4 Family Favorite Recipes for Leftover Turkey

Turkeys are awesome for living on a tight budget! It's one of the cheapest meats (especially if you get a free one around the holidays), it's healthy and they freeze well. Yet I don't see a whole lot of recipes out there that call for turkey. Maybe that's because you can basically substitute turkey for chicken in most recipes. Well, here are 4 of our favorites.  They are all family recipes that originally call for chicken but you can't tell the difference when you substitute turkey.

 Turkey Bundles

2-3 c leftover cooked turkey

6 T softened cream cheese

3-4 chopped green onions (including green parts)

2 T milk

3 T melted butter

2 package crescent rolls (without seams)

Combine all ingredients except crescent rolls and mix until well combined.  Open up rolls and cut into 6 squares.  Flatten out squares a bit.  Place a spoonful of turkey mixture into center of each crescent square. 

   Bring corners up to center and seal edges together to make little bundles.  Place on cookie sheet and cook at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Enjoy!

printable recipe

 Turkey Tetrazine

2 c cooked turkey

1 8 oz package spaghetti

1/2 c chopped onion

1/2 c chopped green pepper

1/2 c chopped celery

1/4 c melted oleo (butter)

1/2 t celery salt

2 pimentos

salt and pepper

speck of cayenne

3 t flour

2 c milk (or 1 c broth and 1 c milk)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 c sharp cheddar cheese, grated + more for sprinkling on top

1/2 c breadcrumbs

Boil noodles according to package.  Saute onions, pepper and celery in butter.  Slowly stir in flour and cook until thick.  Then add seasonings and cheese.  Stir until melted.  Add 2 c milk, pimentos, noodles, chopped turkey and soup.  Turn into shallow dish and cover with breadcrumbs and more cheese.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 min.  This is good to freeze ahead also.  Don't top with breadcrumbs and cheese before freezing.

printable recipe

Turkey Stuffing Casserole 

(sorry, no picture of this one)

2 lb cooked turkey

1 can cream of celery soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 small carton of sour cream

1 package stuffing mix

1 T butter

2 c water

Butter a 9X13 pan and place turkey on the bottom.  Mix soups and sour cream and pour on top of chicken.  Sprinkle stuffing mix on top of mixture.  Microwave 1 T butter and 2 c water until hot.  Pour over dressing.  Bake at 325 for 50 min to one hour.

printable recipe

Turkey Broccoli Casserole (a regular at our house)

1 c uncooked rice (I usually use brown rice but allow extra time for boiling)

2 c water

1 1/2 c cooked broccoli
1-1 1/2 c cooked chicken or turkey

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 t lemon juice

1/2 t curry powder

3/4 c grated cheddar cheese

1/2 c mayo

Boil rice in 2 c water.  Boil broccoli and drain.  Put broccoli in casserole dish.  Layer cooked chicken over broccoli.  Mix soup, mayo, lemon juice, curry powder, rice and 1/2 c cheese.  Pour over chicken.  Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and then top with breadcrumbs (or cracker crumbs).  Bake 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees. 

   printable recipe

What do you do with leftover turkey?

Thanksgiving Mix

About 5 years ago we visited family in Idaho for Thanksgiving. (It's so sad that it's been that long!)  My in-laws showed us a good time, as usual, and for our Family Home Evening treat my mother-in-law had us make this Thanksgiving Mix.  

As we put each ingredient in we talked about what they had to do with Thanksgiving.  It was a yummy treat and perfect for Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving Blessing Mix

2 c Bugles brand corn snacks (Shaped like a cornucopia or horn of plenty)

2 c mini pretzels - not sticks! (Represents arms folded in prayer)

1 c candy corn (During the winter the Pilgrims were allotted only 5 kernels of corn per day because food was so scarce.)

1 c dried fruit (Thanksgiving is the celebration of harvest.)

1 c sunflower seeds (Seeds represent the potential of a bounteous harvest for the next season.)

1 c Goldfish crackers (Represent the teaching by the Native Americans to the Pilgrims that a fish planted with seeds would help grow healthy crops.)

Rolls, Cranberry Relish & Turkeys

I made our own turkey dinner this past weekend and attempted rolls again. I can count on one finger how many times I've made rolls from scratch that turned out decent. Don't know what it is about me and rolls! But I tried the recipe from Our Best Bites Cookbook that you can find here on their website, and they were heavenly lightly browned clouds of perfection!

                                                     

Those Best Bites girls are my best friends in the kitchen! Everything I've made from their cookbook or website is amazing!  I think the secret (which they share in their recipe) is using whole fat milk. I didn't have any whole milk but I used 1/2 c whipping cream and 1 1/2 1% milk and look how they turned out!!

We also had my mother-in-law's cranberry relish. Growing up ours always came from a can and I have to admit, I don't think I ever even tried the stuff. My mother-in-law makes hers fresh and it's really very easy and SOOOOO GOOD!  My almost 2 year old gobbled it up and had thirds and fourths and wanted more! 

Here's the recipe: 

1 bag fresh cranberries 

1 large apple 

1 c sugar 

Combine all ingredients in your food processor and chop to the consistency of your liking. 

 That's it!  So good on those delicious rolls!!!

On another note, my kids are home from school this week and those little turkeys get up so early when there's no school! But I am thankful to have them home this week! And thankful that soccer season is over, there's no cub scouts or piano lessons and I have them all to myself on our own time! 

 I'm also thankful for my washing machine and dryer that can wash that mountain of dirty clothes we've accumulated since last Monday!

Enjoy Thanksgiving

 



Country Home

 



Isn't that an idyllic Thanksgiving table?  I love the mismatched chairs, the multitude of colorful pumpkins, the colors of fallen leaves reflected in the colors used on the table, a few quilts thrown over hay bales and of course, the fact that this whole scene is outside in front of an old barn and a giant tree.  Who wouldn't want to gather with their family or friends and enjoy a feast outdoors? 

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful, underrated time of the year.  There is something peaceful and calm about it.

The stores may be telling me that's its time to decorate with red and green and lots of glitter, but that just feels wrong to me.  

I went shopping the day BEFORE Halloween this year to one of my favorite stores (rhymes with Barget) and discovered that the Fall decorations were already marked down.  They were clearing shelves and bringing out Christmas stuff.  What a great way to get some deals on stuff that you can still use at Thanksgiving, but it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.  I suppose that's why I'm not in business or marketing. 

I saw something like this on Facebook: 

 

This isn't meant to be an advertisement for Nordstrom (I'm more of a Target/ thrift store shopper), but how great is it that they are letting us enjoy Thanksgiving before they shove Christmas down our throats and pocketbooks?  Other stores need to take note! 

I love decorated Christmas trees, tinsel and especially Christmas music as much as anyone, but Thanksgiving is such a great holiday and I hate to see it overlooked! And not only is it a meaningful holiday, it can also be so beautiful!