EASY Ways to Use Up Leftover Thanksgiving Dinner + Ingredients

Hello everyone! In this week’s blog post I will be sharing a few delicious ways to use up all the leftovers you may have stacked up in your fridge from Thanksgiving. I will also share some recipes to use extra ingredients used to make Thanksgiving dinner.

EASY Ways to Use Up Leftover Thanksgiving Dinner

1. Make a Wrap

   Grab a tortilla or wrap and add stuffing, your Thanksgiving main, green beans, and cranberry sauce.

2. Make a Bowl

   Add stuffing in a bowl and top with your Thanksgiving main, all your Thanksgiving vegetables, and cranberry sauce.

3. Make the Classic Thanksgiving Sandwich

   Toast some bread and add your Thanksgiving main, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and stuffing.

EASY Ways to Use Up Leftover Thanksgiving Ingredients

1. Make a Lentil Soup

   Saute leftover garlic, onion, carrots, and celery if you have it for about 5 minutes. Then add chopped up potatoes and cook for another 2 minutes. Next, add vegetable broth and lentils, as well as spices if you want to. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. (Recipe from Minimalist Baker)

   Recipes That Use Leftover Cranberries

2. Make Cranberry-Citrus Wild Rice (4 servings)

   1 C wild rice

   3 C water

   2 T olive oil

   1/2 t of sea salt

   2 medium oranges, peeled and segmented, reserving 3 T juice

   1 medium ripe avocado, diced

   1/2 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced

   1/3 C dried cranberries

   1/4 C dry almonds, roughly chopped

   Combine rice and water in a medium bowl and cover with a lid or plastic wrap. Place in a warm dehydrator for 24 hours to let the rice bloom. Or place the bowl in a turned OFF oven, with the light on for 24 hours. When the rice has bloomed/plumped up, rinse. In another medium bowl, whisk oil, salt, and reserved orange juice. Add wild rice and toss to coat. Add orange segments, avocado, and fennel. Refrigerate for 2 hours or serve immediately. Sprinkle with chopped almonds before serving. (Recipe from the book, “Practically Raw”)

3. Make Macerated Cranberries

   1 1/2 C dried cranberries

   1/4 C freshly squeezed lime juice

   Zest of 1 lime

   1/4 C agave nectar (or use coconut nectar because it is lower on the glycemic scale)

   Put cranberries in a clean pint-size jar. Add lime juice and zest, agave/coconut, and 1/4 C water. Cover and give the jar a few shakes. Let sit overnight. (Recipe from “Raw Food For Everyone”)

4. Make a Harvest Salad (1 Serving)

   2 C torn red leaf lettuce or mesclun

   1/4 apple or ripe pear

   2 T vinaigrette

   1 T chopped pecans

   1 T dried cranberries

   Place all ingredients except for the cranberries and pecans in a bowl and toss gently. Then transfer to a serving dish and add pecans and cranberries. (Recipe from, “Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People”)

5. Make a Lemon and Cranberry Cheesecake

   Base:

   2 C cashews

   1/2 C lemon juice

   1/2 C honey (or maple syrup)

   1/3 C coconut oil

   1 T lemon zest

   1 t pure vanilla extract

   Topping:

   2 C fresh cranberries

   1/2 C dates

   Add all base ingredients to a blender and blend. Start slowly and then increase speed. Keep blending until very smooth, like a creamy white fudge with no chunks. Pour the base into your final pan/mold and place it in the freezer. Then add the topping ingredients into the dirty blender and blend until smooth. Add the topping to the pan/mold and place back in the freezer for 5 hours or so. Store in freezer at all times. To eat, just open the freezer, grab what you want to eat, and eat immediately. (Recipe from an unknown source)

A slice of the raw cheesecake.