12 Creative Ways to Use Thanksgiving Leftovers

Posted by:Lindsay S. Nixon Category: Holiday

Before I get into how to use your Thanksgiving leftovers, just a little reminder that I'm hosting a LIVE webinar Q&A; on Monday December 2nd at 9pm EST/6pm PST . For more details and to RSVP, check out the Facebook event page !

Admittedly, I'm not a big fan of leftovers, but I find Thanksgiving foods are an exception. (I'm a glutton for mashed potatoes and gravy...). I've also found creative ways to repurpose my leftovers into a new dish, too.

For example, last year we had a ton of cornbread leftover (I'm not really sure how that happened) so I repurposed it into the "Chorizo" and Cornbread Stuffing in ( HHC , p. 196).

So here are some ideas on how to give your leftovers a makeover!

Sweet Potatoes : Leftover sweet potatoes can turn into a new meal ( use your meal plan recipes as your guide -- we utilized sweet potatoes as an entree many times on the plans! Especially for breakfast and dinner) or make twice-baked sweet potatoes!

(The Loaded Mexican Potatoes are featured on this week's Healthy + Detox family meal plan !)

Bread : Use leftover bread to make Bread Pudding ( HHA , p. 156, French Toast or Marmalade French Toast EHH , p. 40). You can also make croutons and bruschetta (like the Breakfast Fruit Bruschetta featured on the meal plans!)

Mashed Potatoes : I've made a makeshift Shepard's pie using up leftover mashed potatoes, green beans + other veg, and mushroom gravy (I thinned it out with broth + almond milk).

Cranberry Sauce : I'm almost embarrassed to admit how much I like baked tofu covered in cranberry sauce!

(or on my pancakes -- it makes a great topping for Courtney's Waffles (HHA, p. 160) too!)

Corn : Use leftover corn to make Corn Pudding (HHC, p. 173) or Aztec Corn Soup (HHC, p. 61).

Stuffing : Take some of that leftover stuffing and stuff some mushrooms! Just sub the pesto in the Pesto-Stuffed Mushrooms ( HHA , p. 99).

Green beans : Give those green beans a makeover by turning them into a Skillet Green Bean Casserole (HHA, p. 270).

Pumpkin Puree : Not sure what to do with that leftover pumpkin puree? See my previous post on 8 different ways you can reuse it (with recipes!!)

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