(10 seconds each to read and are almost that quick to prepare)

By Lisa Messinger
Food and Cooking at Creators Syndicate

Hope you and your loved ones had a Happy Thanksgiving! When it came to stuffing, did you get stuffed or just pleasantly satisfied? If you're luxuriating in leftover stuffing, you are one lucky diner. Just a reheat to an internal temperature of 165 F does the trick. However, stuffing is also one versatile delight. Try a few of the following quick suggestions.

Fun fare like this also proves food preparation can be easy, nutritious, inexpensive, fun - and fast. They take just 10 seconds each to read and are almost that quick to prepare. The creative combinations are delicious proof that everyone has time for creating homemade specialties - or making the most of holiday leftovers - and, more importantly, the healthy family togetherness that goes along with it!

Another benefit: You effortlessly become a better cook, since there are no right or wrong amounts. These are virtually-can't-go-wrong combinations, so whatever you - or your kidlet helpers - choose to use can't help but draw "wows" from family members and guests.

Stuffing Sandwiches: Even though holiday decadence may continue, if you go this carb plus carb route, it's a nice treat. Plenty of upscale restaurants are now regularly serving hot sandwiches that include bread, meat, like turkey, stuffing and condiments, like cranberry sauce.

Stuffing "Cookies": Sprinkle a bit of ground cinnamon, grated nutmeg and stevia, or another natural no-calorie sweetener, into leftover stuffing and pat into cookie shapes on a nonstick cookie sheet. Bake at a preheated 425 F, checking every 5 minutes for desired crispiness for these slightly sweet-somewhat savory crisp "cookies."

Stuffing Oatmeal: Stir a few tablespoons of leftover stuffing and an optional few teaspoons of leftover pumpkin pie filling or cooked pumpkin puree into cooked oatmeal and then reheat until desired temperature. 

Stuffing Meatloaf: However much breadcrumbs your favorite meatloaf recipe might call for, use instead one half that amount of leftover stuffing for an extra flavor and moisture boost to whatever else is featured in the recipe.

Stuffing Dessert Topping: Sprinkle a few small mounds of leftover stuffing on a nonstick baking sheet and bake at a preheated 425 F to dry it out and make it crunchy. Sprinkle atop leftover pumpkin or apple pie, or over vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt.


QUICK TIP OF THE WEEK:  Even if you don't make homemade pizza, consider adding your own gourmet toppings to plain cheese store-bought or delivered ones. Some fun choices: caramelized onions, sun-dried tomatoes soaked in vinaigrette or mushrooms sauteed in a heart-healthy spread and alongside fresh garlic and mixed with chopped fresh herbs.

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food and nutrition writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the National Council Against Health Fraud and author of seven food books, including the best-selling The Tofu Book: The New American Cuisine with 150 Recipes (Avery/Penguin Putnam) and Turn Your Supermarket into a Health Food Store: The Brand-Name Guide to Shopping for a Better Diet(Pharos/Scripps Howard). She writes two nationally syndicated food and nutrition columns for Creators Syndicate and had been a longtime newspaper food and health section managing editor, as well as managing editor of Gayot/Gault Millau dining review company. Lisa traveled the globe writing about top chefs for Pulitzer Prize-winning Copley News Service and has written about health and nutrition for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, Reader's Digest, Woman's World and Prevention Magazine Health Books. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com.