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5 Creative Meal Ideas Based On Holiday Leftovers
Do you go through the leftover dilemma several times a year? You've been cooking some big meals lately and now have a refrigerator full of leftovers. I know the look you'll get from your family if you attempt to put another plate of the same food in front of them for a third day. I suspect you'll end up scraping the leftovers into the compost bin if you don't think up something unique real soon.
You want to invent new dishes from the same old leftovers, but how? When you look at your leftover dish, make a mental list of what you used in that recipe and think about what other recipes you might have or can find that use similar ingredients.
1) Creamy Potato Soup
Mashed potatoes are a good basis for most creamy soups. In your big soup pot, brown up some diced bacon, about three or four strips. Then, in the same pot, add some cut up celery and carrots, as much as you like. Once they are soft, add diced onion. When the onion is soft, add 1 tbsp. oil, 1 tbsp. flour, and 1 1/2 cups milk and stir until thick. Now add your potatoes and bacon pieces and cook very slowly until nice and warm. This is a simple and filling meal with a little crusty bread alongside.
2) Turkey And Gravy Barbeque Style
Take white and dark turkey meat and dice into small pieces or shred up. In a big, heavy skillet, saute some bacon pieces until soft. Add chopped onion and minced garlic, simmering until just fragrant. Now put the cut up turkey in the skillet, and pour over enough leftover gravy to make the turkey a little soupy. Then just flavor the gravy with a little bit of barbeque sauce or dry grilling rub spice, using only enough to make the gravy taste tangy. Cook slowly until nice and hot and pungent. Serve on crusty bread or any bun.
3) Turkey Curry Cauliflower Soup
Take your leftover cooked cauliflower and put it in your food processor. Pulse until smooth and creamy, adding a little milk as you go to make it soup-like. Sprinkle in about 2 teaspoons of curry, a little more or less depending on how strong you like it. Then, in a soup pot, cook some chopped carrots and onion, in a little oil, until soft . Pour the blended cauliflower into the pot and add some chopped leftover turkey. Simmer the soup until it's nice and creamy and hot.
4) Cheesy Green Bean Tomato Soup
The classic green bean casserole already has cream of mushroom soup and cheese in the ingredients so it's perfect for a cheesy soup. Green beans with some nice diced tomatoes will perk this soup up a bit. Start with a big soup pot and saute a bunch of nice big chunks of celery. Then add some big diced pieces of onion cooking until transparent. Add a minced clove or two of garlic. Pour in one can of fire roasted diced tomatoes or regular diced tomatoes with a sprinkle of any good grill seasoning. Add your leftover green bean casserole a little at a time, stirring and heating through until you get the right soup consistency. Add a little chicken broth if you need to thin out the soup. Simmer until all the flavors are nice and savory together.
5) Stuffing with Egg Muffin Cups
Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray or brush with butter or oil. Spoon enough stuffing in each muffin cup to form a little cup with room for one egg. Break one egg into each cup and top with enough shredded cheese to cover egg. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the egg is done and cheese is melted. Let stand a few minutes before removing egg and stuffing from muffin tin.
There are many more ways to create a new meal out of holiday leftover dishes. Rethink the leftovers you have on hand, keeping in mind the ingredients that are in that particular dish. Then you'll be able to add just a few ingredients to come up with a new and unique meal.
About the Author Nicole Dean is the mostly-sane mom behind ShowMomtheMoney.com - a fun and informative resource to help moms achieve success working from home. She invites you to learn more ways to save money in her Frugal Cooking Ideas section. Be sure to sign up for her free lessons for work at home moms.
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