25 Days of Thanksgiving

In an attempt to save some money for christmas presents and to make sure all the food that we were sent home with from Thanksgiving dinner does not go to waste, we decided that all of our meals for the next 25 days will only come  from ingredients already in our fridge or pantry and the leftovers. I portioned the turkey legs, ham slices, green beans, stuffing, and what remains of last week's groceries and what's left in my freezer and if we do it right, we should have more than enough until December 20th. We will be leaving on the 21st for Texas so this will be a perfect way to clear the fridge before the holidays.  Zac agreed to this so long as we continue going to the grocery store for chocolate milk and bread. Apart from that, innovation and substitution will be the name of the game.

The Starting list (in our fridge)

2 turkey legs,  1 turkey wing,  about 4 oz. sliced turkey breast

HAM (I don't think I can even quantify how much, lets just say I was able distribute it into 12 ample portions that I zip-locked and stashed in the freezer)

3 cups of stuffing

16 oz. gravy

2 lbs. green beans

2 lbs. sweet potatos (baked) 

1lb. oven roasted deli turkey 

1 celery bunch

1 bag of carrots

4 roma tomatos

Sage sprigs 

12 large eggs

Shredded mozzarella/mexican blend/medium cheddar cheese

6 tortillas

16 oz. lemon curd

5 lemons

16 oz. smoked Gouda

3 romaine hearts

1 can grands biscuits

Tofu 

16 oz of fresh baby spinach

...and then some other random things that aren't really worth mentioning. 

Our freezer has some other frozen veggies too...but for the most part this is what I have to work with.

Tonight we had soup. It was simple, but delish and I used some stuffing to thicken it, half a turkey wing, some shredded dark meat and the sage leaves I could salvage from the few sprigs left. We ate our soup with a cranberry and gouda grilled cheese, which could very well have been my favorite part. 

Cranberry, Turkey and Gouda Grilled Cheese 

2 slices honey whole wheat bread

cranberry relish/sauce (I only had dried cranberries so i mixed it in with the cream cheese so they would stick and not fall out)

1 slice smoked gouda cheese

1/2 teaspoon cream cheese

1 thin slice deli turkey

butter

Spread thin layer of cream cheese on one slice of bread.  Top with gouda, turkey slice and slather of cranberry relish. Top with other slice. Slather butter on one side and place this side down first on grill/pan/pannini press-- whatever you want. Butter top side. Cook until both sides are evenly browned. DEVOUR.