by Sylvia Harrison

Created on: November 29, 2009

I love Thanksgiving! I cook for 2 days, baking pies, turkeys, hams, vegetable casseroles, breads, and any other choice articles I feel my extended family will enjoy. And, when Thanksgiving is over I have several "left-over" recipes to use what's left of my Thanksgiving masterpiece. For the teenagers and younger crowd that has been waiting patiently to spend time together, your left over turkey can be sliced and mixed with a barbecue sauce for great barbecue sandwiches. The stuffing left overs can be put with a bit of milk, diced tomatoes, etc. for a great stuffed pepper. Left over ham can be put into a ham and scalloped potato casserole. There are so many ways to use your leftovers, but take care not to use past the time limit on keeping them safe to eat!

One of my families very favorite "left over" meals is Turkey and Noodles. The recipe is as simple or as complex as you wish it to be. I start mine out like this:

Ingredients needed:
Leftover turkey cut into slightly larger than bite-size pieces
1 package of egg noodles ("No Yolks" egg noodles for those of us who need to watch our diet)
2 cans of cream soup (Depending on your taste; chicken, mushroom, celery, etc.)
Milk (Again using fat free if desired)
Onion
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional ingredients that can include celery, mushrooms, shredded carrots, hot pepper, and more! The only obstacle is your lack of imagination.

Directions:
Set the water to boil for your noodles and cook as directed while you slice up the turkey into pieces . If you are adding celery, tomatoes, mushrooms, tomato, etc., you may wish to dice and prepare these also while your noodles are cooking. For your harder vegetables it will be helpful and very tasty to saute them in olive oil until they are softer.

When noodles are done, (not too soft, but not too firm!), drain and return to pan. Add cream soup and blend gently. Add milk to desired consistency. (You may start out with 1 cup of milk, then add more until the mixture is not runny but not thick.) Add in any vegetables, salt, pepper, spices, etc. that you wish at this point. Gently stir in your turkey pieces and heat over low heat until desired serving temperature.

This recipe is really good when put into a baking pan and sprinkled with shredded cheddar cheese. Just oven heat until the cheese is melted! (I like to take some of my left over dinner rolls, slice them in half, put on some butter, and toast them in the oven to go with this meal.) Voila!, you have a left over meal that is extremely good for you, uses various leftovers, and takes only about 20 minutes to prepare!

All that's left to do is ENJOY!

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