I had lots of lovely entries to December's No Waste Food Challenge which focussed on using up Christmas and Festive leftovers. I will promote this heavily next year at Christmas so we have a ready made set of ideas for using leftovers. In the meantime please have a look at all the ideas as most of them can be used throughout the year or to finish of any last festive scraps you still have in the house!
First up we have this seasonal, hearty leftover winter vegetable soup using leftover gammon stock, sprouts and other winter veggies from Camilla at Fab Food 4 All.
Helen from Fuss Free Flavours joined in whole heartedly this month and produced some fantastic recipes. These Turkey, Cranberry and Stilton Brunch Muffins are perfect for using up several festive ingredients. They are also egg free.
Fiona from London Unattached has been following the 5:2 diet and has made this turkey meatball in simply spicy tomato sauce recipe, so if you are following the diet or just fancy a lighter meal then this is the one for you. Lovely photograph as well Fiona!
Karen from Lavender and Lovage made this colourful and scrumptious looking Ham and Bubble Squeak. I actually want to go out and buy extra sprouts whilst they are still in season and make this up in big batches.
Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen came up with this Christmas Dinner Leftover Wrap which would work well for any dinner leftovers and a perfect packed lunch.
Helen's next recipe is for this lovely Last of the Leftover Turkey Pie with Stuffing Cobblers. This uses up pretty much every leftover involved in a turkey roast. Genius!
Jen from Blue Kitchen Bakes was extra inventive and made this lovely chicken, ham and pecan crumble she had lots of leftovers but wanted to make something different from a pie and have an excuse to use her lovely Le Creuset star shaped dish.
Jane from Onions and Paper posted this recipe for A Savoury Jelly which uses the meat from a leftover ham. This looks like a really good way of adding flavour the the meat and making it more interesting to take to work in packed lunches.
Janice from Farmersgirl Kitchen made this yummy looking Coronation Turkey. After a big turkey roast I love a change in flavours, which this recipe delivers, and Janice has altered the recipe so it uses lighter ingredients. Perfect for a healthy start to the year.
Elizabeth also came up with a way to use up gingerbread crumbs essential if you joined in the Seasonal Gingerbread House Challenge this Christmas. She suggested you break up any leftover gingerbread and keep any crumbs to use in a cheesecake base.
Utterly Scrummy made this very tasty looking Christmas Mincemeat Bakewell Style Tart. I'm looking forward to trying this with my leftover mincemeat.
Here is another of Helen from Fuss Free Flavours recipes and this one is a beautiful Christmas pudding and spiced orange pavlova A really creative way to use up leftovers and such a fantastic photo and it makes me want to grab a spoon straight away!
Lauren from A Baked Thesis used some leftover mince pie pastry to whip up this Strawberry Tart for her visiting friends. It looks utterly delicious and has just reminded me to go do something useful with the little bit of leftover mince pie pastry languishing in my fridge!
Lastly we have my suggestion for using up any bashed, broken or leftover candy canes by turning them into these peppermint hot chocolate spoons.
A big thank you to everyone who joined in. We have ended up with some really varied and creative ideas and I'm looking forward to trying some of them out. Elizabeth is hosting January's challenge on using up leftover mashed potato.
