What you can do with your left over turkey & Ham - Friday Gratitude

It's the day after Thanksgiving and I have about 946 lbs of leftover ham and turkey. I also have a crap load (crap load is 1/2 a butt wad) of zucchini bread and pies but I never have to worry about those. Each year, just as I'm ready to indulge in more pie I find those leftovers have disappeared. The turkey & ham however, well, you can only have so many sandwiches. Over the years, I have discovered 2 VERY good recipes for leftovers. My family loves them, they use up a LOT of leftovers and, if your in the unenvious position of having family staying a few days AFTER the holiday, these can serve up to 12 or be split in half and frozen for later.

Turkey leftovers:

Puff Pastry-Topped Turkey Pie

1 package (17.3) oz frozen puff pastry (personally I use the shells. 1 per serving)

1 egg, beaten

6 tsb butter

4 medium stalks celery, thinly sliced (2 cups)

2 medium onions, chopped (1 cup)

1 cup flour

1 carton (32-oz) chicken broth

3 cups half and half

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 bags (1lb each) green giant frozen mixed vegetables, thawed & drained

6 cups bite-sized pieces cooked turkey

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1) cook puff pastry according to directions, set aside

2) in 4-quard Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Cook celery and onions in butter 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally until tender but not browned. Stir in flour until no lumps remain. Slowly add broth, 1/2 & 1/2, and wine, stirring constantly. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly 2-3 minutes or until slightly thickened.

4) stir in mixed vegetables, chicken, tarragon, salt, pepper; cook 2-3 minutes longer or until hot. Removed from heat. Spoon about 1 1/4 cups chicken mixture into soup place and top with section of puff pastry, or spoon over puff pastry shell.

1 serving: Calories 6-- (calories from fat 310) total fat 35g (saturated fat 14g) Cholesterol 165mg, sodium 790mg; total carbohydrate 41g (dietary fiber 5g; sugars 7g); Protein 30g

Ok, so it's NOT good for you but it is GOOOOD. This is our dinner for tonight.

Ham Leftovers:

Split Pea Soup Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups green split peas

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 large leek, chopped

1 large clove of garlic, halved

1 herb bouquet*

1 large ham bone

Salt and Pepper

Optional garnish - small toasted croutons

*Herb Bouquet: Tie 3 cloves garlic, 4 allspice berries, 2 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon thyme, 8 sprigs parsley in washed cheesecloth.

Method

1 Pick over the peas and remove any stones. Wash and drain peas. Place in a 4 quart pan with the vegetables, herb bouquet, ham hocks and 2 1/2 quarts of water. Bring to a simmer. Skim the scum off the top of the soup for several minutes, until the scum ceases to rise. Cover loosely and simmer about 1 1/2 hours, or until peas are tender, stirring occasionally in case they stick to the bottom of the pan.

2 Remove bones, and herb bouquet from soup, discard. Either purée through a vegetable mill, or purée in a food processor and then pass through a sieve. Correct seasoning. (wanna know my family secret here? When I mill the soup, I add 1 8 oz block of cream cheese. This thickens and flavors it to dreamy perfection. I also take some leftover ham and cube it, then throw it in after the blending. Gives the soup a nice texture. Shhhh, don't tell anyone OK? It's our secret)

3 Reheat, taste again for seasoning. Ladle into warm bowls and garnish with croutons

NONE of this is good for you but hey, the holidays is a diet free zone. Use common sense, don't eat 3 bowls, lay off the bread and pies and you'll be just fine. Er, I hope....

Today I'm grateful for:

God. Every item on every list comes directly from him. I am grateful beyond measure.

getting to serve my church. They have given me so much over the last year, I'm glad I can finally give back. I get to lead the 2 year old class! This is gonna be so much fun! I have not taught in years. I hope I can blow the rust off old "Miss Beth"

a happy, fun and successful Thanksgiving. The BFF and I fed 12 people with enough leftovers to feed a small Baltic republic. The BFF's mom came to the rescue of a gravy disaster and my perfect pecan pie tasted as good as it looked. The man dubbed it "the best ever". Oh, and my house is STILL clean. So much to be thankful for.

puddles and piles outside where they belong. The hamster is having a very good holiday. He had 1 1/2 accident this morning but that was all on me. It was freakin cold and I let him go in before he was done. Bad trained human!

fresh flowers. This is the first time in a very long time that I've had fresh flowers in my house. The BFF's mom brought me a centerpiece and it's BEAUTIFUL. *sighs* It's been a LONG time since someone brought me flowers.

holiday left over recipes. Thank GOD I know what to do with all of this. My freezer will be well stocked by the end of the weekend.

3 days off still to go. Today is all about sitting on my bum and doin nothin. *sits*

getting some good shots of Roy. It's about damn time!

My pretty flowers

My pretty hamster