Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Leftovers: Subverted Green Bean Casserole & Turkey Pan Pasta



Man, do I miss Thanksgiving. We ate a lot of Thanksgiving leftovers, and now I miss them too. Thankfully (ha!), my inter-holidays cooking endeavors have been even better since I inherited the rolling butcher block that my dad made. It's so beautiful and useful!


Subverted Green Bean Casserole

Everybody loves green bean casserole, right? It was the one thing I missed at Thanksgiving because this year, we did creamed spinach instead. So a couple of days after Thanksgiving when I'm walking through Target, I can't help but be drawn into the green bean casserole display right at the front in the bargain section. Fried onions, green beans and cream of mushroom soup all right next to each other for the taking and purchasing and eating.

Much to my dismay, when I got home and actually set out to make the easiest of holiday classics, I had been swindled! While I was seasoning, Nate was draining the cans of green beans. But one was practically empty!!


Well if Target wanted to play that way, then fine. We were ready to step it up and get creative. Instead of a second can of green beans, we used a can of Great Northern beans. Nate really wanted to spice it up and added a can of Rotel tomatoes and green chilis. Who says sacrilege isn't delicious?




Turkey Pan Pasta

When we brought home the turkey leftovers from Thanksgiving, we had segregated the meat. All of the white meat had been consumed, and we had a ziplock full of dark meat that needed to be eaten. I wanted some sort of chicken pot pie style dinner because it was cold as balls outside, so Nate and I created what we now dub Turkey Pan Pasta.

We used a box of Campbell's Supper Bakes of the Garlic Chicken with Pasta variety. I always keep a bag of frozen mixed vegetables in the freezer because I've loved mixed veggies since my elementary school lunchroom served them to me twice a week. I boiled some veggies while Nate picked through the turkey meat and pulled of the icky bits.

Ugh, he's SO CUTE.



Then we mixed it up and followed the directions on the box. These Supper Bakes come with "baking sauce" and crumb topping, so it makes a lovely little Minnesota hot dish when you're done.



Yum!
Now that all the turkey is gone, get ready for some serious Christmas cooking in the next post. Holiday cookies, anyone?

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