Leftover Turkey "Shepard's" Pie

More leftovers from Thanksgiving. This dish uses most leftovers, I used a Martha Stewart recipe as a guide; I put mushrooms instead of carrots, or other leftovers. The other variation I made was adding a bit of cheese to the top and broiling it for a few minutes. Turned out good, wish I would have put more cranberry sauce on that layer. But otherwise tasty use of leftovers. 

Chippy is ready for report

Elf on the Shelf, in my classroom an Elf visits once a year. Since I teach Pre-K I have two half day classes, which during elf time can cause confusion in what the elf's name is that year for that class. Today the Elf arrived, we watch the DVD. Then a bit after I get an IM from the front office that I have a package delivered. My teacher assistant goes to the freezer in the teacher lounge where the wrapped Elf has been chilling. The kids get so excited touching the box that feels like, "ice." I have them each pull on a corner/small part of the box. Overall they are all very respectful of the process which is a lot for a 4 year old. So we open the box and they are all so excited it's Chippy from the movie he came to our classroom. So I still said we needed to vote, as that was our math lesson for the day. So my AM class came up with Chippy and Jingle, Chippy won. My PM class came up with Chippy, Icy, Scott and Conner...again Chippy won. So my elf is just Chippy for the year. So for tomorrow he's hanging out on top of the SmartBoard, it's a simple one, I vary in level of effort year to year.

Thanksgiving Leftovers

All the anticipation and preparation for one giant meal, typically involving lots of family. The table is set and the food is ready, everyone fills their plates to the brim and stuffs themselves silly. After everyone is stuffed and rested it is time to put away the leftovers. Oh my the leftovers! My parents and in-laws always share their leftovers. So I am left with the task and challenge of what to do with that much turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, etc.

Turkey Sloppy Joes

So I like most people went to Pinterest and those short videos on Facebook, and found a million different ideas, I've decided to try out a few.

One website I found was this Easy Turkey Leftovers. The word EASY appealed to me for many reasons. I'm fortunate enough to be on Thanksgiving break right now, but that is coming to a close quickly. Back to work/school on Monday for 3 weeks of excitement in the world of Pre-K. Alrighty back to what I was talking about, leftovers. So the first recipe I tried was the Turkey Sloppy Joes, mostly as it appealed to the husband. Unlike the recipe we did use the entire can of beans but only 1 cup of turkey. It was good did not taste like Thanksgiving had the night before. Good way to change up the turkey.

One-Bowl Cranberry Bread

Next was my attempt to use the very delicious but copious amounts of cranberry salad made by my MIL. First we used some on typical leftover turkey sandwiches (sourdough, miracle whip, turkey, cranberry sauce, munster cheese, and stuffing.) So that made a slight dent, I went to Pinterest again and found this One-Bowl Cranberry Bread. One bowl, sounds good to me. So using my kitchen aide mixer followed the directions using whole wheat flour baked for 45 min. Turned out very yummy. :)

Turkey Tetrazzini

The last thing I made thus far from leftover turkey was a Turkey Tetrazinni, we used Hot Rotel, and I used olive oil in my Misto to coat the pan to saute the onions and mushrooms, whole wheat pasta. Otherwise following the recipe as instructed. It was good, next time I might use milk or cream instead of water to thicken up the sauce more. But it was still really good.

So far lots of success in recreating leftovers as new meals. I hope everyone had a happy and wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday. The holiday season is upon us, be kind to one another.

Meal Plan Monday

Okay so I spent some time over my winter break and planned out some meals. Trying OVERALL to be healthier most are a bit better for you. But as the man likes his food "fatty" I have a few things thrown in that aren't on the healthy path. But it's all about moderation. :D

Monday - Pizza Casserole NEW
Tuesday - Tilapia sandwiches (gonna pan fry tilapai, with some slaw)
Wednesday - Mississippi Roast NEW
Thursday - Paninis (made with leftover meat from Wed)
Friday - Leftovers
Saturday - Repurposed beef (not planned yet)
Sunday - ?? (we usually go out for lunch so our appetites vary)

Turkey, turkey, turkey

Hope everyone had a wonderful and fulfilling thanksgiving last week. And if Black Friday or Cyber Monday are your thing that you got some great deals. I did make one cyber purchase yesterday but it was an impulse buy for myself. :) I decided to get myself a pretty apron, I've been cooking a lot and when I wear the old school boxy aprons while I stay cleaner (I'm somewhat of a klutz) they don't feel comfortable nor look cute. So when I saw on a blog I read (don't remember which one) there was a deal for cyber Monday from Flirty Aprons I decided to order one, Cherry Blossom specifically. It hasn't arrived yet as I ordered it yesterday and didn't pay for fancy shipping. I'll update when it arrives.

My parents made a huge turkey on thanksgiving, like 21 pound huge for six people, six. My dad feels he can fit more stuffing inside a larger bird, while that is probably true. It leaves us all with tons and tons of turkey leftovers. Since I can now eat more solid foods, nothing crunchy or anything fried, etc. But soft, easily chewed as my extraction site is still healing. Anyways my point. I was looking through recipes online for ideas, and saw a recipe for turkey enchiladas. Well that sounded like a good idea, so I made up my own recipe, I didn't measure anything so I'll put down my guesstimates. Luckily enchiladas aren't an exact science.

Green Chili Turkey Enchiladas
made 5-6 enchiladas

5-6 tortillas (we had flour on hand)
2 cups cut up/shredded Turkey (or whatever meat)
2 heaping tablespoons light sour cream
bag(s) shredded cheese
1 can green chilis (this is a small can)
1 can green chili enchiladas sauce
Salt, pepper, to taste

What to do:
Heat over to 350.
Cut up the turkey into small pieces or shred if your patience allows. :)
Add sour cream, green chilis, and a handful of cheese, salt, pepper whatever seasonings to taste. I added a 6 pepper blend and cayenne pepper. Mix till blended and all meat is coated.
Then take a heaping spoonful of the mixture and place on a tortilla roll and place seam side down in a casserole dish.
Pour can of enchilada sauce over all rolled tortillas, bake in over uncovered 20-30 minutes till warm.

Pull enchiladas out of the over and sprinkle top with cheese, to taste but try to get decent coverage. I mixed habanero cheese and pepper jack blends for ours.
Then place under broiler for a few minutes till the cheese is bubbly and begins to brown.

Let cool for a few minutes then enjoy. :-)

Notes: I made this completely with things we had in the house on hand, we enjoy Mexican food and almost always have enchilada sauce, green chilies, so feel free to change it up to taste.