Sharing Life’s Lessons
Ok, it’s not really magic, but I will tell you how to make changes to leftover food. I am blessed to be married to someone who doesn’t mind leftovers. In fact, when we were first married, I had helped cook for my family since my mom worked, so I would make more food than the two of us could eat. I didn’t mind leftovers, but after three or four meals in a row of the same thing I craved variety. I finally convinced my money conscious new husband that I could cook something new, and we could alternate leftovers.
If you have family members that don’t like leftovers, try making different dishes from one main meal. I had a 25-pound turkey in my freezer and I needed more space because ice cream was on sale, and I needed to stock up. (Have I mentioned that I eat ice cream every night before bed?) a 25-pound turkey takes up a lot of space, but if you roast it and debone it, then refreeze the meat, you can free up a lot of that space.
That was my plan. I roasted the turkey on Friday and served it with sides to my daughter and her family who came over to swim that evening. It didn’t have all the Thanksgiving style trimmings, but it was the main dish. On Sunday I cut up some of the turkey and reheated it slathered in BBQ sauce and served BBQ turkey sandwiches to two of my grandsons who had come to help Grandpa work on the garage.
I will be making turkey salad. There’s no recipe for this. I add chopped boiled eggs, Miracle Whip and mustard to the small pieces of turkey. Other items I may add include fresh basil from my roof top herb garden, diced onion, celery, dried cranberries and maybe chopped pecans or walnuts. I’ve heard Greek yogurt makes it healthier and maybe your family likes mayonnaise instead of Miracle Whip. Make it the way you like it.
another meal this week may be turkey pot pie. This can be quick and easy by adding a package of frozen peas and carrots, cubed potato (I cook the potato in the microwave, then put it in cold water and the peeling comes off easily.) add chopped onions and season with salt and pepper and garlic powder if you like. The quickest way is adding a can of cream of chicken soup, but I’ve been trying to cook more from scratch so I will make a gravy using broth from the cooked turkey, thickening it with cornstarch. Bake this in a pie crust and top it with pie crust or biscuits.
There’s also turkey and noodles as soup or a casserole. Turkey sandwiches. There are many possibilities, so it’s not the same meal each day. I will divide the leftover turkey into smaller portions and refreeze, so it will be available for any of these dishes without the effort of thawing and roasting a whole turkey.
You can do similar meals with leftover beef roast. Sliced beef sandwiches, BBQ beef, beef and noodles are just some ideas. I like cold roast beef on buttered bread sprinkled with salt.
Ham has endless possibilities. Sandwiches, hot or cold. Use ham in a breakfast casserole for a crowd or just chop some up and add it to scrambled eggs. I like ham and bean soup. add chopped ham to scalloped potatoes whether you make them from scratch or a box.
The possibilities are endless if you use your imagination. Be creative! It may not be magic, but it will give variety to your menus and save money on your grocery bill. Who wouldn’t like that?