Weekly Spotlight: Repurposing Your Thanksgiving Leftovers and Post-Holiday Whole Food Meals!

Thanksgiving and the holiday season are both cook- and eating-heavy, and you might end up with leftovers. This includes entrees and sides, but also leftover ingredients from cooking. This guide offers creative recipes to repurpose your leftovers, both the ingredients and the food. This way you’re avoiding food waste, and getting to create more delicious meals. There’s also a section on whole food snacks, in case you need a lighter meal that comes together quickly.

If you’re looking for even more inspiration for your Thanksgiving leftovers, this weekly spotlight is perfect to read next!

We also highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App  — with over 20,000 delicious recipes, it is the largest meatless, vegan, plant-based, and allergy-friendly recipe resource to help you get healthy! And don’t forget to check out our Weekly Meal Plan Archives!  

This week, we’re bringing delicious, fully vegan, and plant-based ways to use up your Thanksgiving leftovers and quick whole-food meals!

Repurposing Leftovers

Source: Thanksgiving Leftovers Tacos With Cranberry Salsa

It can be daunting to have extra leftovers from Thanksgiving, but there are so many fun ways to repurpose your leftovers. Plus, getting creative with your leftovers is a great way to inspire new recipes and flavor combinations, and reduce food waste. These recipes work well to inspire you in the kitchen but also enjoy Thanksgiving food again without it feeling monotonous.

• Cranberry Cheese Tarts by Maria Koutsogiannis
• Holiday Leftover Tart by Shea Cope
• Thanksgiving Leftovers Tacos With Cranberry Salsa by Annessia Maillet & Beth DeCarlo
• Leftover Rice Bread by Namita Tiwari
• Cranberry Almond Popcorn Bars by Azucena Noriega
• Thanksgiving Inspired Rice by Back to the Cutting Board by Christina Pirello

Creating Recipes from Thanksgiving Ingredients

Source: Mulled Rose Cranberry Pear Cider

Leftovers don’t just include the leftover entrees and sides, but also the ingredients from making specific recipes. Maybe you made a roast and have extra lentils and nutritional yeast around. Maybe you bought one too many sweet potatoes for your recipe and you have one leftover.  These are wonderful recipes to try if you’ve got random Thanksgiving ingredients lying around.

• Pumpkin Oatmeal Lentil Cups by Larice Feuerstein
• Healthy Chocolate Orange Sweet Potato Fudge Cake by Caroline Doucet
• Sweet Potato Salsa Salad by Henry Firth and Ian Theasby
• Sweet Potato Pancakes by Mitch and Justine Chapman
• Coconut Cream and Raspberry Tart by Adam Merrin and Ryan Alvarez
• Mulled Rose Cranberry Pear Cider by Claire Ragozzino
• Cranberry Apple Crisp by Carly Paige
• Baked & Crispy Sweet Potato Chips by Desiree Rodriguez

Easy Whole Food Meals and Snacks

Source: Hearty Roasted Vegetable Rice Salad

Sometimes after an eating-heavy holiday, food might feel overwhelming or you might take time to adjust back to your usual eating routine. This is a great time of year to listen to your body and its needs. These recipes are all whole food recipes that are lighter and easy to toss together. Since the holidays can also be cooking-heavy, the kitchen can become the last place you want to be. These meals don’t take long and will leave you feeling full and focused!

• Healthy Citrus Pear Ginger Tea by Shanika Graham-White
• Immune Boosting Lemon and Greens Juice by Zuzana Fajkusova and Nikki Lefler
• Raspberry Overnight Oats  by Robin Browne
• Hearty Roasted Vegetable Rice Salad by Patrica Granek
• Health Promoting Smoothie by Julie Zimmer
• Crunchy Broccoli Salad with Roasted Sriracha Chickpeas by Annabelle Randles
• Magical Celery Juice For Beginners by Zuzana Fajkusova and Nikki Lefler

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