Leftover Guilt -- Putting Thanksgiving Leftovers to Good Use
By Tawra Jean Kellam

Don’t you just love Thanksgiving? It’s the most guilt free holiday of the year. You don’t have to worry about getting the right gifts or whether everything is decorated perfectly. You don’t have to wonder whether you made enough cookies or whether the food is on your diet. You have permission and can eat to your heart’s content! At times like this, I have to wonder: Have I died and gone to Heaven?

There is one problem -- What happens when everyone rolls away from the table? You stand there in the shadows of mounds of leftovers and the guilt sets in. You really can’t wedge in another bite, but you can’t bring yourself to throw away all that good food. You know that there are people starving in Bangladesh, but you can’t afford the shipping cost to send it to them... What do you do with it? Here are some ideas from my book Not Just Beans: 50 Years of Frugal Family Favorites, to help you put those leftovers to good use and keep your clean conscience!

1. Mix gravy, cubed turkey and leftover vegetables into a casserole dish. Top with refrigerator biscuits, leftover pie crust or crescent rolls (unbaked). Bake at 350° until the dough is cooked and golden brown.

2. When making pies on Thanksgiving Day, save the extra dough or make extra to use to make pasties. Roll out discs of dough in whatever size you want and fill with meat, vegetables and leftover potatoes. Click here for the full recipe.

3. Don’t forget to use your leftover relish dish. Chop and use in salads, soups or casseroles. If you’re really sick of the vegetables, chop and freeze to use later.

4. Use leftover mashed potatoes to thicken soups and stews.

5. Make potato pancakes: Add 1 egg and 2 ablespoons flour to 2 cups mashed potatoes. Make into patties and fry in a pan with margarine.

Tawra Jean Kellam is the author of Not Just Beans: 50 Years of Frugal Family Favorites which features over 540 recipes and 400 tips. For more tips and recipes, click here to visit Tawra's website.