Note: this blog post was created by our friends over at Good Air Geeks!
Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, one thing is certain - there are plenty of leftovers that you don’t know what to do with! But instead of just reheating them and eating the same stuff for the next couple of days or throwing everything out; why not use that food to make something different? With that in mind, we’ve come up with a couple of leftover recipes!
Leftover Mashed Potato Pizza
We all know what an impact on the environment we make when we decide to throw stuff out wastefully. And that includes food! Seeing as you’ve probably got some mashed potatoes leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner, we’re going to help you put them to good use.
So, when it comes to making leftover mashed potato pizza - the first thing you need to do is place a pizza stone in a rack in your oven, and then heat it up. You want it preheated at about 500 degrees F.
Then, proceed to fry the bacon; you want it cooked for about 5 minutes before it gets really crisp. Once it’s done, use a slotted spoon to transfer it to a plate that’s lined with paper towels, so that all the oil drains out.
After that, take the pizza dough and form it into a ball. Roll it around on a floured surface. Then, take a pizza peel and lightly dust it with flour. Put the dough on top of the peel, drizzle some oil on top, and sprinkle some pepper and salt. Then, transfer the dough onto your heated stone and cook for around 4 minutes.
Use the peel to remove your pizza dough from the oven. And after that, spread the leftover mashed potatoes across the top; make sure the sides have 1 inch of a border. If you want, season it additionally with some salt and pepper.
Then, sprinkle the bacon and the cheese on top, along with the garlic and leek. You can drizzle some more olive oil, and then put the pizza back on the stone, so it cooks until you notice the cheese melting and the crust becoming golden; this will take around 5 to 7 minutes.
Once this is done, your leftover mashed potatoes pizza is ready for serving; you can top it with some Parmesan and basil leaves if you want. Repeat this process for as long as you’ve got pizza dough and leftover toppings.
Leftover Stuffing Waffles
In this day and age, we all want to be as eco-friendly as possible. And in practice, this definitely entails throwing out as little food as possible. Let’s be honest, we all tend to cook more food than we’ll eat for the holidays; which includes the amount of stuffing for Thanksgiving! So, let’s make something interesting with that; here’s a recipe for Leftover Stuffing Waffles!
Heat the waffle iron at medium-high first. Then, start brushing both sides of the iron with vegetable oil, generously. After that, take a large bowl and combine the eggs, parsley, and stuffing.
Make a dense mixture, and firmly and evenly layer it on the waffle iron. Then, close it and keep on cooking until you spot the waffle becoming golden. That’s when you’ll be able to lift it with ease, after about five minutes.
Put each waffle on a plate, and then top it with mashed potatoes and some gravy; perhaps drizzle some cranberry sauce on top.
Leftover Turkey & Stuffing Reubens
Here’s another incredibly easy recipe, which will allow you to put leftovers to good use instead of letting them go to waste!
Put a rack at around 4 inches apart from the heat source of the broiler, and start preheating. Line your baking sheet with some foil. Then, take the slices of bread and spread butter on all of them. Place four of the slices, buttered side down, upon the baking sheet you’ve prepared. Spread Russian dressing on the sides that face up.
Then, top them with cheese slices, and crumble the stuffing evenly over the cheese. Put some sauerkraut, then turkey, and then the rest of the cheese on top. After this, you can place the sandwiches under the broiler, and keep cooking until all of the cheese has melted. This will probably take about two minutes
Afterward, take the baking sheet out of the broiler. Take the bread slices that remain, spread some dressing over their uncovered sides, and place them on top of the melting cheese. Push down, and your sandwiches are basically done! Take them back to the broiler and keep toasting, until both sides get a golden brownish color.
Other Ideas for Leftovers
We know what you’re thinking - after the holidays are done, many of us find ourselves with a couple of extra pounds. In that situation, you may not want to keep eating even more leftovers; but you may not want to throw them out either. Don’t worry, though - there are other ways you can solve food waste problems.
Did you know about food recyclers, such as the Food Cycler FC-30? These allow you to reuse your kitchen scraps as a soil supplement that’s rich with nutrients; ideal for your garden!