By: Dallin Rahlf 

You’ve done it again. Another Thanksgiving, come and gone. The kids probably got a little wild, some in laws maybe ruffled your feathers when commenting about why they don’t have more grandchildren coming their way, and you might not have taken that fat nap you were hoping to. If Thanksgiving didn’t go they way you have planned, take back control in your life by enjoying those sweet leftovers for the next five days. You’ve earned it. 

You need some tips on making these leftovers even better? We’ve got you covered with two major game changers. 

Turkey Options

I love turkey, and I’ll be the first to admit that throwing a slice of turkey in the microwave is an unexciting way to enjoy leftovers. Use your over abundance of turkey and put they in some exciting dishes to get some more variety.

• Turkey chili is fast, easy, and an awesome way to keep the seasonal vibes going. A crockpot is your best friend when it comes to making soups, but if you lack one (a very good Christmas ask, btw), an oven works great either way. 
• Turkey melts are insane. If you’ve got a broiler or air fryer, you’ll want to slice up some bread (sourdough, English muffins, or ciabatta are excellent options for this), throw your turkey, toppings, and some cheese down, and let that bad boy sit in the oven for a couple minutes. Boom. Even your picky kids will go to town on this. 
• If you need some breakfast options, look no further than some turkey and gravy over biscuits. That’s… well that’s basically it. Prepare some biscuits. Get your turkey. Add some white gravy. All done! Nothing too crazy about this, but it’s wonderful for an easy breakfast while all the kids are still running all over your house and drawing on your walls. It will distract them for like, 8 minutes. 

Sandwich Rolls 

This is easily one of my personal favorite things to do. I learned it from my older brother who has always had a knack for creativity. You take one of your hundreds of rolls, throw in some turkey, and boom, incredible sandwich, But… is there a way to make this already delicious slider even better?? Yes, yes there is. 

• Spruce them up with extra toppings. Have you some caramelized onions or sweet mustard? Now is the time to get a tad creative by decorating your sandwich with some mint toppings. And I mean mint as the way kids said it back in the 80’s. However, I’m sure there’s some mint variations that could do well here. 
• If you are more of a ham person, my wife’s grandma introduced us to a sweet honey mustard that perfectly compliments any ham. Here is the link in case you want to try it https://www.amazon.com/Honey-Baked-Ham-Hickory-Mustard/dp/B0778LTV68
• Try pan frying your rolls in some butter for a delicious, crispy, hot bread that will instantly improve any sandwich. Put some butter in the pan, cut the roll in half, then place face down in that hot butter. After that, add in some meats to pan to heat them up, then combine and enjoy. Mmmm. Delicious. 
• Add some lettuce and tomato, if that’s your thing, and you have a somewhat healthy, perfectly delicious, minimum effort sandwich to pack in your lunch if you have to go back to work sooner than you’d like. 

This will make your leftovers last longer and have some more pizzaz than simply throwing everything into the microwave. They’ll only take a couple extra minutes and you’ll be glad you did it!