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Tag: Thanksgiving

By Nicolle Walker

Thanksgiving is a time to slow down, reconnect with family and friends, and savor dishes that many of us don’t make the rest of the year.

The feelings of nostalgia surrounding this time of year can lead to overindulgence, but that doesn’t mean you need to eat that same plate of turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce over and over.

If you are looking for new ways to enjoy your leftovers, look no further:

Stuffing Waffles

  • Spray your waffle maker well and place 1 cup of room-temperature stuffing in each section, close, and cook until crispy and browned
  • Top with leftover cranberry sauce or gravy and enjoy

Breakfast Burritos

  • Wrap turkey, stuffing, a couple scrambled eggs and a splash of gravy in a flour tortilla
  • Heat a pan over medium high heat and spray with a touch of oil
  • Lay burritos seam side down and let cook for 4-5 minutes or until golden, flip carefully and brown the top side
  • Enjoy dipped in extra cranberry sauce

Stuffing Strata

Stuffing Strata is the perfect morning after breakfast.

  • Before heading off to bed combine leftover stuffing with shredded turkey or ham any roasted veggies, eggs, & cream, and a healthy sprinkle of cheese.
  • Cover and let sit in the fridge overnight, then bake covered at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes for a hearty breakfast that everyone will love. 

Potato Soup

Mashed potatoes almost never last in my house, but if you find yourself with extras, try making a pot of potato soup!

  • Bring your mashed potatoes to room temperature, then combine them in a pot with your choice of chicken or vegetable broth and whisk. Start with equal amounts of potatoes and broth, then thin until you find your desired consistency.
  • Serve with shredded cheddar, sliced scallions, maybe some crumbled bacon, and of course a turkey sandwich! 

These are just a few ideas about transforming Thanksgiving leftovers into delicious meals! Have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

Editor’s note: Nicolle Walker is a volunteer with Table to Table and a member of our Emerging Leaders Council. She is the executive chef and owner of Love & Plates in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Related:

Table to Table helped transport thousands of Thanksgiving turkeys, chickens, and meal kits from HelloFresh, a longtime food donor partner, to Newark residents in partnership with the City of Newark this week, continuing a tradition that began during the COVID-19 pandemic.

HelloFresh donated 2,000 turkeys and 6,000 boxes of fresh food, including potatoes, cranberries, apples, and carrots, along with step-by-step instructions so residents could prepare the complete Thanksgiving dinner.

“As New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, we are honored to be part of this effort to ensure that even more of our neighbors have fresh, nourishing, delicious food for the holidays this year,” said Table to Table Executive Director Heather Thompson. “Everyone deserves a good meal and when we work together, we can ensure that our neighbors have enough all year around.”

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said he was “grateful” for HelloFresh’s continued commitment to the greater Newark community.

The event marked a milestone for HelloFresh’s Meals With Meaning program, which has distributed 3 million fresh meals to Newark families since its launch in 2020 during the COVID-19 shutdown.

Related: Newark Celebrates 2 Millionth Meal Distribution Milestone With HelloFresh

“Thanksgiving is especially meaningful in Newark because we are a city that comes together to give,” Baraka said. “I wish everyone in Newark a happy Thanksgiving.”

Table to Table has long partnered with HelloFresh to distribute fresh meal kits containing vegetables, fruits, and other healthy selections in the Ironbound section of Newark and other locations.

Table to Table is New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue nonprofit, bridging the gap between food being wasted and people facing food insecurity. We bring rescued fresh, nutritious food to 303 community partners, including social service organizations, pantries, shelters, fresh produce markets and centralized distribution hubs. Food is provided free of charge. Through this, Table to Table touches a diversity of those in need, including families, children, veterans, and older adults, making good nutrition accessible while serving as a stimulus for other longer-term benefits. Since 1999 we have rescued more than 120,700 tons of nutritious food—enough for 241,400,846 million meals—and delivered it to our neighbors in need, saving over 544 metric tons of methane saved.

Related:

The amount of discarded food equals 267 million meals: ReFED

A new analysis estimates that 320 million pounds of food worth $550 million will be thrown away on Thanksgiving. That discarded food equals 267 million meals that could have gone to help feed our hungry neighbors. This is about the same amount of food ReFED estimated was wasted last Thanksgiving.

ReFED, a national nonprofit dedicated to ending loss and waste across the food ecosystem, and NielsenIQ, published their findings of a survey conducted in October.

A major reason for the waste is that more than 90 percent of Thanksgiving hosts intentionally prepare more food that is needed for their Thanksgiving gathering, according to ReFED. What is troubling is that nearly half of all hosts surveyed said they are not concerned about food waste around the holidays. Additionally, 12% of hosts, who feed 36 million people, according to the survey, do not plan to manage their leftovers in any specific way.

The breakdown of what is done with those leftovers covers a wide variety of options:

  • 45% send guests home with food
  • 46% make sandwiches or wraps
  • 32% eat it for breakfast or brunch
  • 31% make new meals like casseroles or soups

In New Jersey, officials estimate that 1.1 million residents are food insecure.

As New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue, Table to Table’s mission is to reduce food waste by rescuing nutritious food and deliver it to our food-insecure neighbors throughout northern New Jersey. We rescue millions of pounds of fresh food annually that would otherwise be wasted and end up in landfills. This contributes to climate change. We deliver it to partner organizations who support the nearly 1 million people in our area who need it most.

Together, we can reduce food waste in our home and make a positive impact on the planet. Every little bit of effort—no matter how small—leads to change. Join us. Become a food rescue hero by downloading the Table to Table I-Rescue app. Claim a rescue, pick the food up, and deliver it to a local nonprofit. Most rescues take less than 1 hour.

By Nicolle Walker

As a personal chef, I am always thinking about the next meal that I am making. And as a food access advocate and Table to Table volunteer/emerging leader, I am always thinking about how to make sure that food waste becomes a thing of the past. 

Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that begs for excess. The “once-a-year” meal promises leftovers galore, but how many days in a row can we really eat “gobbler” sandwiches? I have some new ideas to transform that turkey and sides into new meals that you will want to savor, maybe even more than the traditional ones! 

Stuffing Strata

Stuffing Strata is the perfect morning after breakfast.

Before heading off to bed combine leftover stuffing with shredded turkey (or ham), any roasted veggies, eggs and cream, and a healthy sprinkle of cheese.

Cover and let sit in the fridge overnight, then bake covered at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes for a hearty breakfast that everyone will love. 

Potato Soup

Mashed potatoes almost never last in my house, but if you find yourself with extras, try making a pot of potato soup!

Bring your mashed potatoes to room temperature, then combine them in a pot with your choice of chicken or vegetable broth and whisk. Start with equal amounts of potatoes and broth, then thin until you find your desired consistency.

Serve with shredded cheddar, sliced scallions, maybe some crumbled bacon, and of course a turkey sandwich! 

These are just a few ideas about transforming Thanksgiving leftovers into delicious meals! Have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

Editor’s note: Nicolle Walker is a volunteer with Table to Table and a member of our Emerging Leaders Council. She is the executive chef and owner of Love & Plates.

About 316 million pounds of food will be wasted this Thanksgiving, according to ReFED, a national nonprofit dedicated to ending loss and waste across the food system.

The 316 million pounds of food represents more than $556 million worth of groceries wasted in a single day. This discarded food could provide several meals each to the more than 48 million individuals experiencing food insecurity in the United States. In New Jersey, officials estimate that 1.1 million residents are food insecure and that 3 billion pounds of food are wasted annually.

ReFED reports that nearly two-thirds, 58 percent, of the food wasted on Thanksgiving will come from just two sources: turkey and milk. The amount of wasted turkey alone is about 8.2 million whole turkeys, about 4 percent of all the turkeys the United States produces each year.

This wasted food will release nearly 5,000 metric tons of methane, or enough electricity to power 26,000 homes a year.

As New Jersey’s first and largest food rescue, Table to Table’s mission is to reduce food waste by rescuing nutritious food and deliver it to our food-insecure neighbors throughout northern New Jersey. We rescue millions of pounds of fresh food annually that would otherwise be wasted and end up in landfills. This contributes to climate change. We deliver it to partner organizations who support the nearly 1 million people in our area who need it most.

Together, we can reduce food waste in our home and make a positive impact on the planet. Every little bit of effort—no matter how small—leads to change. Join us. Become a food rescue hero by downloading the Table to Table I-Rescue app. Claim a rescue, pick the food up, and deliver it to a local nonprofit. Most rescues take less than 1 hour.

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