From Thanksgiving Thursday To Freezer Friday
The abundance of food served around most tables on Thanksgiving day provides a great opportunity to creatively use up the leftovers and stock the freezer at the same time. Here are just a few ideas of things you can make to fill the freezer instead of fighting the crowds out the store on Friday after Thanksgiving.
- Turkey Shepherd's Pie. It doesn't get much easier than this. Dice or shred about 2 cups of leftover turkey. Combine with 2 cups of gravy and any leftover vegetables. Cover with leftover mashed potatoes and freeze.
- Basic Turkey Enchiladas. Shred about 3 cups of leftover turkey. Mix with leftover corn, optional, and 1 cup enchilada sauce. Spoon filling into corn tortillas, cover with more enchilada sauce and freeze.
- Turkey and stuffing cups. Press leftover stuffing into the bottom and up the sides of a greased muffin tin. Combine 2 c. diced turkey with 1 c. gravy. Freeze in muffin tin until frozen, then remove cups and place in freezer bags.
- Pumpkin pie ice cream. Dice 1 c. pumpkin pie and combine with 2-3 cups softened vanilla ice cream. Add 1 t. pumpkin pie spice. Freeze.
- Potato patties. Use either mashed white or sweet potatoes. Combine 2 1/2 c. potatoes with 1 egg. Form into patties and cover with breadcrumbs. Brown in a skillet with 2 T. melted butter until both sides are browned. Cool and freeze.
- Turkey stock. On Thanksgiving day, save all of your vegetable peelings and scraps. Put them in a large stockpot. Add the turkey carcass, some salt, pepper corns, and bay leaves (If necessary, you may need to crack the turkey carcass in half in order to fit it in the pot.) Fill the pot with water, bring to a boil, skim top and reduce to a slow simmer. Let simmer for at least 3 hours, although longer is better. Continue skimming the top as needed. Drain stock through a colander lined with cheesecloth or a triple layer of paper towels. Cool in refrigerate and freeze in plastic bags. Or make a turkey soup right away to eat and freeze. Or do all of the above.
For more frugal Thanksgiving tips and ideas, stop by Money Saving Mom.
And if you're looking for a fun way to keep the kids occupied while you're preparing for the big day, make sure you enter my giveaway.
9 comments:
thanks for all the wonderful ideas! :)
I am taking notes. These are wonderful suggestions. Sounds sooo yummy. Thank you.
Great ideas! :D I use the turkey just as I would chicken in things. I'm thinking of buying an extra turkey since they are on sale. :D
Great ideas, thanks! I LOVE turkey sandwiches with some cranberry relish spread on them for leftovers. I also like to make soups out of veggies and chunks of turkey.
Shannon
I'm never in charge of the turkey... mom handles that, but I buy one anyway when they are super cheap. Just like Sherry said, I debone it and use it like I would chicken.
Those turkey and stuffing cups sound really good. We don't often have any stuffing leftover because it's a favourite in our house, but if I do, I'm definitely going to give those a try.
The day after Thanksgiving I'll be making up turkey pies and freezing them.
Thank you for stopping by my blog and taking time to comment.
Pumpkin pie ice cream...wow....my mouth is soo watering right now!
:)
Turkey nachos is one of our favorite leftover meals from the holiday bird. I'm planning to share the recipe on my MPM this week. Hope you have safe travels and enjoy the holiday with your family.
I just found your blog not too long ago (although I can't remember where I found it), and I had to smile and breathe a sigh of releif when I found your "Grammatical Disclaimer." To that I would only add that I also have horrible spelling and that, as Mark Twain once said, "I appreciate a person who knows how to spell a word two different ways" (or something like that!) Anyway, I was wondering if I could copy this for my site (and list your site as a reference?) I tried to email you privately to ask, but wasn't able to do so. Thanks!
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