What to do with the leftovers...

So you had some family over and you made the Turkey with all the side dishes to go with it, now your fridge is full with leftovers. Here are a few ideas to use up those leftovers. Our ultimate favorite way to use most of the leftovers is to make Turkey Pot Pie. This is just as much of a tradition for us as the Turkey Dinner itself. We make sure we buy a big enough bird to make both meals and then some. In the Pot Pie I use up any turkey, gravy, veggies, bread stuffing and mashed potatoes. Left over Turkey: Mexican Turkey Salad: combine lettuce greens, diced peppers, sliced green onions, peeled, julienned jicama, (a nice crunchy, refreshing Mexican vegetable, it looks a little like a potato) diced tomatoes, chopped cilantro and cubed cooked turkey. Make a dressing of sour cream and salsa and a little BBQ sauce. Add cheese, guacamole and some tortilla chips to go with it and you have a great refreshing meal after your big Turkey Dinner. Pulled Turkey Sandwiches: pull apart all the leftover turkey meat, combine with your favorite BBQ sauce and heat gently in a pan, serve on a nice toasted bun, with a little garlic butter. Turkey pizza or flat breads: purchase ready made pizza dough or flat breads and make BBQ turkey pizza, add your favorite BBQ sauce, toppings and cheese. Turkey and Coconut Soup: Saute some onions, garlic, celery, carrots and red peppers in a little butter or oil, add a little curry powder or red curry paste. Add some turkey or chicken stock, either homemade or store bought, bring to a simmer, add your leftover cubed turkey meat. Slowly add a can of unsweetened coconut milk, juice of a lime and season with salt and pepper. Just before serving add some chopped cilantro. And of course Turkey Pot Pie! Mashed Potatoes Potato and corn pancakes: mix gently together mashed potatoes with cooked, cold corn, a little cayenne powder and salt and pepper if needed. Flour your hands and make 3 inch patties about 1/2 inch thick. Bread patties in corn meal and fry in hot oil in a frying pan. These are great served with breakfast with a fried or poached egg. Mashed potatoes are a great way to thicken soups. Use in turkey, corn or clam chowder or any cream of veggie soup. Just whisk them in when the soup is warm. Potato croquettes: Form cold mashed potatoes in a 3 inch log shape, dredge with flour seasoned with salt and pepper or seasoned salt, then dip in beaten eggs and then dredge them in bread crumbs or Panko crumbs. Fry in deep fryer or in oil in a fry pan. Use your leftover mashed potatoes to make your favorite Shepard's Pie. Cranberry Sauce If you made the cranberry sauce yourself and didn't add any savory ingredients like onions to your sauce or used a canned variety you can be creative and use leftovers in muffins, coffee cakes, pancakes, smoothies mixed with vanilla yogurt. You can mix it with a some Chili sauce and serve it with meatballs over rice, we even used it to make cranberry daiquiris. If you have any great ideas for leftover Turkey Dinner that you have created share them by posting a comment.