Enjoy Holiday Leftovers by Turning them into Healthy Meals
During the holiday season we often cook many meals that contain a plentiful amount of food. The aroma of our favorite foods fill the air and our stomach, while the leftovers fill our refrigerators. These leftovers often go to waste. Transforming our delicious holiday meal into something we don’t get bored with can help us reduce waste, save money and continue celebrating one of the special parts of holidays.
Here are some creative and healthy ways to use leftovers:
Cranberries or cranberry sauce — Add to hot cereal or yogurt, or use as a topping for pancakes instead of syrup.
Fruit — Make a fruit smoothie, mash or puree it and make a fruitsicle.
Mashed potatoes — Make potato pancakes, add as a topping on vegetable pot pie or shepherd’s turkey pie, or use them to thicken soup.
Pumpkin or squash — Puree with chickpeas, garlic and olive oil for a delicious hummus, add to waffle, pancake or muffin recipes, make pumpkin or squash soup, or add mashed or cubed pieces to chili or stew.
Turkey or ham — Add to soup, salad, grilled sandwiches, stew, chili, burritos or your favorite casserole or omelet. You can make homemade broth with the turkey or ham bone.
Stuffing — Add to waffle batter for a savory waffle, stuff into mushrooms, put in a muffin pan coated with cooking spray, add an egg cracked on top and bake.
Vegetables — Freeze broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, green beans or other vegetables and add them to soup, make a stir fry with a variety of vegetables or add them to omelets.
Another way to get ideas and find recipes is to try an app like the SuperCook, Allrecipes Dinner Spinner, Big Oven, Tasty or Epicurious, which allows you to input food items you have on hand and get recipe suggestions.
You can access the recipe ideas by downloading one of the apps on your smartphone, tablet or any device connected to the internet. On a computer you can search for one of the app's websites using your browser.
The apps are easy to use and give you ideas in just seconds. Not all of the recipes are healthy, so you will have to decide which ones will meet your health goals.
Ascension Community Wellness offers a variety of online classes, lectures and programs at no charge to the community. To learn more about our classes, please visit healthcare.ascension.org/events or call (248) 849-5752.