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We can hardly wait for leftovers to have these sandwiches, and they work equally well with Leftover Ham or Leftover Turkey.  There is something about broiling a sandwich like this that makes it feel more like a dinner and less like a snack.

 

Light Hot Browns with Turkey & Tomato

 

Hot Browns: This is a recipe I modified from Cooking Light years ago.  Serves 6, cost about $3.78

  • 6 slices bread
  • 12 ounces sliced ham or turkey, thinly sliced
  • Vegetable layer:  Use slices of tomato 1/4 inch thick, or cooked asparagus (this is a great place to use any leftover from, say, an Easter when you’ve served Asparagus or tomatoes off a crudite platter)
  • 12 slices bacon, cooked – you could omit this if you’re working with ham, but it’s wonderful with the turkey
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1 1/2 cup low-fat milk
  • 4 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated
  • 1 tablespoon Sherry
  • 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika

Make cheese sauce:  Melt butter, add flour, whisking and cook about one minute.  Slowly add milk and cook, stirring till thick, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in cheese, Sherry, salt and onion powder.

Assemble sandwiches:  Preheat broiler.  Arrange bread on large cookie sheet.  Top each with two ounces turkey or ham, two slices tomato or asparagus, a sprinkle of pepper, bacon, then Cheddar cheese sauce.  Sprinkle paprika over the top.

Broil till lightly browned and serve piping hot.  Serve with crunchy slaw or pickles.

Time & Money Saving Strategies:

For pricing, remember to use your coupon matching sites for your local stores. My favorite is Pocket Your Dollars in my area, but every store has a group of enthusiastic couponers who can point you to the best bargains. Don’t be discouraged if your prices are higher at first – just keep shopping the best sales and follow the strategies and you’ll get there! Check under Saving on Basic Ingredients for more detailed information and storage hints – use <control f> to search each page to bring you to the item you want to check out.

  • Bacon:  Often on sale.  It was $.48 cents a pound on sale last week with a coupon, so this recipe could have cost less.  It freezes well and takes up very little room in the freezer, so stock up at the best prices.  When I’m adding to recipes for everyday, I buy the least expensive I can find.  I paid $1.98 pound on sale.  Regular bacon has about 18 slices in a pound, so my total is 66 cents.  Here, I only used a partial slices as I need a little bacon for a quiche tomorrow; I just fried up the rest of the slices and crumbleds.  No one even noticed their bacon was a little short and I saved a few calories and a bit of cost.
  • Turkey:  These are one of my ‘go to’ dishes after having Turkey.  My buy price is 68 cents a pound, so I just make it easy and use that amount for my figuring.  I’m counting this meal at 52 cents.
  • Cheese:  I last bought for $1.75 for 8 ounces, so my cost today is $1.18.  Shop only the best sales you can find – supermarket cheese keeps forever.  Look for coupons and hang tags for the “near” deli cheeses – grab them whether they’re on sale or not and wait for the sale to come up in the next few weeks – often by the time the sale is on, there are no hang tags.  I really feel a better cheese allows you to use less, and tastes better.
  • Bread – bread freezes well is wrapped carefully and thawed overnight in the fridge, but only for short periods of time.  I really like to use the better breads – oatmeal, used here, is a compromise – my kids like it and its a bit better than store brand.  Plus the better breads often have great sales with coupons.  I used Brownberry on sale with a coupon – 75 cents.  Six slices come to 23 cents.
  • Milk:  On sale this week, a gallon is $2.50, a cup and a half about 12 cents.  When milk is inexpensive like this, I’ll pick up some at the beginning of the week, and then stop back at the store and buy more toward the end of the week for the next week’s supply.  I’ll also think about recipes that use more milk.  It generally keeps a good week unopened after the “sell by” day, several days opened if closed promptly and put back in the fridge after each use.
  • Butter:  I stock up at $1.99 a pound, and hope for better prices now and then.  Last bought at Easter – and I bought a lot – at $1.49 a pound.  One tablespoon is 5 cents.
  • Tomato:  I look for about $1.49 if I have to pick up off season, and generally buy the plum tomatoes.   I used two tomatoes, about 11 ounces, so the cost is $1.02
  • Other ingredients:  Negligible.

Nutrition:  (based on ham, tomato variation with the bacon – about 30 calories less if made with turkey.)

Per Serving: 431 Calories; 23g Fat (47.3% calories from fat); 25g Protein; 32g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 71mg Cholesterol; 1362mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 2 1/2 Lean Meat; 2 Vegetable; 1/2 Non-Fat Milk; 3 Fat.

Put Your Own spin on it:

No reason you can’t vary this in anyway to suit your own tastes!  Different meats, cheese, vegetables – it’s hard to go wrong.

My Payoff:

Hopefully I’ve gotten my kid to eat a tomato or some asparagus – but even better, I’ve completely transformed a leftover into something new, delicious and filling.

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