The holidays are about food and family. Indulge in both; it’s for your own good.
Optimum wellness means making smart choices about how you eat, think and move. If you’ve stayed the course all year, eating a big holiday meal—and several days of leftovers—can feel like a shameful transgression. But denying yourself the joy of food and family, altering grandma’s classic stuffing recipe to save a few calories or throwing away perfectly good food misses the point of the holiday. Observing traditions and giving thanks are important pieces of a healthy lifestyle. So go ahead, enjoy the day—and the day after—with these creative leftover makeover ideas. Waste not, want not.
MEAT, VEGGIES & POTATOES
Combine leftover meat and veggies into homemade potpies. Mashed white or sweet potatoes, stuffing or puréed cauliflower make a healthy and labor-light alternative to the typical bready pie crust.
DINNER ROLLS & GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE
Grill panini sliders—leftover dinner rolls stuffed with green beans and slices of low-fat cheese—in your sandwich press or toaster oven for a day-after lunch.
PUMPKIN PIE
Transfer the pumpkin filling (pitch the crust; it gets soggy after a few hours) to an airtight container and put it in the fridge or freezer. The next time you need a quick and easy dessert, defrost and scoop the pie filling into puff pastries or phyllo cups. Bake according to package instructions. You can also use the pie filling to make sweet pumpkin ravioli or add it to whole-wheat pancake batter for a special-occassion breakfast.