Hi ya’ll!  With Thanksgiving just about a week away (and with me being insanely busy at work) – I figured now is the perfect time to share this awesome guest post with you, from Leah!  ENJOY!!! 

Hi GDW readers! My name is Leah, and I am the typist behind the blog Leftovers For Lunch! I think the key to my success with weight loss, maintenance, saving money, and eating healthy while working full time and going to school part time is leftovers!

Being that it is November and Thanksgiving is just around the corner, I am expecting a slew of posts in the bloggerland discussing holiday eats, people’s favorites, how to healthify your feast, how to exercise portion control, and how to burn off all those calories! Being that I am (obviously) a HUGE fan of leftovers, and there is inevitably an excess of food during the holidays, I thought I would share a few of my favorite ideas with what to do after Thanksgiving when your fridge is stuffed to the brim with tupperware containers filled with turkey, ham, casseroles, pies, and whatever else may have appeared on your table that festive day.

Turkey

Obviously, there is a slew of things you can do with leftover turkey! You can cut it up and make it into casseroles, turkey sandwiches, Shepherd’s Pie… but I think that my all time favorite thing to do with leftover turkey is to turn it into soup!

Simply add broth, whatever vegetables you desire, maybe some noodles, and lots of black pepper and garlic! Warm and hearty, it is perfect for those cold November nights!

Mashed Potatoes

What would Thanksgiving be without mounds of mashed potatoes on everyone’s plate?! I think they are always a household favorite! I like to make mine with real butter, cream, and roasted garlic.
But leftover mashed potatoes are… um… boring. Especially if you are all out of gravy!
So I like to turn them into mashed potato pancakes!

You can simply use just the mashed potatoes and smoosh (official term) them into pancakes or you can spice them up by adding some chopped up bacon, sausage, maybe some onions or whatever else suits your fancy! It can be tricky flipping them though so make sure they are nice and crispy on one side and you are using a clean spatula!
I like to top them with sour cream but traditional German Potato Pancakes are topped with applesauce! Give it a try!

Apple Pie

Have you ever hosted a Thanksgiving where there was a significant lack of communication and you ended up with 5 different apple pies for your party of 8? And while most people would relish in having mass quantities of leftover pie and eat a piece every single night, warmed with delicious vanilla ice cream plopped on top, if you are like me, you’ll get bored of it after the third slice.
So to mix it up, I chop up the pie, be it pecan pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie, whatever have you, and use it as an oatmeal topping! And you all know how much us food bloggers love our oatmeal!

The options for using leftovers from Thanksgiving is endless! So please think twice before tossing all that precious food!
What are you planning on doing with all your Thanksgiving leftovers?