Mondays: A Case of the Leftovers

As a busy, full-time grad student, I often find myself cooking big meals on the weekends (at least, that's what I try to do...) so I don't have to cook as much during the week when enmeshed in legal issues, preservation considerations, and reference questions. Over this past weekend, we had the huge Thanksgiving Dinner at church, with about a roaster and a half of leftover turkey. I took home a sandwich bag full of turkey, intending to use the leftovers sometime this week before the Thanksgiving festivities of the weekend. And I still had the leftover roast and rice in the fridge from the other night. Enter Mondays: A Case of the Leftovers.

Delicious, right?

Lunch time found me finishing the last of the leftover leftovers of turkey. Last night for dinner, I made Pillsbury's Savory Crescent Chicken Squares, substituting turkey for the chicken and omitting the pimentos (only because I didn't have any and didn't feel like going to the store for one item). I added onion powder, garlic salt, and paprika in the mixture, also omitting the fresh onion/chives (again, because I didn't have any). Delicious. I made these as a child, begging my mom to let me in the kitchen to make them for supper. So good, and 10 years later, they're just as tasty. I made D's by mixing Tastefully Simple's Sweet Pepper Jalepeno Jam with the turkey (instead of the cream cheese mixture) although upon trying mine, he declared it good, but not as good as his. Naturally. :)

Southwestern Leftover Beef Vegetable Soup

And now that the weather's finally gotten cooler and feels like fall (hurray!), and it's been rainy and foggy a lot lately, I decided tonight was a good night for soup. With my knitting group meeting on Monday nights, and D having to work half the time, I'm usually looking for quick easy supper ideas that aren't too filling since we eat earlier. Enter soup and garlic bread. So simple, and so good. I took a can of Campbell's Southwestern Vegetable Soup, added the leftover rice and chopped up roast (and bacon!), simmered it for a few minutes, and voila! Tasty soup, yummy garlic bread with cheese, and just the right portion for Monday nights.

As an added bonus, my fridge is now emptier of leftovers (anticipating the post-Thanksgiving fill!) and we had two delicious, healthy meals with little preparation on my end.

Tomorrow's task: making Hamentaschen for our Tuesday night Young Adult Bible Study at church. We finished studying the book of Esther last week, and the curriculum provided this recipe. I've also got a few loaves of pumpkin apple bread to make for hostess gifts over the weekend. Yum!