Thanksgiving Leftovers

Turkey Empanada

I'm not a fan of turkey either, but I didn't mind having it for Thanksgiving since I was looking forward to the leftovers. I knew exactly what to do with them and the day after I was attacking the white meat already for my turkey empanada.

While this maybe as hard as roasting a turkey or probably harder because I just couldn't make the dough right, most of the time I end up with edible and delicious to my standard empanadas. Be it chicken or turkey, I love empanadas. I just wish I'd make the dough more perfect, maybe next Thanksgiving I'll get it right.

I cooked the rest of the turkey with oyster sauce, mushrooms and celery but no matter how I attempt to make it more delicious and enjoyable for my husband, he isn't really a fan of turkey unless it's inside an empanada :D

Thanksgiving 2011

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.  

~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

 

We celebrated Thanksgiving on a Sunday instead of Monday. We kind of decided last minute that we would be preparing for a Thanksgiving dinner. My hubby was against buying a turkey since we actually prefer chicken but the kids wanted turkey. It's Thanksgiving anyway, so we bought turkey. It won't be Thanksgiving without a turkey I guess.

All along I thought we'd be celebrating the next day (Monday) so I didn't thaw the turkey right away. Around lunch time my husband called me and said we'll be celebrating that night. Imagine thawing a turkey in time for dinner and it was already past 1pm. Good thing I made bread pudding when I woke up that morning, at least I got dessert already.

I seasoned the turkey with salt, pepper, sage, marjoram and generously brushed it with butter. I stuffed it with lemon, apple slices, celery and onions. I cooked it for about 4 hours, making our Thanksgiving dinner a late one at past 9pm.

While roasting the turkey, I baked some potatoes and later topped them with mozzarella and cheddar cheese and bacon bits. I made Greek salad and deviled eggs as well. Hot dinner buns and white rice completed our Thanksgiving meal plus the Ice wine we brought home from Inniskillin.

What made the meal more special was Lance leading the prayer and everybody saying what we were thankful for. Another year, with its ups and downs and yet we're still standing strong.

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice.  

~Meister Eckhart

Surprisingly and Sinfully Yummy!

Rice surprise! My version of fried rice with salsa.

Late one night, as he arrived from duty, hubby held this menu from Humpty's showing me their Arroz con Huevos which is basically a fried rice with salsa on top. He wanted something like that, I grumbled but I then set off to the kitchen and started preparing the ingredients. I put chorizo, turkey, bacon, scrambled egg and I mixed the salsa instead of putting it on top. It turned out great, the salsa gave it a twist making it more flavorful and it was so delicious I made another batch the next day.

I could eat this all day, sinfully yummy!

And dessert was this to die for cream cheese buns from Klassy's. Yet another day of nothing but good food :D

Spring Food Trip

Fresh from our BC weekend (not to mention tired too), with lots of unpacking and some other chores to accomplish, I only got the patience and time for quick meals. We had so much to eat during the weekend so it was understandable that the first few days since we got back, I didn't cook and just kept reheating the leftovers.

My Roast Turkey leg which turned out to be more like a Pulled Turkey was thrown into a vegetable salad the day after we got back. The Pork with Shrimp fry went into hubby's lunch and was reheated over again for dinner, the same thing happened to the Sweetened Cured Pork.

I only started to cook when all the leftovers were gone. We needed a break from all those heavy meals so I prepared some sandwiches but hubby's still turned out to be heavy as I filled it with bacon, a patty, egg, cheese, lettuce and tomato as requested.

For lunch, I experimented with the turkey breast seasoned it with salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne and some herbs before baking it for 2 hours while covered in foil. I sliced the cooked turkey breast, flavored the slices with some butter then baked them for a few more minutes before serving them with raspberry sauce and a milky gravy.

I love Spring! The weather is great, the sun is out, good food is just around the corner and they're in my kitchen :D