Sorry. Nope. Turkey doesn’t count – it’s too cliche’.
We all have too much of that left over after Thanksgiving, but it is often a planned left-over food. We know it’s going to happen and we have a plan or two for what to do with all that extra turkey. Even if we get sick of it, we have plans.
What I want to know is:
- What other food ends up as a surplus at your home after Thanksgiving?
- What do you have in abundance that you really don’t know what else to do with other than to reheat it…again and again and again?
- What will you have that you’re likely going to throw out if you can’t stand it anymore in it’s current form?
We want to help you save money and your sanity, but we need to know where you need the help.
So if it’s a side dish, a dessert, gravy or anything other than turkey that graces your table at Thanksgiving still lingers far too long after the guests and holiday are gone – we want to know about it!
We want to help you address the mountain of mashed potatoes, or the cranberry sauce that seem to take up residence in your refrigerator and spill, hide and eventually grow off-spring long after the Thanksgiving holiday has run it’s course.
Please take the quick survey below …
Then in the days following Thanksgiving, come back here for some ideas on how to turn your left-over items into completely different foods. Better yet, sign up for the newsletter and we’ll send you a note when the recipes are up.
You don’t have to face a kitchen full of the same old same old same repeated stuff that gets nuked and reheated to oblivion. It can all get used! We’re here to help! But we need your help first. Please take this short survey! Thank you!
Best Blessings for a Peaceful Thanksgiving!
Donna
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You know that phrase made famous by the Vikings in the Capital One commercial? “What’s in Your Wallet?” – Well, let me ask: “What’s in YOUR Fridge?”
On any given day that may be a scary question for some – but for most of us after 
Thanksgiving, it’s not only scary, it’s a downright daunting and overwhelming question!
The answer is a resounding LEFT OVERS!
When faced with a myriad of foods that you don’t normally eat during the year, left in odd amounts hiding or sliding around after Thanksgiving, some of us may be tempted to toss the left over food, given the turkey coma we have just induced. But do not despair… There are many things you can do with left over Thanksgiving goodies so you won’t waste your food budget by feeding it all to the dog.
Mashed Potatoes:
Portion them out into one cup servings, into baggies and freeze. When you need to thicken a soup, top a pot pie or simply have a quick side dish (seasoned with cheese, chives, garlic, etc) – these are quickly thawed and used.
Sweet Potato Casserole:
Portion this out into one half cup servings, into baggies and freeze. These make great additions for muffins and can be added in to winter squash soups. Again they are a stand alone side dish at a far later date.
Green Bean Casserole:
Given that this is usually laden with mushroom soup and fried onions – it usually doesn’t keep well for too long. Plan on tossing this into your turkey pot pie as an added green veggie and cream soup base. The onions will soften and blend with the other ingredients…no one will know that you used it there.
Cranberry Relish/Jelly:
Also another great add-in for muffins. It turns your muffins a sweet pink and you don’t have to add as much sugar as the usual recipe.
Turkey:
I’m not sure why we always have way more turkey than I think we will. After days of turkey sandwiches – it’s still HERE! So here are some thoughts…
Break the bones with the meat on them, boil and make broth that can be frozen or canned.
Then de-bone all the meat you can glean (we ended up with a gallon bag of bits) and make any number of things such as turkey and rice soup, turkey pot pie, turkey salad for wraps or sandwiches, turkey tacos (use taco seasonings), turkey barbeque on a whole wheat bun. Yes, all of these are on the menu for the next few weeks at our home. Simply label and freeze portion sizes to make the specific meal.
Once you’ve tended to the left overs and they are in their proper place (not hiding in the fridge or trashed) you can move on to some more ‘normal’ meals and enjoy the fact that you can give Thanks for having this other food on hand!
Donna Miller is a teacher, author, sought-after speaker and trainer. She has been a both guest and host on internet and broadcast radio talk-shows and in television interviews. She enjoys teaching online and local classes & ladies retreats for people to learn whole food cooking, budget friendly techniques and preparedness skills. Donna is happily married and has three adult children, and a daughter in-law. She and her husband (Joseph) are the founders of both Millers Grain House , Your Preparation Station and are on the board of PREPARE Magazine.
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I am regularly asked: “Why should I mill whole wheat and grains at home“? It’s certainly an important question, and one that I asked myself when I first became interested in whole wheat and grains. Now, I know why it is so important!
On my weekly radio show, I explore the topic and offer some insights. We want to share that recording with you and hope you will offer your comments below.
We certainly want to invite you to attend our weekly live show, “Encouragement in the Kitchen.” If you are unable to attend, we record the shows and post the audio recordings in our radio archives section.
We always love to hear your comments.
Best Blessings!
I hope you’ve had the chance to view our daughters’ video: Pancakes from Scratch. Below the video is the (whole) recipe and a little history behind this recipe that is a Miller Family Weekend Staple.
Usually every Sunday, we have either Whole Wheat pancakes made from scratch or Whole Grain Waffles made from scratch. As the girls show you above, it is actually quick and simple to mix all the dry ingredients together in one container and all the wet ingredients together in another the night before and have easy, almost instant Whole Wheat Pancakes faster than a box mix.
Heart-healthy Whole Wheat Pancakes
Wet Ingredients:
2 1/2 Cups of Low Fat Buttermilk
1/2 Cups Egg Whites
2 Whole Eggs
1/4 Cups Canola Oil
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Dry Ingredients:
4 Cups Fresh-Milled Whole Wheat (white wheat) Flour
2 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
Just follow their lead for instructions!
If you have left over pancakes (we do that on purpose) allow them to cool on a cooling rack and place in a zip-lock bag with wax or parchment paper between them and freeze. They pull out singularly and toast in a toaster to the perfect pancake once again! Great for those mornings on the go!
By the way, the ‘Yellow Bowl’ featured in many of our videos is the famous yellow bowl that has been in my newsletters before. It is one of the inanimate objects I would try to grab in a house fire. The reason is because it was one of the first things given to me by my mother-in-law (who also influenced my and the daughters’ love of cooking) and because we have so many family meals together that the beginnings of which start in that yellow bowl. It, it priceless only because it links me to my greatest gift on earth, my family.
I hope you enJOY and become a part of the Millers Grain House extended family by subscribing to our Newsletter. You’ll get free recipes!!
Whole wheat is so good for you compared to white bread. There is no denying that the health benefits of whole wheat out-weigh those of it’s white flour counter part. But a loaf of ‘healthy bread’ in the store is getting increasingly more expensive! Not to mention, many ingredients in the so-called healthier breads really are still not that good for you!
So many folks turn to trying to make whole wheat bread at home only to be disappointed in texture, taste, density, shape, gooey and/or short stocky loaves. Also, many recipes give a list of additional ingredients that are supposed to make white flour bread more ‘healthy’ and the cost per loaf begins to sky rocket.
It’s enough to make someone give up and go back to the colon clogging white loaf bread in the store! NO! Please for your body’s sake – don’t do that!
It is with the utmost of anticipation that I am delighted to announce the recent release of my newest e-book. As a better teacher, I can teach a class on this subject and everyone leave with a perfect loaf of bread, even if they’ve never touched whole wheat flour before. Live classes are my favorite! I love to see the joy and confidence on the faces of the participants as they take home their creations to share!
This book has been a labor of love for me. Usually in a class, I have the benefit of conversation and hands-on demonstration. In this book, I’ve endeavored to show and describe techniques and tips that we discuss, demonstrate and do in a live class together. I hope it helps you on your way to producing consistently tasty and beautiful loaves of whole wheat bread for your family!
You can follow this link to see what others say about it and get a copy of your own: Whole Wheat Bread Making
Maybe you’ve stopped by and wondered what is going on at Millers Grain House!?! Things look a little different and there is a new logo at the page top.
Don’t worry, Millers Grain House has not changed hands – we’re doing some house keeping to serve you better. We are growing and we are getting busier. With that, we also want to be sure to give you the best possible service we can! We’ve put everything that was once in different places across the web in a more user friendly one stop place: http://www.millersgrainhouse.com
And more than offering whole grains, wheat, grain grinders and mills – we want to be able to serve you with in other areas as well.
Some of the changes already include:
- Easy access to the last 3- 6 months archives of m weekly radio show: Encouragement in the Kitchen.
- An ever expanding FAQs and Knowledge Base section that covers everything from which whole grain to use to questions about grain mills/grinders and how to store grain and other food.
- A brand new Support Team that will not only organize your questions so they are answered in a more timely fashion, but by asking – you help grow the Knowledge Base!
- Clearer categories to get you where you want to go: Main Store – Bulk Delivery Route – Classes
- As always, a way to stay in the loop! Subscribing to the Newsletter (risk nothing and get a Free Recipe each month while we stay connected!)
- YOUR Testimonials are running along the bottom of the home page! Thank you! (o:
But wait! There’s more! NEW things coming SOON:
- Free Webinars with live lessons, question & answer sessions and recipes!
- A Jazzed up YouTube channel with some new faces to continue Free Videos for you!
- A Discussion Forum to share your whole food and whole grain trials and triumphs!
- Recipe Sharing!
- The Member’s Group with perks of its own with exclusive online classes, exclusive discounts, exclusive downloads and discounted merchandise.
It is our desire to serve you the best best we possibly can! With these new and exciting additions and the ones we’ve organized in place already – it is our hope that you will settle in and join the ‘family’ here at Millers Grain House. We’d love to have you share with us!
Best Blessings and enJOY the journey!
Donna Miller
FOR A SELF-SUSTAINING LIFE
