What to Cook for Dinner this Week
Well, it’s over. The biggest meal of the year. I know you probably still feel full (I sure do), but I also know that Monday is coming, and we all still have our families to feed next week. So here goes. I’ve planned a simple, easy week of “cooking recovery” for all of us who need a bit of a break from the stove. We’ll still be there to make dinner, just maybe not as long as on other weeks. And yes, we’ll make use of those leftovers through Monday. (Are you all making Turkey Pot Pie with me for Sunday dinner this week?) I don’t know about you, but when most of the leftovers are long gone, there still seems to be some turkey and gravy left. Maybe we just always cook a really big turkey!
We ended up with a lot of leftovers – far more than we expected. Illness hit our Michigan family, and instead of the 15 people we expected for Thanksgiving, we had eight. Only two of our eight out-of-town guests made it to Virginia. So we adjusted our side dishes accordingly, but a 23-pound turkey is a 23-pound turkey. What can you do?
I hope you didn’t throw out your turkey bones (if you did, please don’t tell me), because they make wonderful poultry stock. I’ve got our turkey carcass waiting in a plastic bag in the fridge. I’ll pull it out on Sunday after company leaves and put it in my big stock pot, add a few carrots, an onion, some stalks of celery, a few cloves of garlic, some salt, pepper, fresh thyme, and parsley, fill it with water, and let it simmer away gently all day long on the back of the stove. That evening, I’ll strain it and ladle it into quart-size freezer bags, which I’ll stack flat in the freezer. It will stand in for chicken stock whenever I need it for the next few months.
Anyway, here’s the weekly dinner menu. Happy Thanksgiving recovery week!
Monday: Turkey Shepherd’s Pie. This is simple. No recipe required, really. Preheat the oven to 350°. In a large bowl, mix together 4 cups of shredded leftover turkey with about 1-1/2 cups leftover gravy. You can add leftover cooked vegetables as well – carrots, peas, corn, whatever you have. Place in a 9-by-13 casserole dish and top with a nice layer of mashed potatoes. Bake 25-30 minutes, until the potatoes are browned a bit and the turkey mixture beneath is hot and bubbly. Serve with leftover cranberry sauce, if you have it. *Note: if you’re out of leftover mashed potatoes, top the turkey mixture with two cans of ready-to-bake biscuits, the biscuits laid out side by side on top, and bake until browned. Yum!
Tuesday: Turkey or Chicken Tacos. For those of you with just a little more turkey to use up, this is a great way to turn it into something altogether different. If you’re out of turkey, grab a rotisserie chicken at the market. It’s a quick and easy meal!
Wednesday: Grilled Cheese and Creamy Tomato Soup. E is back to school this week, so Wednesday nights are busy for us again, and I’m sure this is going to be a rough one, as L has gotten used to him being home for the past two weeks. This is an easy dinner for me to make with her balanced on my hip or perched on the counter. Plus, she loves it.
Thursday: Pizza Margherita. Thin crust. The taste of fresh tomatoes and basil, something altogether different for the palate after all that turkey. And it’s blessedly fast.
Friday: Takeout Night.
Saturday: Josh’s Sweet & Spicy Chili and Maple Corn Bread. It’s supposed to be a cold weekend, and this will warm us all up. It’s been a while since we had this chili, a recipe from E’s older brother. It’s full of good stuff – beans and veggies and a hearty tomato broth. And the maple corn bread we’ve come to love will be a perfect complement.
Sunday: Sunday Night Pasta. Make your Sunday easy with this fantastic Crock-pot pasta sauce. Serve over your choice of pasta with a green salad.
Weekend Breakfast: I’m planning to make Overnight Raised Waffles again this weekend. Because they’re just too good not to repeat, especially when the weather calls for a cozy breakfast.
Weekly Treat: With all the pie-eating we’ve done, I’m going for something a little healthier and making some homemade granola bars, because the Christmas baking will commence soon enough!
Cheers!
