By By Lisa Tindell
It's leftover time. With the Christmas meal a memory and with a turkey carcass or ham in the fridge, it's time to figure out how to get rid of the leftovers without being wasteful.
Of course, you can make the dreaded turkey salad or ham sandwiches for a week, there are a few alternatives that you may want to give a try.
A few years ago, I came across a recipe for using leftover ham pieces and decided to give it a try. It was a hit with my family and I have been known to use "fresh" ham when making the dish.
Ham Noodle Bake
4 oz. (2 1/2 cups) uncooked egg noodles
1 can cream of mushroom soup
16 oz. pkg. broccoli and carrots, thawed
1 cup sour cream
1 tbs. minced onion (or more)
2 cups cubed ham
2 tbs. melted butter
1 cup cornflake crumbs or 1 tube crushed crackers
Cook noodles and drain. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 2 – qt. casserole dish. Combine sour cream, soup, onion and add pepper to taste. Combine with noodles with mixture and blend well. Pour into dish and top with cornflakes and butter. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly.
I have been known to add a can of well-drained sweet peas to create a one-dish meal. A nice green salad would also go well with this dish.
If turkey is the leftover at your house, you can substitute the meat in any recipe that you would normally use chicken. It's pretty interchangeable at this point.
Another casserole recipe that is a hit is one that I got from an aunt-in-law at a family reunion about 10 years ago. This one also calls for sour cream, so it's understandably good.
Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole
5-6 cups cubed or chopped chicken
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cups sour cream
1 tsp. poppy seeds
1 stick margarine, melted
2 tubes Ritz crackers, crushed
Spray a 9×13 dish with non-stick spray and spread chicken in the bottom. In a separate bowl, mix soup, sour cream and poppy seeds. Pour over chicken. Add melted margarine to crackers and sprinkle over top of casserole and bake a 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.
I realize that these two recipes are for casseroles, and I have a special friend who detests them, but at least they will give you some ideas for something different. Besides, I got some new baking dishes and utensils for Christmas, and this gives me a great opportunity to break