TURKEY

When in doubt, make a curry. When slightly more prepared and if ya wanna mix it up a little, make a Birria Taco. They are delicious and a bit of a change if you’ve overdone the Indian takeaways recently.

To do this, you’ll need to make a Birria sauce which you can make up at home by using different chili pastes and ancho chilies. Then you simply add in a little tomato puree, some stock and get it all mixed up and heated. Lovely! Next, throw in your leftover turkey meat and leave on a very low heat until the turkey absorbs the moisture and gets all juicy and tender again.

Once ready, drop into your tacos and top with chopped onions and coriander. Enjoy!

VEGGIES

You’ve made your bubble and squeak but you’ve STILL got veggies left, so what do you do? Make Japanese pancakes, also known as Okonomiyaki. This is a great recipe to use up parsnips, carrots, sprouts or whatever veg you’ve got going spare.

Simply finely chop your veggies and mix them into a typical pancake batter using egg, flour, baking powder and seasoning. Fry on either side for 1-2 minutes so they’ve beautifully crispy and you’ve got your pancake!

Serve up with an Okonomiyaki sauce. You can either buy this or make at home by combining ketchup, soy sauce, honey, and sesame oil. What you end up with is a sweet and salty tasting sauce that compliments the veggie pancake beautifully. Adding a poached egg on top of it would also be great. Or even some crispy onions for additional texture.

SPUDS

I always always always made double the amount of roasties I think I’ll need because they are the star of the show in the O’Toole household and we just can’t risk running out. It would legit ruin Christmas and there would be tears all round.

If I’m lucky enough to be left with any remaining spuds, my go-to leftover dish is the iconic Cornish pasty. It’s also so simple to make! All you need is shop bought shortcrust or puff pastry (let’s be honest, who can be bothered to make puff pastry?!) and then you can fill with your roasties, any leftover meat, chopped and fried onion and a bit of gravy if you’ve got any. Then, seal the pastry into half moon shapes and bake according to the specific packet instructions.

Lovely little snacks to eat on your boxing day walk!

CHOCCIES

Every family seems to have one chocolate from the selection tub that no one likes. For my partner, his family always left the orange cremes or Snickers bars, but in my house, it was the neglected Bounty. An absolute travesty because coconut choccy is top tier and whenever I visited, I ensured that box was left empty.

So what do I do with the sad, lonely chocciess that I rescued? I infuse them into vodka (not the good stuff though people, let’s stick to the cheap bottles thank you), then add to my favourite kind of cocktails. I basically love any cocktail that’s overly sweet so this is a winning combo for me. I’m as basic as they come huns x

MINCE PIES

Time for a dessert and it’s gotta be the classic and household favourite…the iconic cheesecake. To make this a bit more festive, simply use the mince pie pastry as the cake base and then mix the scooped out minced meat to flavour a mascarpone and cream cheese mix. It’s honestly so easy and is a real crowd pleaser. Also ideal for anyone who loves a mince pie but is not a Christmas cake kinda person.

If you’re feeling a lil boozy, throw in a a little Brandy or Sherry as let’s face it, there’s always some leftover alcohol that needs utilising. Once assembled, place in the fridge to set for a few hours and you’re good to go! This is one of my partners favourite recipes so gets made every year without fail.