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So after living in an apartment for nearly six years, I recently moved into a house and had a house warming party, an opportunity for my friends to check out the new digs (I'll use any excuse for a party!).

FoodSafety.gov suggest to eat or freeze leftovers 3-4 days. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. If you’re like me, after dinner — you have a fridge full of leftovers and your weekend was a Turkey Day food fest: Friday — you started with a Thanksgiving inspired breakfast, brunch or lunch and then, snacked and grazed until Thanksgiving dinner Part 2.

Turkey dinnerPhoto byClaudio Schwarz/UnsplashonUnsplash. When it comes to Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, many of us have memories of holidays with a large amount of leftover turkey - and side dishes. In our home, we are typically tired of reheating a plate of Thanksgiving dinner by Friday evening. When I had my own family, my culinary creativity led me to a few trends to handle the leftovers.

** This article is a work of nonfiction based on actual events as told to me by my husband, who experienced them firsthand; used with permission. Hospital employees have many rules to follow to ensure their health and safety. One particular woman often ignored the rules, including the rule that hospital employees never eat anything while in a patient's room or off of the patient's plates.

The holidays are upon us and I know you are thinking about what size turkey to buy! In the midst of the pandemic, we purchased a 21-pound turkey for two because we love turkey leftovers! Now don't get me wrong, we can only eat Thanksgiving (or Christmas) dinner with all of the trimmings twice at most. However, if you take that holiday turkey and divide it into dinner-sized portions and freeze it for later and you've got easy meal prep for multiple meals. Check out this video for recipes and there are some bonus recipes that didn't make the video in the blog post! Check it out here: <a href="https://www.cruisinwiththecolemans.com/the-21-pound-turkey-how-to-handle-dreaded-holiday-leftovers">https://www.cruisinwiththecolemans.com/the-21-pound-turkey-how-to-handle-dreaded-holiday-leftovers</a>/

What do you do with leftover ham from Easter if you're sick of now by now? That was my dilemma the other day. I solved that dilemma by figuring on making a ham salad. Although I wanted to make the ham salad without mayo or cream cheese like all the recipes online showed. I looked online for a recipe for Italian ham salad but couldn't find one that stood out. Actually, I didn't find any, so I thought about the recipe I use for Italian tuna or chicken salad. Maybe that would work? That's what today's video is all about. So tune in and watch the show. Here is a list of ingredients (It's totally up to you what you end up using. This is my recipe): celery, peppers, carrots, cucumber, lemon pepper, yellow and Gulden's mustard, basil, Italian herbs, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and onion powder (you could use fresh), honey. I hope you give this versatile recipe a try. It's great for sandwiches or on top of salads. Buon Appetito!

Leftovers! Are they the scourge of your holiday meals? We usually have an abundance of leftovers since I cook for anywhere for 10 to 20 people, and as always, we overestimate who's going to show. Of course, that leaves us with meals for a couple of days, and once we're tired of them, it's freezer time. Once in the freezer, I have time to consider what to make with all that's left. In this case, the ham will be used for ham salad, video coming this week, and lentil or pea soup. The ham bone is already in the freezer, waiting for its day in the soup of choice. The beef from the beef ribs will be used for a weeknight meal next week. I haven't decided on that recipe yet, but I'll keep you updated. As for the beef bones, they're going into a pot of boiling water to clear them of the spices we marinated them with so the dogs can enjoy some delicious bones as an Easter treat. What do you do with your leftovers? Buon Appetito!!!

I love leftover meatloaf. It doesn't matter if it's cold or warmed up a little; it's all good. Here's a list of the meatloaf ingredients and what I used for the sauce for last night's meatloaf. For the meatloaf: 2 1/2 pounds of ground beef, 1 pound Italian mild sausage. A good squeeze of roasted garlic and Italian herbs from a tube bought at the local grocery store. A Generous squeezing of the following/based on taste. Ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Teriyaki sauce, Gulden's mustard, Dried Italian herbs, bread crumbs, broken up bread, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. For the sauce: Ketchup, Honey, Teriyaki, Gulden’s mustard, a splash of Balsamic vinegar (I forgot to mention that in the video) Buon Appetito

I bought this sandwich the other evening at the local Vons. It's called The Trio with ham, roast beef, and turkey breast. I added an oil and vinegar topping that had basil, oregano, salt, and pepper mixed in. Today I decided that the lettuce was old, It's been in the fridge since yesterday) so it needed a revamp. I mixed up some sweet relish ( I didn't have a sweet pickle in the house), some avocado oil, balsamic vinegar, crushed red pepper for some zing, and six slices of cucumber for that crunch I lost with removing the lettuce. I hope you enjoy the food! Buon Appetito! P.S. I also addressed some comments of late, especially a personal one that affected my family. Please understand and if you want to comment personally you can do that by emailing me at markjojhn1@mac.com. Have a great Monday!