Thanksgiving Leftovers - Turkey Casserole

Great way to serve up Thanksgiving turkey & stuffing leftovers

Serving the casserole out of a clear glass dish -
turkey on the bottom & stuffing on the top

This is one of my favorite ways to prepare leftovers on Friday. It’s a super easy and quick meal, featuring chunks of light and dark turkey meat in rich, creamy mushroom sauce topped with enhanced stuffing. Inspired by a chicken casserole recipe shared by a family friend, back in the 1970’s.

Day after Thanksgiving Turkey Casserole

Ingredients:

Cooked Turkey meat, dark or light – in bite size pieces

1 can Cream of Mushroom condensed soup (10¾ oz)

2 cups sour cream (16 oz)

Prepared stuffing (use your leftovers from Thanksgiving feast – enough to spread over the whole top – or see recipe for Cathi’s Thanksgiving Stuffing below)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Spread the meat over the bottom of a 9x13 glass casserole dish. Meat can be knife cut, finger torn or shredded. You can use a mix of white/dark meat or just one kind. How much you want to use is up to you; this dish can help use up extra leftovers or can help stretch leftovers. Less meat equals more sauce.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the condensed soup and sour cream to make the thick sauce. I use a spatula.

Pour sauce into the glass casserole dish and use spatula to spread out over meat, folding meat into sauce. Smooth meat & sauce mixture evenly.

Break up any large clumps of the leftover stuffing – I use two forks. Top the meat/sauce mixture with the stuffing. How thick a layer is up to you; I use leftovers from a 14 oz bag, but my family are light stuffing eaters so my layer is thick. I generally completely cover the top, sorta like the mashed potatoes on a Shepherd’s Pie casserole. If you have less stuffing, spread it out more or thinner.

Casserole prep showing creamy mushroom sauce on left & stuffing topping on right

Casserole prep showing side view before baking

 

Pop into the oven and bake uncovered for ~30-45 minutes. Sauce should be bubbling around all edges and top should be a bit crisp, but not dried out.

Suggestion for serving - with leftover mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes

ALLERGENS: contains dairy, wheat and mushrooms

ALLERGY ACCOMMODATIONS: to replace dairy, try a generous slathering of gravy instead of cream-based sauce; to replace wheat, make stuffing with gluten-free bread crumbs or use mashed potatoes/yams instead of stuffing for a variation on a shepherd's pie; to replace mushrooms, use cream of celery soup instead

Thanksgiving stuffing - w/breadcrumbs, onions, celery, carrots & dried cranberries

Cathi's Thanksgiving Stuffing recipe

I really like this combination of herbs, veggies and the sweetness of the dried cranberries. Depending on how long it takes your turkey to cook, the celery & carrots may retain some crunch. I like a little crunch, as it gives the stuffing a bit of texture. If very soft veggies are preferred instead, melt the butter in a pan and saute the onions, celery, and carrot dices first; then add the water and pour over the crumbs. 

Ingredients:

1 pkg Pepperidge Farm herb seasoned, breadcrumbs stuffing mix (14 oz)

¼ tsp dried sage

1/8 tsp dried thyme

1 medium onion – red or white – finely chopped

2-3 ribs of celery, finely diced

1 shredded or finely diced carrot

½ cup dried cranberries

2 cups of water

5 Tbsp butter

Directions:

In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, empty out package of crumbs. Add in spices and stir. Add in onions, celery, carrots, and cranberries and mix well.

In a small pot on stove, drop butter into water. Bring heat up to boiling and keep on heat until butter has melted.

Remove from heat and carefully pour into mixing bowl, over crumbs.

Briskly stir with long-tined fork or wooden spoon to create crumbly but equally moist mixture.

Stuff into turkey cavities – neck and body.

Hold back extra dressing to be used the next day in Leftover Turkey & Stuffing Casserole dish. Dressing can be baked at 350F for 20-30 minutes. After cooling completely, extra stuffing/dressing should be stored in fridge.

VEGETARIAN SUGGESTION: make as a side dressing and not as a stuffing

VEGAN SUGGESTION: make with margarine or oil instead of butter

ALLERGENS: contains wheat and dairy

ALLERGY ACCOMMODATIONS: to replace wheat, use gluten-free bread crumbs with your own herbs instead of Pepperidge Farm mix; to replace dairy, use margarine or oil instead of butter

Toasted Oatmeal Pie - tasty alternative to pecan pie

A nut–free, egg-free dessert perfect for holiday celebrations

Slice of toasted oatmeal pie

 

Best Wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving - vintage postcard

As I'm finalizing my family's plans for our Thanksgiving feast, I wanted to share this tasty treat that offers a nice break from the typically nut-filled choices that crowd most holiday menus. I'm thankful this year for the wide variety of delicious foods I'm able to share with family & friends that are totally safe for my son. For folks not dealing with the ins and outs of daily life with food allergies, you may not fully get this because you take it for granted - but nothing beats being able to get together to celebrate holidays and simultaneously being able to relax around a food spread which doesn't leave out your children! Golden. 

Tantalizing smells from the kitchen - vintage postcard

Also, November is Native American Heritage Month, so I’d like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for all the Native American chieftains and tribes for sharing their food, culture and rich history.  I have a deep appreciation for Native American traditions and customs that I have learned about so far - especially in regards to dances, shamans, healing rituals, and reverence for nature. One of the books I love reading to my sons is Nickommah! A Thanksgiving Celebration by Jackie French Koller. Written with the perfect cadence for reading aloud, she also sprinkles in many words from the Narragansett language and includes a glossary and historical note at the back of the book. 

PHOTO CREDIT: copied from PaperBack Swap Book Club website, Atheneum Publisher

Quote: "Now Moon Sister wakes and draws her star blanket across the sky. Beneath the blanket the People come together, into the Sacred Circle. With glad hearts and prayers of thanksgiving, the People come, bearing gifts so that widows may eat and orphans grow strong, because all belong. All belong to the Sacred Family of the People. Nickommoh!"

This pie comes together quite easily and offers flexibility in ingredients. I like adding shredded coconut for more texture/flavor and I always have dried currents on hand during the holidays. You are welcome to experiment with other dried fruit like raisins, sultanas or dried cranberries. You may want to dust larger dried fruits with flour (oat or wheat) to keep them better suspended in the gel, heavier dried fruits may sink to the bottom crust. This recipe was adapted from the National Honey Board; it was called "Old fashioned oatmeal pie." I've been unable to find the original link, so am including an alternate link to their recipe home page.

Cathi's Toasted Oatmeal Pie

Ingredients:

1 Flax “egg” (1 Tbsp ground flax seed + 3 Tbsp warm water)

1 Orgran No-egg (1 tsp egg replacement powder + 2 Tbsp warm water)

¾ cup Quick cooking oats (or ½ organic quick oats + ¼ cup Scottish oatmeal)

½ cup unsweetened, finely shredded Coconut

¼ -½ cup sunflower seeds – optional if you’d like extra crunch or texture to pie

½ cup Butter (1 stick)

¾ cup pure Maple Syrup

½ tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of sea salt

¼ tsp xantham gum (or use guar gum to avoid a corn derivative)

¾ cup Brown sugar

½  cup Currants

1 Pie shell, 9 inch (I used frozen – you can make from scratch if desired)

Whipped cream, if desired for topping (or use whipped coconut milk)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Prepare each of the egg-replacements in very small mixing bowls. Let stand for at least 15 minutes.

Toast oats, coconut (& sunflower seeds if using) in nonstick skillet over low heat on stovetop. Toss around in pan or stir as needed - and watch carefully! Remove when lightly browned & aromatic. Usually takes a few minutes.

Melt butter - I put in a microwave safe bowl, you can melt on the stove top and then pour into a mixing bowl. Add in each egg substitute and whisk all vigorously. Then add in maple syrup, extract, pinch of salt and whisk. Next add in xantham gum and brown sugar and whisk some more. Fold in toasted oats and coconut (and sunflower seeds, if using) with a plastic spatula. Measure out and fold in currants.

Pour mixture carefully into the pie shell. Twirl the pie tin a bit both left and right to even out the filling. Put pie onto cookie sheet before transferring to oven.

Oatmeal pie filling before baking

Bake about 45 – 50 minutes. Filling should be brown and toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Serve at room temperature, with whipped cream or whipped coconut milk.

Oatmeal pie just out of the oven - notice puffy crust & syrup bubbling up around edges

ALLERGENS: Contains wheat. Contains dairy. Contains coconut.

ALLERGY ACCOMMODATIONS: To replace the wheat, substitute regular pie crust with a gluten-free crust. To replace the dairy, use margarine instead of butter. To replace dairy if choosing to use whipped topping, use whipped coconut milk for garnish instead of whipping cream. (Get a recipe & directions for whipping coconut milk at Savvy Vegetarian website.) You could also try topping the pie with rice-milk based ice-cream. Coconut is actually a fruit, not a nut, but some folks with treenut allergies are also allergic to coconut. To replace the coconut in this recipe, you could try adding more oatmeal and/or use the optional sunflower seeds to add a little variety to the texture.