For many, the Thanksgiving leftovers are the best part of the Thanksgiving meal. After your first Thanksgiving dinner, you may feel a little overwhelmed with the amount of leftovers. However, as long as you take care of them properly right after dinner, you can use the leftovers almost immediately or down the road.
Make sure that all leftovers from the Thanksgiving meal are packaged and stored in the refrigerator within two hours of being served. After two hours, illness-causing bacteria can take hold and ruin the food. From turkey to potatoes to pie, Thanksgiving leftovers make cooking easy for the next few days. If you have guests clamoring for some Thanksgiving leftovers to take home, let them know that unless they live close by, the leftovers are not safe to be a part of long-distance Thanksgiving travel.
The best ways to store leftovers is in smaller shallow containers. This allows the food to cool down faster and get below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature that kills bacteria. Since the danger zone is between 40 degrees F and 140 degrees F, it's important that food not be loft for longer than an hour or so at this temperature. As long as you have plenty of airtight storage containers, you can refrigerate or even freeze leftovers to use in later meals. Refrigerated leftovers will stay good in the refrigerator for three to five days, while items in the freezer will stay safe for up to six months.
To reheat leftovers from a Thanksgiving meal, make sure you are following proper health safety procedures. Turkey should be reheated to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, while sauces and soups should be boiled for a minute. When you microwave the leftovers, turn the food occasionally to ensure that everything is being properly reheated.
Some of the more popular Thanksgiving meal leftovers are turkey soup, turkey sandwiches, turkey enchiladas, shepherd's pie, turkey goulash and more. There are countless recipes, both traditional and trendy, that incorporate many of the foods served at a Thanksgiving meal. You can choose to reheat the leftovers or combine them with new ingredients to make something completely different. If you have plenty left over from your first Thanksgiving dinner, look online for ways to serve up new and exciting dishes using what you safely stored.
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