Leftover Turkey Ideas

Your holiday is over, now you can relax. You made so much food this holiday that you'll never get it all eaten. What in the world are you going to do with all that turkey? You certainly can't eat turkey sandwiches three meals a day, seven days a week. Well, I'm hear to hear with a few delicious family friendly leftover turkey recipes.

Stuffed peppers are a regular family favorite in our home. Have you ever thought of using turkey instead of beef.? Turkey noodle soup is also a great one to serve. And what about a Turkey cranberry club sandwich? It's not your normal turkey sandwich. So pick a recipe and let it become a family favorite today.

Main ingredients:

2 cups leftover turkey, coarsely chopped

2 medium size tomatoes, finely chopped

2 stalks of celery, finely chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 tsp finely minced jalapeno

2 tsp finely minced cilantro

1/4 cup egg substitute

1 tbsp olive oil

4 medium green peppers

1 cup brown rice, prepared according to package directions

Tomato topping: See recipe below, as this should be prepared first and allowed to simmer while you are preparing the stuffed peppers.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place 6 cups of water in a Dutch oven and bring to a boil. While waiting for water to come to a boil, clean and core peppers to be stuffed. When water comes to a full boil gently place peppers in water. Leave peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes. Remove to colander and allow to drain.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in medium size frying pan. When oil is hot add tomatoes, onion, celery, garlic, jalapeno and cilantro stirring occasionally until onions begin to look translucent.

Mix together turkey, vegetable mixture, rice and egg substitute and gently stuff blanched peppers. Use a casserole pan that fits the peppers but also allows a little extra space to add the tomato topping.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Low fat tomato topping:

2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped

2 tbsp onion

1 tbsp olive oil or olive oil spray

garlic seasoning, salt, and pepper to taste.

Heat oil in small frying pan. Add all of the ingredients and let simmer on low while preparing the rest of the recipe for stuffed peppers.

Just before you place the peppers in the over pour tomato sauce over peppers. Do not worry about having sauce sitting in the bottom of the pan. Not only does it adds moisture and flavor to your peppers, you can enjoy the extra flavor knowing you are eating healthy.

Main Ingredients:

leftover turkey meat including skin, coarsely chopped

leftover turkey carcus

2 bags of frozen mixed vegetables

3 cups cooked whole wheat noodles

1 small onion, chopped

2 - 3 celery stalks, chopped

several parsley sprigs

dash of Worcestershire sauce

8 to 10 cups of water

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all turkey, onions, parsley, celery, Worcestershire sauce, water, salt and pepper in a large soup kettle or dutch oven.Bring to a boil and simmer on low for 2 to 3 hours. Remove from heat and let cool. Remove fat and bones from broth.

One hour before serving soup add frozen vegetable and simmer on low. At this time you can start your noodles following the package directions.

Half an hour before serving add your cooked noodles to the soup mix and continue simmering on low.

Enjoy this low fat, low calorie soup with a slice of whole wheat or whole grain bread.

Main Ingredients:

Slices of leftover turkey breast

leftover cranberry sauce

3 slices of cooked turkey bacon

lettuce leaves

whole wheat or whole grain bread

Cream Cheese Spread:

2 tbsp low fat or non fat cream cheese

couple of drops of honey

Mix together cream cheese and honey. Spread on bread or toast, either way it's delicious.

Layer all of the other ingredients for a wonderfully rich tasting sandwich. You get all of the flavor without any of the guilt.

Just a little note...

These days some many of us are trying to find a way to save money while still trying to eat healthy. Let's face it it gets expensive to eat and the cost of eating healthy is climbing so high you feels as if you need to take out a loan just to do your grocery shopping. Never fear, help is here.

In this small group of recipes I tried to use ingredients that would either be left over from holiday meals or something you would have hanging around your kitchen. I fully believe eating healthy and delicious meals shouldn't cost you an arm and a leg. Also who would turn down food that is delicious without having all of the fat and calories that usually go along with good taste.I hope you enjoy these recipes.

• Wild turkeys are the most hunted of all birds in North America.
• The turkey industry grosses over $1billion a year.
• The most popular ways to serve leftover turkey is as a sandwich, in stew, chili or soup, casseroles and as a burger.
• The ballroom dance known as the Turkey Trot was named for the short, jerky steps a turkey makes.
• Ninety percent of American homes eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day.
• The average American eats 18 pounds of turkey every year.
• At one time, the turkey and the bald eagle were each considered as the national symbol of America.
• The average weight of a turkey purchased at Thanksgiving is 15 pounds.
• Only tom turkeys gobble, the female turkeys make a clucking sound.