Collard green and cornbread cake from DariusCooks

Top 10 Ways to Use Those Thanksgiving Leftovers

Don’t tell me that you do not have Thanksgiving leftovers in the back of the fridge. You look at them thinking “what the hell am I going to do with all of these mashed potatoes?” Or maybe it’s the turkey staring you in the face, as you cringe that it is one day away from going bone dry. Well….we have the fix for you! Add your leftovers in to these recipes and you won’t even realize that leftovers were included!

 

 

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10) Mashed Potato Latkes

My family usually just fried them in a frying pan, ut this is wayyyy better.

 

Collard green and cornbread cake from DariusCooks

9) Southern Fried Cake

Go ahead…I dare you.

 

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8) Turkey Salad

Personally, I prefer this for lunch over the gobbler sandwich.

 

7) Turkey Parm

This is a “two-for” deal for those Italianos out there. Take the ceremonial Italian casserole, plus the turkey and have at it, hoss.

 

laundry room turkey coconut curry soup

6) Turkey Coconut Curry Soup

Or you can make turkey noodle soup.

 

5) “Stove Top Stuffing” Sheppard’s Pie

YUM.

 

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4) Cranberry Pie

I mean…dessert never runs over to leftovers, so why not use your leftovers to make more dessert?

 

Warm Fall Kale Salad

3) Warm Fall Kale Salad

Make yourself feel healthy for a day.

 

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2) Apple Bourbon Pulled Pork Stuffing

Turn thanksgiving into barbecue all in one.

 

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1) Butternut Cranberry Springrolls

I personally hate springroll wrappers, but if you want to try your hand at it – good luck.

Turkey Extravaganza: Move Over Gobbler

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If you are a typical American, you likely still have turkey in the fridge and there are ongoing arguments about the date to throw out all of the food that someone said will be eaten. I believe the turkey can still be saved! While the gobbler sandwich (delicious roll embarrassing and unhealthy stack of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and often potatoes) is delicious, us Americans have short attention spans. Fear not America, there is another way to get your fill of leftovers before they kick the can.

Turkey salad. A festive spin on your chicken salad that includes the flavors of Thanksgiving. The sandwich is quite simple to make. I enjoyed mine atop a freshly baked roll. With just the right amount of mayo, the turkey salad provides a savory taste of Thanksgiving with a crunch of celery (the only thing celery is good for is texture), followed by sweetness of cranberries. I tell you folks – this may replace my gobbler. Bonus – you can bring this to work in a container without dropping all of the drippings on your tie. You’re welcome. Here’s the recipe:

Turkey Salad Sandwich

– Turkey (shredded or chopped into smaller pieces)

– Mayo (some like it loaded with mayo, some enjoy just a tiny bit) – think of how much you would add for chicken or tuna salad

– Chopped celery

– Dried cranberries (or just add cranberry sauce spread on your roll)

– Thinly sliced sage

– Salt and Pepper

– Onion chopped into small pieces

– Pinch of garlic powder

 

Take all ingredients and mix into a bowl. Put this on a sandwich, use crackers, melt cheese on top, eat it from a bowl. Whatever – it’s good.

 

brioche stuffing for Thanksgiving

Brioche Stuffing: A Taste of Thanksgiving Luxury

brioche stuffing for Thanksgiving

I’ve been waiting a YEAR to write this post! I made this brioche stuffing for Thanksgiving 2014… and I waited until now to thrust it upon the world. And oh yes, I will be making this stuffing again this year! Right after I finish this post, to be exact.

So I love Thanksgiving stuffing. Who doesn’t? I’ve got nothing against Stovetop, but I like to take my stuffing game up a notch. That’s where this brioche stuffing comes in. Why brioche? It has a high egg and butter content (mmm… butter…) which means it’s super rich, soft, and slightly sweet.

I stud my stuffing with caramelized onions, wild mushrooms, and a good dose of greens. Oh, and a lot of fresh aromatic herbs to make sure your kitchen/house smells amazing for all your Thanksgiving guests. I can’t wait to make and EAT it again this year!

Brioche Stuffing with Wild Mushrooms & Caramelized Onions

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Ultra Easy Roasted Fall Vegetables

If you’re looking for a simple side dish for your favorite fall recipes, here it is. I whipped this up the other week for a family dinner with the future in-laws (and as you know, in-laws = scary = must impress them to earn their trust) and it was received with glowing reviews, so I think we can all agree this one is a keeper. And as I mentioned, simple. This dish is so easy it’s ridiculous. You just chop up onions, sweet potato, brussels sprouts, and butternut squash (or if you hate chopping uncooked squash as I do, buy it pre-peeled and chopped, I won’t tell). Roast it for a while in some olive oil, salt, pepper, and herbs. Mix in some melty cheese and more fresh herbs at the very end. Done and done.

Did I mention you could also bring this to Thanksgiving as an alternative to the overdone sweet potato pies and green bean casseroles we see every year? Your dinner table will thank you.

Ultra Easy Roasted Fall Vegetables

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Top 10 Most Ridic Thanksgiving Recipes Roundup

Here at ES we obviously LOVE Thanksgiving. Mass quantities of turkey, gravy, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin… what could be better?! Weeeell, okay, the only thing better than traditional Thanksgiving dinner is ridic Thanksgiving dinner. Luckily, thanks to the advent of Pinterest, there’s no end to the creative, tempting, and sometimes downright insane recipes people can come up with and share these days.

We scoured Pinterest to find some of the best/weirdest/most intense Thanksgiving recipes from the bloggers out there. Some posts very new, some from a few years ago but making a renaissance thanks to social media. Make one of these for the big holiday and freak out your family, or wait until you have an overload of leftovers and go crazy.

Oh, and – Happy Thanksgiving!

1. Cranberry, Butternut, Brussels Sprouts and Brie Skillet Nachos
from Half-Baked Harvest

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2. Stuffing Waffle Croque Madame
from Serious Eats

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3. Bacon Blanketed Herb-Roasted Turkey
from The Runaway Spoon

Bacon Wrapped Turkey

4. Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Caramelized Onions, Brie and Sage
from Recipe Girl

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Stuffed Pumpkin 5.0: Bacon, Egg and Goat Cheese Stuffed Pumpkin

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Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and those loyal ESers among you may have been wondering—what is Miss K going to cook inside a pumpkin this year?  (Or perhaps you had forgotten this annual tradition.  That would be understandable.  After all, it has been a whole year.)  Whether you are new around here or just want to refresh your memory, you can read about my other stuffed pumpkins here, here, here, and here.  For my pentannual pumpkin post, I decided to go in a different direction, mealwise.

Inspired by Mike’s round-up of butternut squash recipes, I recently made a butternut squash gratin, which bore a striking resemblance to my family’s typically breakfast casserole, but, you know, with squash.  As I was eating it, I had three thoughts: 1) I cut these potatoes too big. This has been a common problem for me lately.  More on that another day. 2) This would be better with bacon.  3) Aha!  I have discovered the secret to this year’s stuffed pumpkin!

And so, without further ado, I have just the recipe you need to impress your in-laws on the day after Thanksgiving.  That is, if everyone hasn’t already, at that point, vowed to eat only green leafy vegetables until Christmas.

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Bacon, Egg and Goat Cheese Stuffed Pumpkin

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Pumpkin Pie Oats

Overnight Oats: Morning Glory or a Snooze?

Pumpkin Pie Oats I’d been seeing overnight oats all over the place (and by “all over the place” I mean “Pinterest” of course) and I was intrigued. I’ve always been used to making my oatmeal the traditional way – hot! – so the thought of mixing my oats with a bunch of goopy stuff and letting them sit in the fridge for hours was a bit strange. But I figured that I love cookie dough and mixing oats with wet stuff would be kind of like cookie dough, so I should at least give it a try, right? You really can’t get any more simple than this. Start with oats (duh), add some moisture (almond milk, yogurt, peanut butter, mashed banana, etc), choose your favorite mix-ins (nuts, seeds, chocolate chips, protein powder, spices, fruit) and just go wild! I decided to get into the spirit of the season and make my first batch a pumpkin-y treat.

Pumpkin Pie Protein Overnight Oats

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