Thanksgiving leftovers: Cranberry sauce smoothie

by Sarah Steimer

Not only do you get to use leftovers for this smoothie - but it's also a healthy change of pace to the nonstop parade of stuffing, potatoes, turkey and so on.

• 1/4 cup cranberry sauce
• 1/2 cup yogurt – I used French vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 cup nonfat or low-fat milk
• 1/2 banana
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3 ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in a blender and serve. Makes two glasses.

In case you’re wondering, cranberries have lots of antioxidants and other phytonutrients that may help protect against heart disease, cancer and other diseases. They’re also known to help with urinary tract infections, gum disease and stomach ulcers. For more information, check out the Cranberry Institute’s website.

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Thanksgiving leftovers: Turkey and sweet potato pocket pies

by Caitlin Saniga

Part pot pie, part hot pastry pocket, this is the best way I've found to serve leftovers yet!

• 1 prepackaged refrigerated pie crust dough (or Sarah’s crust dough recipe)
• 1/2 cup mashed sweet potatoes
• 3/4 cup shredded turkey
• 2 tablespoons gravy
• 1/2 cup broccoli (or another green vegetable such as spinach, kale, green beans or asparagus)
• 1/2 cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Make as many substitutions as you want in this recipe. Use what you have! But make sure to include at least one moist ingredient (cranberry sauce, gravy, Italian dressing, etc.).

Preheat the oven to to 425 degrees.

Use a pizza cutter to slice the chilled, flattened dough into halves, and use the cutter to lightly score each half in half again.

Divide the sweet potatoes between each piece of dough, using a spoon to spread them  over half of the piece, avoiding about 3/4″ of dough around the edges and the scored line. Divide the turkey, gravy, broccoli, and cheese between the dough pieces, and lightly season each with salt and pepper.

Carefully lift the unused half of dough over the fillings, and use your fingers to press the edges of dough layers together. Reinforce this by pressing the prongs of a fork along the edges. Use the fork to poke holes in the top layer of dough.

Place the pocket pies on an baking sheet and bake 15-18 minutes, or until crust is golden-brown.

Serve hot.

Makes 2.

Other filling ideas:

• pumpkin pie filling with chocolate chips, pecans and toasted coconut flakes
• stuffing, turkey and gravy
• cranberry sauce with mandarin orange slices
• roasted potatoes with green beans and carrots

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