Kid Friendly Leftovers

Now that the holiday has passed for us Americans, those of us who aren’t spending the day getting mauled at local department stores for toys are at home trying to figure out what to do with all the leftover food taking over our fridge. My kids personally did wonderful at Thanksgiving meal eating and trying new things (which was HIGHLY shocking!). If your children didn’t fare so well, here are a few suggestions of using up all that food for kid friendly thanksgiving leftovers.

Turkey Rolls: You could ideally do this one a few different ways. We love doing this with crescent rolls any time of the year. First take your crescent rolls and pull them apart as you would normally. Lay them out in the triangle shape they naturally make and add your favorite toppings inside. For adults try turkey, cream cheese and chives. For the younger crowd try turkey, cheddar cheese and bacon. Roll the crescent rolls up and bake until your rolls are cooked all the way through (cooking times may need to be adjusted to account for them being stuffed). We love these as a meal or even a snack!

Turkey Soup: Take your left over carcass from your turkey and throw it into a large soup pot and cover with water. Bring it to a boil. Your water will eventually boil all those yummy flavors out of the turkey and create a lovely stock. Once that has boiled long enough, a few hours at least, strain your turkey pieces from your broth. You’ll have to let your remaining turkey set to cool as you’ll have to strip the carcass of all the meat that was left on it. It should easily pull right off and you’ll have nice chunks of turkey left! Put your stock back into a soup pot, add your turkey and your favorite veggies and let cook. When we make our soup with noodles, we use egg noodles. I prefer to cook the noodles in a separate pan and add them later, otherwise your soup will become quite starchy from the noodles. This is great because it’s easy and you can make as big or as small of a batch you might need.

Turkey Hash: This is another favorite leftover meal! Start off by browning onions and celery into a pan. Chop your turkey and some potatoes into cubes. Add everything together and let brown. Since your turkey and potatoes will already be cooked it’s just a matter of warming everything. If you are using uncooked potatoes, start with them in the pan to cook. Then add your veggies and turkey as they will take less time.

Turkey Sandwiches: This one is pretty easy and self explanatory but try warming your sandwiches for something different. We like ours on pieces of bread with cheese to make a grilled cheese and turkey sandwich! Serve with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy for dipping!

Potato Pancakes: A fun next morning dish is to take any leftover mashed potatoes and smash them down into pancake like shapes. Simply brown them in a shallow pan with some oil until crispy on either side. Top them with sour cream or gravy and serve them with a side of eggs! This is also great to use as a side dish next to any meal! You can also do stuffing this way just for something different.

Cranberry Jelly sandwiches: Cranberry jelly is something that is a staple on my thanksgiving table. My kids loved it plain however, how fun would it be to put it on some bread and add some peanut butter??  You’ve got a peanut butter and cranberry jelly sandwich! My kids would seriously eat these by the truck load if I would let them.

Sweet Potato & Green Bean Baby Food:
If you’ve got a little one try blending up some of the sweet potatoes, obviously the ones that weren’t drenched in brown sugar and butter! If you have any plain left over green beans, those would be great too!

And if your kids are anything like my younger brother, your favorite left over will be the sandwich topped with EVERYTHING and dipped in gravy.. Either way, enjoy!