Reading · Practical Self Reliance

The day after Thanksgiving should be its own holiday. I’m not talking “Black Friday” though, I’m talking “Leftover Day” where everyone in the family stays in their PJ’s all day, has pie for breakfast, and never leaves the house.

My family celebrates leftover day every year, and here I am, warm cheddar topped apple pie on my plate, sitting in front of our wood cook stove, contemplating a day playing board games with the kids snacking on one too many turkey sandwiches.

We always intentionally cook way too much food for Thanksgiving, simply because it takes the same amount of effort to make enough turkey for one day as it does for a week. It takes the same effort to prep a 12 pound turkey as it does a 20 pounder, and sure, it bakes for an extra hour or two, but it’ll keep us fed without effort for many meals to come.

The same is true for all the sides. Maybe it takes 5 extra minutes to peel a few more potatoes, but once in the pot, it’s the same effort to cook, mash and season them.

So here I am, fridge packed to the gills, contemplating all the wonderful ways this bounty will be reformulated over the coming week. Turkey enchiladas are a must, of course, and this year, my daughter’s hoping for turkey ramen, my son’s voting for turkey fried rice, and my husband’s demanding turkey shepherd’s pie.

I’m already thinking beyond those, to all the Turkey Canning Recipes I’m going to try this year. The bones are going to turkey broth, which is more or less the same as chicken broth (but one turkey equals three chickens in the pot).

It also works well as a freezer bone broth, if you don’t do pressure canning.

Frozen bone broth from last year. My sister doesn’t can, and she called me up last year the day after thanksgiving to ask me if she could just pour hot turkey broth into jars and put it on her pantry shelf. It boiled, right? That means it’s sterile? No, sorry sis, it’s a pressure canner, or the freezer, so I wrote up a freezing broth guide for her and everyone else whose not a pressure canning nerd like me.

And honestly, turkey can be used in place of chicken in any chicken canning recipe.

Turkey is especially good in Chicken and Gravy Meal in a Jar or Chicken Pot Pie Filling or Chicken and Corn Chowder.

Turkey and Gravy Meal in a Jar that I made last year (but still somehow haven’t typed up a specific recipe for it on the blog. I’ll get to it…maybe in time for next year.)

At some point, we’ll run out of turkey (long after we’ve run out of all the sides), and I’ll go pick up a few more birds for next to nothing and roast a few more on a random Tuesday for quick meal in a jar recipes to keep us going through the winter.

There’s few ways to put protein on the table cheaper than a turkey bought the week after Thanksgiving.

I would be putting everything in the freeze dryer too, but we haven’t gotten ours set up again yet after our move this autumn. (Yes, we’re in our new house…about 100 yards from our old house, more on that soon!)

This year, I’m hoping to get my hands on two extra birds to roast side by side to develop a few more canning recipes for y’all. Least year, several people asked for a Turkey Tetrazzini in a Jar recipe, and I’m hoping to perfect a Turkey Enchilada Filling in a jar recipe.

An extra turkey I roasted in Early December last year for more turkey canning recipes.

I would love to hear your requests for Turkey Canning Recipes as I plan out my week putting unique meals in a jar to save few pennies on this winter’s meals. Y’all always have the most creative suggestions, and I always love developing new recipes from your ideas.

How are you celebrating leftover day this year? Hopefully your fridge is full and you’re in cozy socks. (And if you’re doing anything else, why on earth are you not in cozy socks!?!?)

I’d love to hear how your holiday went this year, and what recipes you especially loved. And, of course, your favorite things to do with leftovers!

Happy Leftover Day!

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