Entertaining

Recipes for Thanksgiving Leftovers & Gratitude

The PERFECT Thanksgiving Turkey on MarlaMeridith.com

We were all anticipating the BIG day of feasting. How did it go? Who sat at your Thanksgiving table this year? Were you home or did you travel far away or perhaps to a nearby restaurant? No matter what you did I hope it was glorious!

Whether you enjoyed a vegan, gluten free or carnivorous day I hope you have plenty of leftovers. One of the best parts of this foodie holiday is the party in your fridge.

The after party…

Family Portrait on MarlaMeridith.com blog

Did you have a few minutes to bless the meal? How about a gratitude list? Here we discussed what we are grateful for…beyond the food. Health and love are the themes that stick. Always.

Amazing how little the kids are in that family photo. It was shot 4 years ago in Laguna Beach by the lovely and talented Don Romero.

Little pinecone Thanksgiving turkey craft on holiday place setting

This year it was just the four of us. Myself my hubs and my 8 year old daughter and 4 year old son. I wanted them to feast on the richness of the holiday with food that energized them to go on with the day…

The PERFECT Thanksgiving Turkey on MarlaMeridith.com

The nice thing about having Turkey Day in your own home is that you can reach out and touch the turkey. Especially when your mom is a photographer and lets you explore everything.

Part of the joy of being a kid is that each and every experience is new and unique.

After weeks of making turkey cutlets, it was fun to pull out the bug guns. Great inspiration was all over the web but two turkey prep posts I kept on going back to were Cookin’ Canuck’s and Georgia Pellegrini’s. These gals know their big birds. For more I also looked at this guide from Whole Foods.

Our turkey was a great success! Thanks ladies…

The PERFECT Thanksgiving Turkey on MarlaMeridith.com

We enjoyed our feast at noon. After I did yoga. That left lots and lots of time to play. We also saw the new movie Arthur Christmas.

MarlaMeridith.com Thanksgiving blog post

It was very cute and now both kids believe in Santa more than ever. In the movie Santa delivers presents in some space aged gizmo. I am trying to convince them that he still cracks the whip and has a dozen reindeer with Rudoulph guiding the way.

We all know Santa rides in a sleigh and slides down the chimney. Right?

Before I dive more into Christmas, let’s talk leftovers shall we?

Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie Tarts on MarlaMeridith.com © MarlaMeridith.com

Have you ever noticed that it is fun to dig into the Thanksgiving left overs for about two meals and then your palate tires of them? No worries friends, I have your back. Adding ingredients from your feast to these recipes with re-ignite the Thanksgiving passion. Meal after meal….

Please remember to pack those meals in your lunch boxes too.

Let’s start with a Thanksgiving Monte Cristo! A sandwich packed with turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and brie. Use any cheese you have on hand. Any would be delicious, really.

Thanksgiving Monte Cristo | GREAT way to use those Leftovers! MarlaMeridith.com

Everyone’s favorite Mexican food can be converted into all sorts of  leftover meals.

Here are two options for tostadas…you can also make quesadillas. Instead of stacking the ingredients you can sandwich them together between tortillas.

Option 1: Thanksgiving Style

Thanksgiving Tostadas on MarlaMeridith.com

Option 2: Mexican Style

Thanksgiving Tostadas on MarlaMeridith.com
Last week I shared these Thanksgiving Pizzas with you guys. They are amazing. Instead of tomatoes, leftover mashed sweet potatoes make the sauce. Creamy goat cheese, sweet figs and turkey round it all off.

If you do nothing else please make these…manage to find a way.

They will make you giddy.

Sweet Potato Goat Cheese Fig Pizza on MarlaMeridith.com

Frittatas are always a great way to use up ingredients too. With a side salad or some steamed veggies they make the perfect meal. Here is my Baby Peas and Cheese Frittata. Add some of that shredded turkey.

Go on! Serve up with a side of those sweet potatoes while your at it.

Cheese and egg frittata with sunflower sprouts and sweet potatoes

Wanna use up all that cake and pie? You know you do.

Mash it up and layer it with some fat free greek yogurt. That way you can feel a little less guilty, maybe you will even still fit into those skinny jeans after the holidays.

Make your parfait look something like this

Greek yogurt parfait with gluten free chocolate pecan date cake

You can also make some Sweet Potato Oat Crisps.

I hope I have inspired you with this round up. Have a happy long weekend and never forget to be grateful for the little things.

Little boy and little girl playing with stuffed animalsThanksgiving Leftovers Recipe Links

~ Marla Meridith

Join the Conversation

52 thoughts on “Recipes for Thanksgiving Leftovers & Gratitude

    1. Averie, hope you guys are having a great day too! Where are you these days? I am thinking somewhere sunny…Aruba perhaps? I need to check your blog. xo

    1. Allison, thanks for confirming that reality about Santa. Exactly what I thought. Glad to hear you had such a great Thanksgiving with your family. When I grew up we used to have it with a bunch of relatives that lived close by. Great memories from those times 🙂

  1. Happybelated Thanksgiving Marla! We had a lovely “Friendsgiving” again this year with great friends who all have family far and wide like we do. It’s becoming quite a tradition. Glad you had a lovely day!

    Heather

  2. We try to segregate our leftovers, rather than combine them — it’s the flavor combinations we get tired of. The rotation: turkey-apple stew with the leftover dark meat, gravy and stock, plus new apples and carrots. Then turkey and noodles with the white meat and stock. Then it’s on to turkey tacos. We eat roasted yams plain anyway. Pie is not a problem.

    Your photos are beautiful, as always.

    1. Thanks so much Sharyn! We keep everything separate too. Much easier to create all those new, unique flavors. Can let the taste buds get tired 😉

  3. Gorgeous photos! Wish I would have had time to snap some pictures of our Thanksgiving. We hosted and had 20+ friends and family in our home. Very few leftovers but we did have some yummy turkey enchiladas last night 😉

    1. Hi Yvette, with 20 guests it is a bit tricky to pop those photos. I only had time because it was the 4 of us . Simple & un-rushed. Also, at the time of day there was perfect light (noon) Trust me, there are many times when I need to just let it go and enjoy events without the clicks. Glad to hear you had such a wonderful Thanksgiving too! Congrats on successfully hosting so many. Turkey enchiladas sound wonderful.

  4. Gosh, everything looks DELICIOUS!!! Sounds like you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family! ♥ I think small Thanksgiving dinners are nice sometimes….really relaxing with lots of time to just *enjoy.*

    Can’t wait to see you soon!!!

    1. Bridget, the nice thing about small is no stress. I am more a small gathering kind of gal anyways. I think next year we will go bigger….my dad’s 70th b’day will be that week. We MUST be with him to celebrate 🙂
      I can’ t wait to finally meet you….less than one week away!! xxoo

    1. Lucy, wait a minute – I thought you were supermom? Perhaps we can share capes? I am so in love with all the crafts you did for the holidays….love the pine cone turkey’s and the glittered pumpkins!

    1. Angie, sounds like a great three Thanksgivings!! I am digging the idea of the breakfast one…did you serve anything special? Like pumpkin pie for breakfast?

  5. we celebrated just the three of us and since it was our first vegan Thanksgiving it was a little bit challenging at first. Once I had my menu up and started cooking, was a breeze and we enjoyed every moment. Seems like you did too!

    p.s. thanks for the coconut sweet potato recipe, tasted better that I anticipated!

  6. Wonderful post Marla and congrats on your first “big bird” roast! I am thankful for so much – especially having my oldest home from college for the holiday!! Great collection of “post Thanksgiving” recipes – sadly, this year we didn’t have enough leftovers to recycle (tends to happen with teenage boys – just warning ya!!)

  7. Oh Marla, seeing that pic of you with your babies got me all sentimental. Our kids are such blessings aren’t they? Love the food & photos in this post. Hope you had a great holiday!!

  8. Thank you for including a link to my Prosciutto-Wrapped Turkey, Avocado & Swiss Panini. Much appreciated, Marla! It’s SO delicious. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!