Thanksgiving: Leftovers Edition

This was the first year we hosted Thanksgiving at our house. 12 people, one 19 lb turkey. Even though it fed everyone AND served as lunch for seven Fermilab students the next day, we still somehow ended up with massive amounts of leftovers.

Here's what I've done with them:
1. (Leftover) Turkey Soup
1 small onion chopped
1 carrot chopped
2 ribs of celery chopped
1 can of white beans
pinch of oregano
2 bay leaves
2 c chopped turkey
1 bunch of kale, chopped lengthwise
Vegetable Stock (cube or liquid)
4 c water
Salt and pepper to taste

In a pot, put in a little oil and cook the onions, carrots and celery until softer, about 8 minutes. The bay leaf can be put in at this point. Then, put in the oregano and cook another minute. Add the white beans and the stock (cube and water or 4 c liquid stock) Then, put in the chopped kale and cover, simmering for 20 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf before serving. This soup can also be frozen.

2. Spinach salad with blue cheese and cranberry relish vinaigrette. (Recipe for the dressing is at the link, and I actually used leftover cranberry sauce/relish instead of fresh cranberries. It was delicious!)

3. Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Muffins. Instead of applesauce, I dumped in leftover sweet potatoes from the meal. It was a good substitute, and the muffins turned out nicely. I also reduced the sugar by half. J recommended that next time we use half brown sugar or add some molasses in to deepen the flavor.

4. Turkey Chili. I basically do the same recipe as the Turkey Soup, but just as far as the onion, celery and carrots. Then, I add at least two tablespoons of Chili Powder, and one of cumin and another of cayenne. Then the beans are kidney instead of white and I add a can of diced tomatoes instead of stock. The turkey goes in and it simmers for at least 20 minutes. You can't really go wrong with chili. It's so easy to make. I had some for lunch and froze the rest

5. Tomorrow i will do Turkey Pot Pie and freeze it. We'll see how it turns out.