The Day After Christmas

*information for this post was in part supplied by Hormel Foods through their Hormel Extended Family Blogger program. No compensation was received for this post.

I hope everyone has been enjoying the holidays with their family. For us, we got to celebrate with my extended family over the weekend and have been able to enjoy some quiet time at home this week. It used to be that I had to work the entire holiday period with just Christmas and New Year's Day off, so I am definitely thankful to be at a point where I get to spend an extended period of time at home just hanging out with my kids. It is very relaxing and we have watched movies, played games and simply hung out together.

We enjoyed our big meal for Christmas at lunch time. Since it was just the four of us celebrating, I once again went with a turkey breast. At Thanksgiving, we had a Jennie-O Oven Ready Bone-In Turkey Breast and it was so easy that I decided to do the same for Christmas. When I got to the store, they only had the Oven Ready Boneless, Skinless Turkey Breast, so that is what we went with. Just like the bone-in product, it was very easy to prepare - going right from my freezer to my oven. I definitely appreciate not having to thaw it for a few days in advance, like when I make a traditional whole turkey. I also really like that the turkey breast gives us just enough meat for the main meal and one or two leftover meals.

When it comes to leftovers, the family doesn't seem to enjoy having the same meal again, so we always mix it up. My husband enjoyed an open face turkey sandwich - white bread, piled high with turkey and mashed potatoes and covered with gravy. My kids wanted paninis, which we make on our waffle maker most of the time, and a side of sweet potatoes.

I had some bacon in the fridge that I needed to use up, so I fried up the Hormel Black Label Thick Cut Brown Sugar bacon. I prefer to buy traditional bacon and fry up the whole package, putting the balance of what was not needed in the freezer for future sandwich making. I know that I could always use a ready-bacon, but I like having some bacon fat on hand for making eggs and my kids can use it straight from the freezer for their sandwiches. The brown sugar on this bacon provided a wonderful aroma while frying and a great touch of sweet to the bacon.

Today, we used the turkey and the bacon to create Turkey Bacon Ranch Paninis (or Wafflewiches perhaps is a better name).

Simply place your slice of bread on the waffle maker, add turkey, bacon, ranch and a bit of cheese, top with another slice of bread and close the cover. Once the bread is toasted and the cheese melted, the sandwich is ready to go.

How do you use up leftovers?

No compensation was received for this post. Product samples and thought starters are provided by Hormel through the Hormel Extended Family Blogger program, in which I participate. All opinions are my own or that of my family.

Post Holiday Leftovers

No compensation was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family. As a Hormel Foods Extended Family Blogger, I received information from Hormel for this post, as well as product samples.
I'm not sure how it works at your house, but at my house, we can usually get one or two leftover meals in enjoying the food as originally prepared before it gets to be ho hum or plain old undesirable. As such, over the years, I have come up with several ways to enjoy our leftovers as new meals and the family is less likely to get tired of them. Plus, if I have a good amount, I will sometimes freeze them for those other meals.

Here are some of our family favorites:
For turkey, we use it like we would chicken:
Buffalo Turkey Cheesesteak
Pulled Barbecue Turkey Sandwiches - make your own sauce or use a bottle of barbecue sauce. Let it all sit in the crock pot for a few hours and it will be tender and yummy.
Turkey Enchiladas
Loaded Turkey Nachos - Layer tortilla chips with shredded turkey, shredded cheese, diced tomatoes and all of your favorite toppings. Put in the oven for about 15 minutes, so that everything warms through and the cheese melts. Serve with sour cream, salsa and/or guacamole.
Turkey Pot Pie
Turkey Shepard's Pie - substitute cubed or shredded turkey for the ground meat and use up your turkey gravy, vegetables and mashed potato leftovers too.
Turkey Noodle Soup - if we have gravy, we thin that for the base, or just use chicken or vegetable broth

For ham, we use it to make some family favorites:
Grilled Ham and Cheese sandwiches
Quiche - I add it to my broccoli cheese quiche
Omelets
Scrambled Eggs and Ham
Green Eggs and Ham - the kids find the color to be fun

For Mashed Potatoes, we have a new favorite recipe (if we don't use them up in a Shepard's Pie:
Fried Mashed Potato Balls

Hormel has also shared with me some Holiday Leftover Ideas:

Leave it to leftovers to keep you in the holiday spirit even after your big meals are over and done with. To help expand your post-feast repertoire, Hormel Foods has compiled a list of new ways to enjoy leftovers this holiday season. Impress your family and friends with these creative and tasty options:
* Looking for a new approach for all that leftover Thanksgiving turkey? Create Greek Turkey Kabobs by cutting Jennie-O® Turkey Store® oven roasted turkey breast into cubes and alternately threading them onto skewers with cucumbers, tomatoes and Peloponnese® kalamata pitted olives. This Mediterranean twist might just convert reluctant turkey eaters!

* Use extra holiday ham and pie crusts to bake a delicious quiche! Mix in your favorite vegetables and seasonings with Hormel® Cure 81® sliced ham to create a wonderful meal that can feed the whole family.

* If you’re craving the standard leftover turkey sandwich, take it up a notch with corn tortillas! They make a great stand-in for bread and give your sandwich an extra special crunch.

* Make a lunchtime salad by tossing pasta with leftover turkey or ham, vegetables, and your favorite dressing.

How do you use up your leftovers?

No compensation was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family. As a Hormel Foods Extended Family Blogger, I received information from Hormel for this post, as well as product samples.

Leftover Fish

I have always enjoyed eating fish (and other seafood for that matter).

Of course, when I was younger, my perspective on fish was more limited than it is today. Back then, it consisted of Long John's Silvers, McDonalds, canned tuna and battered Walleye that my uncles would bring for the family cookout.

Somewhere along the way, I have learned that fish is so much more. It is a meal that I enjoy eating when we go out. I even have gotten more adventurous in preparing it at home.

I'm not sure why preparing fish was always so scary to me, but it was. The kids are pretty good about eating most of the fish dishes that I make. I have several recipes for preparing fish inside, but I really think my favorite way to prepare it is to simply grill it. We do this with Marlin, Catfish, MahiMahi, Tuna and occasionally Salmon (although, my husband doesn't care for salmon, so this is when he has other plans).

One of my challenges has always been what to do with leftover fish. I have a memory in my head of my mom broiling fish when I was younger. All I remember is the smell. It is the same smell that results from microwaving the fish to reheat it. As a result, I usually try to only buy what I know we will eat and figure we can have a little more side if we are a little short.

Monday night, we grilled MahiMahi for dinner. It was delicious. I had bought the individually sealed fish bags in the grocers freezer (gives me more menu flexibility than fresh fish - which I only buy the day I am preparing), they each indicated that there were two servings. I didn't open the bags before thawing them and was surprised when I went to prepare the fish and found three filets in each pack. Of course, that meant that I wound up with two extra pieces of fish. I didn't want to throw away the fish, so I started thinking, what could I do with the leftovers?

Then, it occurred to me, why not eat like I would tuna. I didn't mix it up like I do tuna salad, instead, I toasted my bread added some mayo and pickle relish and the fish from the fridge. It was delicious and moist and a wonderful break from the typical packed lunch. I am not sure why it had never occurred to me before. Of course, other preparations beyond a simple season/marinade and grill might not work for a fish salad style sandwich, but this definitely worked.

I still will try to only buy what we need, but at least now I have a way to eat the leftovers and won't have to worry about wasting them.

This post shared at Works for Me Wednesday.