Elizabeth Yarnell, Author, Innovator, Naturopath, Speaker
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Turkey Enchiladas

If it seems like I’ve spent days turning leftovers from Thanksgiving into other meals, it’s because its true. Now my blog just has to catch up with my freezer! Which brings me to one of my favorite ways to put leftover turkey to good use in easy delicious heat-n-serve dinners on busy winter evenings: turkey enchiladas.

Once I have the amassed the pile of picked turkey meat, I like to set up an assembly line to quickly make the enchiladas and pack them into tins to freeze. First, the organic corn tortillas, heated enough to be flexible without breaking. A smear of refried beans, a layer of turkey meat, a spread of diced green chiles, and a spray of shredded cheese rounds out each enchilada.

Coat the bottom and sides of the pan with enchilada sauce, then nestle the rolled tortillas into the pan in a single layer. Spoon enchilada sauce over the rolls and sprinkle with cheese. Add a second layer of rolled enchiladas; top with enchilada sauce and cheese. Seal with foil and freeze. To reheat, put in a 375 f oven until thawed, then remove the foil and cook until hot and the cheese is bubbly.

Leftover Mashed Potato Croquettes

What to do with a pile of leftover mashed potatoes? How about Mashed Potato Croquettes for something a little different?

Leftover Mashed Potato Croquettes drizzled with ketchup.

Who doesn’t love mashed potatoes? I used organic Yukon Gold potatoes and put them through a food grinder — with the skins! — for nutritious deliciousness. This year my husband declared that I had made enough to feed a middle eastern army. I’ll admit that maybe I overdid it, but better to have too much than not enough at the Thanksgiving table, right?

So, here we are, with enough leftover mashed potatoes to satisfy a small platoon, and I’m looking for ways to change them up a bit and keep my family interested in eating them. That’s why I tried this croquette  idea. I figure that if mashed potatoes are tasty, fried mashed potatoes could be even better.

It was easy: I beat 3 eggs with salt and 4 tablespoons of spelt flour, then stirred it together with 4 cups of mashed potatoes and a cup of chopped turkey meat. I shaped it into small bricks and fried them up on a cast iron griddle with coconut oil. At the end, I gave up on the brick shape and made them into flat potato pancakes instead.

I thought they were pretty good served with gravy or ketchup and Siracha sauce, but my kids were less than impressed. They weren’t crispy enough. I think I should have used only 2 eggs and fried them in the Fry Baby deep fryer instead of on a griddle. Next time!

Portobello Mushrooms Stuffed with Leftover Thanksgiving Stuffing

Whew, what a holiday! Thanksgiving is such a glorious holiday for food, and we have a big tradition for leftovers in my family. Personally, I love opening a fridge full of Thanksgiving leftovers, but by Saturday I can’t stand the sight of another turkey sandwich and I’m fishing around for creative ways to eat and preserve the abundance of leftovers. This weekend I was inspired to create Portobello Mushrooms Stuffed with Leftover Thanksgiving Stuffing. Absolutely delicious and they couldn’t have been easier to prepare.Stuffed Mushroom recipe

First, I washed, de-stemmed, and slathered two portobello mushrooms with olive oil. Why two? That was all I had.

Then I heaped piles of my mother’s famous stuffing (an heirloom recipe passed down from my late grandmother: corn flakes, slices of bread, onions, and celery) and sprinkled the top with shredded mozzarella. I covered the whole thing with a tin foil tent. Then I placed the dish in 350 F oven until the mushroom was soft (about 10 minutes); removed the foil and continued to bake until the top was bubbly with melted cheese.

Of course, you can make this recipe with whatever leftover stuffing you may have from your festive table! My variations included spelt bread in the stuffing, mushrooms instead of celery, and goat milk mozzarella cheese.

Next time, I’ll be sure to have more mushrooms around because this was a huge hit with the family.

Eating Clean In a Dirty World by Jennafer Ashley, DTR

Eating Clean in a Dirty World by Jennafer AshleyI downloaded a helpful book on Kindle today: Eating Clean in A Dirty World: An easy to follow guide to cleaning up your diet for life by Jennafer Ashley, DTR. I was pleased to see it offers a solid overview for avoiding chemicals, GMOs, and other pollutants in our food supply.

In the book, Jennafer makes clear recommendations for finding the safest eggs, dairy products, sweeteners, and meats, along with tips on decreasing pesticide residues on produce and generally cleaning up the foods in your diet.

It’s currently offered for free on Kindle.

Sunbutter: A Peanut Butter Alternative

I’ve never been a rabid peanut butter fan, though I understand the appeal for a quick and easy, non-perishable, packable protein spread for everything from school lunches to hiking trips to an everyday snack. While I didn’t really dig peanut butter as a child, Sunbutter Sunflower Seed Spread slathered on an apple slice or a banana is one of my favorite adult snacks.sunbutter: peanut butter substitute

Besides its fame as one of the most common allergens for children, today’s peanut butters are often blended with obscene amounts of sugar, oils, and other additives. Recently, there was a widespread recall of peanut butter, and my husband asked me if we had any in the house to dispose. We haven’t had peanut butter in the house for ages. Even if we had had peanut butter, it would have been organic and therefore not contaminated or subject to the recall. However, we haven’t had peanut butter for years while we’ve enjoyed almond butter and even cashew butter instead. Lately, Sunbutter has won the nut-butter war and has turned into one of our staples.

Sugar free, the sole ingredient in Sunbutter is sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds are full of anti-inflammatory vitamin E, cancer-fighting selenium and cholesterol-lowering phytosterols, and heart-healthy polyunsaturated fats. Available in regular or organic, Sunbutter offers a nice hit of protein to fill you up and keep you going.

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