Leftovers Week: Vegetable & Turkey Casserole

~~posted by Jen




First and Foremost, a big Happy Birthday to Nik, our resident "Pouch Diva." She is taking a couple days off to enjoy her birthday, so y'all are stuck with me for the weekend. Nik, party it up, girl! We love you!!

Left to Right: Nessa, Nik, and Andrea. The guy in front is some random wedding guest in their hotel lobby. Pic by Melting Mama. Thanks, Beff!

Today is our last day of Leftovers Week, we hope you've enjoyed everything we've shared and that you use these recipes to make new meals from your holiday extras. At holiday meal time, everyone always has green bean casserole for the most part, at least where I come from. I made a healthier version of the traditional for the Holiday Preview and shared the recipe a couple weeks back. Well I clearly remember in packing up my things to come home from Baltimore, I still had a four pack of canned green beans leftover.

I know I packed them, I distinctly remember putting them in the re-usable shopping bag with the remaining Atkins baking mix and Splenda to bring back home. What happened to them between my hotel room in Baltimore and my home in New Jersey, only the good Lord knows. All I know is that when I went to make my green bean casserole on Thanksgiving Day, they were NOWHERE to be found! I had 5, yes, I said FIVE, cans of Fried onions. Not. one. single. can. of green beans.

Well of course there is a vegetarian in the house, I can't very well just serve turkey and stuffing and call it a day. Y'all know what I did. I made it WORK, people!!

I always have a ginormous Costco size bag of "Normandy style" (that's cauliflower, broccoli, baby carrots, and yellow squash, what makes it Normandy style is beyond me) vegetables in the freezer.

So I combined the idea of two of my usual Thanksgiving dishes, Green Bean Casserole and Broccoli Casserole, into one dish. A couple days after Thanksgiving, I needed to use up the leftovers, so I added some turkey breast meat to it and called it dinner.

This was a big hit with everyone, and in fact will most likely replace good ole Green Bean Casserole at future holiday meals. Here's how I made it:

Jen's Cheesy Mixed Vegetable Casserole with Turkey


Ingredients:
1 can (10 3/4 ouncese) reduced fat Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
Dash ground pepper
1 tbsp Garlic Powder
1 tbsp Onion Powder
3 cups "Normandy Style" mixed vegetables, thawed
1/4 cup Greek Yogurt
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 can stems & pieces mushrooms
2 cups cooked turkey meat, chopped into bite-sized pieces
2/3 cup French Fried Onions


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the soup, milk, Greek Yogurt, and seasonings. Stir in the vegetable medley, mushrooms, turkey meat, and 1 cup of the shredded cheese. Continue mixing together until thoroughly combined. 


Spray a 3 quart casserole dish with cooking spray, then pour the mixture into the dish. Spread it out evenly with a spatula. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes until it is bubbling and hot. Remove from oven, stir the mixture, then top with remaining cheese and the fried onions. Return to oven for an additional 5 minutes, or until the cheese melts and the onions are crispy.


Note: You can also cook this in the microwave if you prefer, just follow the instructions here. 

Leftovers Week: Jen's Mediterranean Vegetables with Turkey

~~posted by Jen

Today's feature for Leftovers Week is turkey. We probably all still have some hanging around. My boys and I loved the Gobble It Down Pizza so much on Sunday that I made it again last night. You can substitute leftover chicken breast for the turkey and it's just as yummy. Later today I'll share the BF Basics of Making Stock, so you can finally get those turkey carcasses out of the way.

You've heard me mention the resident vegetarian on occasion, and since I do 98% of the cooking here, I am learning lots of tasty new ways to create vegetarian dishes so you don't "miss the meat." That's how today's dish started out.

We have an awesome farmer's market not far from here, and usually once or twice a week we swing through there and check out the deals. Inevitably, we load up and come home with tons of awesome veggies. This trip was no exception. They have the absolute BEST sundried tomatoes there, so good you could eat them straight from the container and we frequently do.

I call this "Mediterranean" because it sounds fancier than "Italian" and has lots of the veggies used in that region: Portabello Mushrooms, Sun-dried tomatoes, and Zucchini. Here's how it goes:

Jen's Mediterranean Vegetables with Turkey
Ingredients:
4 medium zucchini, cut into quarters 
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (packed dry, not in oil) roughly chopped
4 portabello mushrooms caps, chopped into bite-size pieces
1 can petite diced tomatoes, with the juice
1 small sweet onion, peeled and chopped
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
1/2 stick butter or margarine
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Oil Oil
1/2 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 cup leftover turkey meat, cut into chunks
1 tbsp Pesto Concentrate (on the Italian foods aisle, comes in a tube, right by the tomato paste tubes)
1 tbsp Garlic Powder
1 tbsp Onion Powder
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
2 cups shredded 6-cheese Italian Blend
Optional: 1 pound cooked whole wheat penne pasta (this was for the non-ops, I can't handle pasta at all)


Directions:
Save the stems from the mushrooms and whatever remnants you cut off the other vegetables in a plastic bag in the fridge, you'll need these later when we make stock. 


Preheat a large non-stick skillet on top of the stove. Once it's hot, add the butter/margarine and the olive oil. Add all the vegetables and saute for a few minutes. 


Stir in the stock and seasonings, cover the skillet, and let it cook until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally for about 6 to 8 minutes. 


Add the turkey and stir together until completely combined. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and cover the skillet again so it melts. Serve over pasta if you choose.   

Leftovers Week: Jen's Gobble It Down Pizza

~~posted by Jen

By the Sunday after Thanksgiving, your family is probably moaning and groaning about still having to eat turkey sandwiches (mine already is) so you need to use up all that food but make it look and taste different, right? That's where we come in with Leftovers Week. Starting tomorrow, Nik and I will share two recipes with you each day to "Remix" those holiday leftovers into something delicious that fits your plan AND your family will enjoy! Added bonus, they probably won't even notice it's leftovers!!

If you haven't already done so, go ahead and remove the rest of the turkey from the bone (don't throw the carcass away, we're making stock later this week!), and get your other leftovers organized in the fridge or freezer so you have easy access to them for makeovers this week. That way you're all set to use these yummy recipe ideas all week.

Since it's Sunday and my boys are watching football and/or hockey on tv, I usually make them up some snacks to enjoy during the game(s). They were complaining about turkey sandwiches, so I came up with what I think is pretty clever, it's definitely delicious, and can be cut into perfect sized party "bites" for appetizers on game day or if guests drop by. This is your first taste of "Leftovers Week!" I call it "Gobble It Down Thanksgiving Pizza."

Before I had my RNY Gastric Bypass surgery in July 2008, my favorite thing about Thanksgiving leftovers was taking some turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce and making a sandwich on smushy white bread with lots of mayonnaise. This may not sound like a great combination, but oh my Martha is it tasty together.

I probably couldn't even handle half of one these days, for which I am thankful, but it's one of those "food memories" I wanted to find a way to re-create. Y'all know what that means! Yep, to the "lab" for some experimenting. On a side note, my kitchen now has a new larger fridge and a dishwasher, this benefits y'all more than you may realize!

S'anyway, I was thinking on this idea, and originally I was going to make the same sandwich on an Arnold Thin. But then I thought, "Nahhh", because to me the white bread and mayo are part of what makes this sandwich so divine. Then, as I was testing out the new Arnold "Artisan Ovens" Flatbreads, I had a moment of inspiration. How about a Thanksgiving PIZZA???? 

By George, it is DELICIOUS!!! Even the vegetarian scarfed it down, he picked the turkey off his slices. Here's how I did it:

Jen's Gobble It Down Pizza

Ingredients: (for 2 pizzas, yields 12 small square slices)
2 Arnold Multigrain Flatbread thins
4 tbsp leftover Jen's Sugar Free Cranberry Sauce (jellied or whole berry is fine, your choice)
2 tbsp mayonnaise (light is ok, but don't use fat free or it will taste "off")
4 oz leftover roast turkey or chicken breast, cut into small pieces or shredded
2 oz leftover stuffing
1 cup shredded Italian 6-cheese blend

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the two flatbreads side by side, a couple inches apart, on a non-stick cookie sheet. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the cranberry sauce and mayonnaise. Spread half of the mixture evenly over each flatbread, this is your pizza "sauce."

Sprinkle the turkey meat evenly over the sauce. Then spoon the stuffing into small rounds, I made "pepperoni" from the stuffing. This way you get some in almost every bite without complete carb overload!

Now sprinkle cheese evenly over the top of each pizza. If you like yours less cheesy, you can certainly use less. I tend to like lots of cheese on my pizza, plus it's extra protein and the richness of the cheese complements the sweet tanginess of the cranberries very nicely.

Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes, until heated through and cheese is melted. The pic at the beginning of the post is the finished pizza, fresh out of the oven.

Let cool slightly, then cut each pizza into 6 squares for serving. Don't forget, the cook gets the first bite! Delicious!

 Don't want to serve them now? Assemble the pizzas but don't bake. Instead, freeze them in airtight freezer bags, then the next time guests stop by unannounced or you kids want a quick snack, you're all set! Pull the pizzas out of the freezer then bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.