the bottom of a 8x8 casserole dish, next layer with your green beans and top with mashed (or sweet potatoes) and some yummy cheddar cheese and some of those yummy crispy onions that you use in your green bean casserole. Cover with foil and bake in the oven on 375 for 30-40 minutes. Take the foil off for the last 5-10 minutes to bake the cheese on top. Tada!
Leftover Stuffing:
Okay,this may sound weird but is soooo good! We took our left over stuffing shaped it into little patties and put them into a skillet with a little bit of olive oil. This crisped the outside of the patty. Then we cooked an egg (over medium, so you still have runny centers) and topped the stuffing patties with the eggs! Sooo yummy!
As for cranberry sauce, put it on pancakes, toast or yogurt. Waste not, want not is a motto in my home! I still have some leftover sweet potatoes that I am going to put into a freezer bag and freeze so they don't go bad (use a straw to suck out all the air if you don't have a vacuum sealer) and then later make some sweet potatoe cakes to eat with my peach chutney I made this summer! Yummy! I'll post that recipe later (along with pics).
Hope this was helpful!! Do you have any yummy leftover recipes? Please post!! :)
Lovingly,
Shell
Ok, so the shephards pie, sooo legit!! A couple amendments. I didn't have quite enough turkey so I mixed a little bit of chicken into it and then I threw homemade breadcrumbs on top instead of fried onions, really good! We enjoyed it with friends and there were no leftovers! ;)
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