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I'll be spending the day cooking, resting, and giving thanks with my family. No more blog posts today. Happy Thanksgiving, readers!

Extreme Makeover - Thanksgiving Leftovers

I'll be cooking a full Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. For two people. A twelve pound turkey, potatoes, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, green beans, cranberry sauce, rolls, pie. For two people.

This is an excessive amount of food, I know. The problem is, I just can't let any of it go. Since moving away from family in Wisconsin, and missing out on most holiday meals, I've wanted to hold on to a least a little bit of tradition and normalcy, even if that means cooking a meal meant to feed 15, for just Alex and myself.

Every year, I'm left with a ridiculous amount of leftover food. Most of it is eventually eaten, but I thought, this year, I'm going to try to think of a few more interesting ways to use up my Turkey Day leftovers.

I started by looking through my cabinets and fridge, taking note of what I already had, things that could work well with turkey or one of the the side dishes. I then started to imagine new ways to use the leftovers using ingredients that would need to be purchased.

Here are the leftover makeovers I've come up with so far:

Turkey Noodle Soup

• Uses leftover turkey. I already have carrots, onion, celery (from stuffing), egg noodles, broth, and spices. No new ingredients needed. I'll use the recipe linked above, with a little tweaking of the spices, but I'll substitute turkey for chicken.

Turkey, Havarti, and Cranberry panini

• Uses leftover turkey and cranberry sauce. I just needed havarti cheese to make these sandwiches.

Turkey Pot Pie

• Uses leftover turkey. I plan to use up veggies that are in the house, make my own gravy base, and top with biscuits that I already have. I could also top this dish with leftover potatoes or stuffing to use more leftovers. I will bake it in the second pie crust that came in the two pack I bought for my pecan pie. 

Sweet Potato Muffins

• I'm intrigued by this one. I've never tried to makeover sweet potato casserole before, but I might give it a shot.

Reader Response: Do you have a favorite dish made from Thanksgiving leftovers? Please share!

Saving $ on Thanksgiving Dinner

THANKSGIVING DINNER - 2009

THANKSGIVING DINNER 2010 - SAME RECIPES - BUT NO WINE FOR PREGGO 

Are you hosting Thanksgiving, or like me, cooking at home for just your family? If you're looking to cook on the cheap, yet still enjoy a traditional meal, check out these money saving coupons.

Turkey:
$5.00 mail in rebate when you buy one Butterball Turkey
$3.00 off when you buy one Mrs. Smith's or Mrs. Edwards pie AND one Butterball Ready to Roast Turkey (11/20 Smart Source insert)
$1.00 off Honeysuckle Turkey

Vegetables:
$2.00 off 2 Earth Bound Farm Organics Products ( = two FREE bags of fresh carrots at Walmart)
$1.00 off 3 Birds Eye Products (click red scissors, register)

Side Dishes:
$1.00 off Idahoan Potatoes (FREE at many stores, including Walmart and Kroger)

$0.50 off 2 Betty Crocker Potatoes

$1.10 off two Bob Evan Side Dishes (includes potatoes, mac & cheese, etc.)
$1.00 off two Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauces 

Rolls/Bread:
$0.50 off two Pillsbury Cresent Rolls (will double to $1 at many grocery stores)
$0.30 off two Pillsbury Grands Biscuits (will double to $0.60 at many grocery stores)
$1.00 off Rhodes Brown and Serve Rolls (makes them less than $1.00 at many stores)

Desserts/Baking:
$0.50 off Imperial Sugar (will double to $1 at many grocery stores)
$0.50 off Dixie Crystals Sugar   (will double to $1 at many grocery stores)
$0.35 off Karo Corn Syrup  (will double to $0.70 at many grocery stores)
$0.25 off Gold Medal Flour (will double to $0.50 at many grocery stores)
$0.50 off Two Pillsbury Pie Crusts  (will double to $1 at many grocery stores)
$1.00 off Sarah Lee Cream Pies

Have you found other Thanksgiving related coupons? Please share!