What To Do With Holiday Leftovers

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.

Hello all!  I will be doing something different for this piece and start it off with a story.  I’m sure that everyone who reads this have felt or will feel the same way that I do.  So, here is my story….

Before Thanksgiving got here, I did A LOT of grocery shopping because my family was coming to visit, and I wanted them to feel as comfortable as can be.  It seemed like I was out shopping almost every day getting regular groceries plus getting prepared for our families Thanksgiving feast.

Finally the day came that my family arrived, which was a very joyous occasion, but only to realize that, just to be sure, we needed to get a second turkey and a little bit more groceries.  All of us girls in the family LOVES fried turkey.  I thought the grocery shopping would never end, but then Thanksgiving came and went in a flash.  While it was nice to get done cooking, relax with family, and eat the most delicious food and desserts, next came the leftovers.  Listening to my parents advice, my husband and I froze some of the meat and kept the rest in the refrigerator.

Well, after about a week had past and me totally forgetting that we had leftover food, I started trying to figure out what our next dinner will be.  Around paycheck time, we are always cutting close to having to restock everything.  So, as I was looking around, I saw a whole bunch of leftovers such as stuffing, mashed potatoes, turkey, gravy, you name it.  I started thinking to myself, “Well how can I repurpose these without making it a feast?”  And, the answer was right in front of my nose, Pinterest.  Pinterest is truly a girl’s (especially a mom’s) best friend.

After looking and looking, I found this casserole that I thought was the perfect way to repurpose everything.  It was like a turkey shepherd’s pie, but wasn’t exactly that.  It called for mashed potatoes on the bottom and the top, but I did it differently.  I put stuffing on the bottom, turkey sautéed with onions, garlic, leftover green beans, and leftover gravy in the middle, and mashed potatoes and cheese on top.  This made two small loaves and all I had to do was bake it.  It might sound like it would be disgusting, but it turned out to be pretty good.  It was also a plus that it took care of most of the leftovers that were sitting in the fridge and that it didn’t feel like we were having a big feast all over again.

So, that is the end of my story.  Overall, I felt so relieved that I found a way to repurpose all the leftover food or I would have felt guilty on wasting food otherwise.  Here is my challenge for all of you who are reading this: If you have been or are in that spot I was in, comment below and if enough people comment on wanting the recipe, then I will post it in another post.  In addition, I would love to hear how you all take on the task of repurposing leftovers, so if you just want to share your experience, then comment below.  I hope that you all are having a wonderful holiday!  That’s all for now and I am excited to hear everyone’s feedback.  Bye for now and I will see you in the next post!

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Featured In: Food, Holiday | November 23, 2018
Tags: ,
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

2 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Teresa
Teresa
6 years ago

love shepherd’s pie – clever idea! Sounds delicious! A friend once taught me his technique for reusing leftovers (especially those small random amounts) was to either throw a fried egg on top or to turn it into an omelette or frittata.