BETHLEHEM, Pa. - As we head into the most food-centric season of the year, some believe it just wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without mountains of mashed potatoes, a stash of stuffing and gallons of green bean casserole. Oh, and the turkey, of course.
While the main event is fairly cut-and-dried, the skill comes after the meal.
What to do with everything that’s left over?
We’re here to help.
In our house, Thanksgiving night ends with a huge soup pot simmering the bones with onion, carrots, celery and garlic. When the bones are clean and removed, the whole pot goes in the fridge to be used another day when we’re not so exhausted.
Later, the fun part comes when we add to the stock:
- Chicken bouillon (We like Better Than Bouillon. Seriously. Game changer)
- More leftover turkey
- Thin egg noodles
- Kale (Yes, kale. It makes it healthy, And you can’t taste it. And it looks nice)
- Enough water to cover the bones
There isn’t a formal recipe to this process, it’s more or less heavier on what people like. I like to see leaves in my soup, so along with the kale, celery goes in leaves and all. And maybe some parsley.
Simmer at least a few hours.
Once portioned out and frozen, you have enough soup to last until spring.
This next idea is genius. It uses just about every single leftover from the Thanksgiving table that happens between the appetizers and dessert.
Recipe author Erica Walker came up with a great recipe for the day you just cannot deal with one more "little bit" of something.
"Thanksgiving Leftover Casserole came about a couple of holidays ago when I was staring down a fridge full of plastic containers. Heating up leftovers separately in the microwave can take forever and frankly, I just didn’t have it in me.
"So I created this casserole and our leftovers have never been the same!
"This Thanksgiving Dinner Leftover recipe is so easy. It all cooks at the same time and can easily be modified according to how much of each leftover you have," she says.
Frankly, I think this one is going to be put in the permanent recipe file at our house.
Another popular Thanksgiving leftover is the famous sandwich cherished by Ross Geller of “Friends” fame.
The funniest part, and what makes the sandwich, is the “moist maker,” a third piece of bread in the middle of the sandwich that’s soaked in gravy. Messy but good.
Recipe site “Taste of Home” has provided a recipe for Ross Geller’s famous Thanksgiving sandwich. You know the one.
Recipe author Lauren Habermehl also give specific construction tips. Hint: the two outer slices of bread need to be toasted to keep the sandwich together.
Makes sense.
She explains that the “Friends” episode with Ross’s sandwich is one of her favorites because, “I can totally relate to the crushing realization that someone stole your lunch out of the office refrigerator.”
She lists the ingredients: “For my version, which may stray a bit from the Ross Geller original, has turkey (duh), sausage stuffing, my favorite sweet potato casserole, the BEST homemade cranberry sauce, maple bourbon gravypiled on homemade brioche…”
Get the whole recipe, with assembly, here.
Another way to stretch out the yumminess for a few days beyond Thanksgiving, consider a turkey salad you can use as a dip or for other kinds of sandwiches. You can even make it healthy by using yogurt and grapes instead of mayo and dried cranberries.
Recipe blog No Food Rules™ has a recipe that is simple and will last into next week.
Recipe author and dietitian Colleen Christensen tells you why this healthy concoction works, too.
And it freezes well.
Our director of digital, Donna Natosi, found the answer to perhaps the most difficult leftover to use up: jellied cranberry sauce.
You need to be 21, but all you need to know is in this super Tik Tok:
@cocktails101 Holiday canned cranberry! #drink #drinking #drunk #over21 #thanksgiving
♬ I Want to Break Free - Giuseppe Froio
Cheers!
