Thanksgiving Leftovers Breakfast

Are you ever stumped on what to do with all the leftovers in your fridge? Do you ever look at those leftovers on Day 2 and think, if I have to eat turkey or ham one more time....... Well let me tell you, you can make different things with those amazing leftovers in your fridge!!! 

I am all about zero waste in our house, so I really like to get creative if I can and that's just what I did this morning and it's what I'm about to do tonight for dinner... and no one will ever know!!! It's going to make completely different meals using those leftovers you have right there in your fridge. 

Some go for Turkey soup, Turkey ala king (which actually use to be my favorite as a kid), turkey pot pie, etc. But why just go for the basics when we can kick it up even further and have some fun with these leftovers... I don't know about you, but most of the time when I throw something into a casserole, we eat it for the first and maybe the second night and then I'll end up throwing the casserole away because we didn't eat it and then I'm just sitting there thinking about how much food we wasted. 

This year was our first year hosting Thanksgiving and it was just us at home, but as usual, if you know me, I tend to cook for a small army and we only have a family of 5 and our kids are little so they don't eat much. We have two that seem to fight for the turkey leg and then I have to remind them that there's two legs and they can both have one, and then my littlest eats like a bird. No pun intended....

Even though it was just us this year, I still made an abundance. We started some new traditions. The morning started off with Spin and I made homemade cinnamon rolls for Jack and the kids. Then a Turkey Charcuterie board. I mean who can pass up this cuteness?

For the mains, we did turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, Auntie Sam's rosemary bread rolls (which I let raise for a little too long and they ended up sticking to the cover overnight in fridge), corn on the cob, cornbread stuffing, cranberry sauce, and of course gravy. 

I was so proud of myself for this dinner. Everything was gluten and dairy free except for those rolls. I have yet to master the perfect GF roll, but I may try this recipe with GF flour and see how it turns out. Trial and Error right???

So since we have all this food and we probably didn't even eat a quarter of what I cooked, we have A LOT left over. I had to freeze half of the meat because there was no way we were going to eat all of it and I didn't want it to go bad. As for the rest... Leftovers and making different things with it... This morning I called it a Thanksgiving Gravy Benedict. It came out amazing and although Brooklyn didn't eat any green bean casserole (kids and Jack seem to go for the corn), she loved the breakfast which had hidden casserole in it. 

Ingredients:

- 5 eggs, room temperature

-1 tsp white wine vinegar

- 1/2 cup leftover stuffing

- 1/2 cup leftover mashed potatoes

- 1 cup green bean casserole

- 1/2 cup chopped ham

- 1/2 cup chopped turkey

- 1/4 cup leftover gravy

1tbs ghee or butter

Cooking spray

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl, add stuffing, potatoes and green bean casserole. Warm in microwave for 45seconds to 1 minute. You just want it Luke warm so it's pliable. If it's too hot,  the eggs will cook when you add them. Add 1 egg, salt and pepper and mix until well combined. 

Warm a skillet over medium low heat. If you have a favorite pan you use for pancakes, grab it and use that one. I tend to go for my cast iron or my crepe pan, depends on what kind of mood I'm in. Lightly spray your pan with cooking spray (I like to use an avocado cooking spray). 

When your pan is warm, add about 1/4 cup of batter to pan. The will be like lumps in the pan. Don't flatten out at this point or they're hard to flip. I learned that with the first 2 I put on the pan. Once they're browned on one side (about 3-5 minutes), flip and lightly press down with spatula and cook for another 3-5 minutes until the other side is lightly browned.   Continue this with the remaining batter. 

While your pancakes are cooking, warm your turkey and ham with butter in a small pan over low heat. I just kept on low during the cooking process and stirred occasionally. You really just want the meat warmed up, so very low heat on this one.

In a saucepan over low heat, warm gravy so it is ready for when you want to assemble your masterpiece. 

For the eggs:

Fill a medium saucepan with cold water and bring to a gentle boil. Season your water with salt and white wine vinegar. Stir the water with a whisk until swirling. 

Crack your eggs into individual small bowls.  Lower each bowl and gently drop the eggs into the water.  Depending on the size of your pot, you may need to poach eggs in separate batches (this is what I usually do). Turn the heat down to a gentle simmer. 

Cook your eggs for roughly two minutes and check on them. If they are firm to the touch, then you ca remove them from the water with a slotted spoon. If they still wobble a bit, then return to water for another 10 seconds. 

Remove eggs to paper towel lined plate to drain any excess moisture.  

Assembly:

To plate, put two pancakes on plate, top with ham and turkey, Turn eggs presentation side up on top of ham and turkey. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with gravy. Serve immediately.