Thanksgiving Day is just a few weeks away! Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday when spent with family and friends gathered around the table to eat a bountiful meal and count your blessings. The last thing you want to happen during the holidays is to spoil it by getting sick. Of course, with all that food also comes lots of leftovers. Thanksgiving weekend is all about the leftovers! Following these tips from USDA can ensure your leftovers stay safe to eat.

Remember the “Two-Hour Rule”: Refrigerate perishable items within two hours of coming out of the oven or refrigerator. After two hours, perishable food enters the “danger zone” (between 40 and 140 degrees), where bacteria can multiply quickly and cause food to become unsafe. Perishable food should be discarded if left out for longer than two hours, so refrigerate or freeze items to prevent food waste.

Use shallow containers: After you breakdown your Thanksgiving meal into smaller portions, store leftover food in shallow containers in the refrigerator until the Monday after Thanksgiving, or in the freezer for later use.

Freeze or consume within four days: Use the Monday after Thanksgiving as a reminder that it is the last day you can safely eat leftovers. If you want to keep leftovers longer, freeze them within that four-day period. Frozen food stays safe indefinitely, though the quality may decrease over time (best quality if eaten within six months).

Reheat to 165 degrees: Make sure your reheated leftovers reach 165 degrees as measured with a food thermometer. Reheat sauces, soups, and gravies safely by bringing them to a rolling boil.

Microwave food safely: When reheating in the microwave, cover and rotate the food for even heating. Arrange food items evenly in a covered microwave safe glass or ceramic dish and add some liquid, if needed. Because microwaves have cold spots, check the internal temperature of the food in several places with a food thermometer after allowing a resting time.

If you have any questions about food safety, the USDA has a Meat and Poultry Hotline. Contact them via phone, email, or chat with all your food safety questions, at 888-MPHotline (888-674-6854)

A couple more helpful tips: Clean out your refrigerator the week before Thanksgiving to ensure plenty of space for your meal prep and leftovers. If visiting family and friends, hopefully they will offer to share their leftovers. Take reusable food containers and an ice chest/thermal bag with ice packs, to carry your leftovers home with you. Transporting and proper food storage is very important to prevent food safety issues, as well.

Of course, you’ll need some recipes to use up all those leftovers. Here is one to try — Mashed Potato Stuffing Bites are delicious!

The recipe will help use up leftover potatoes and stuffing, and get some veggies in your meal, too. Don’t have broccoli? Try spinach or steamed carrots. You could also throw in a bit of leftover turkey. Mashed Potato Soup will help you use up the heaping bowl of mashed potatoes, as well.

This recipe is full of flavor and only calls for a few ingredients.

Mashed Potato Stuffing Bites

Ingredients:

3 cups mashed potatoes

½ cup stuffing

6 eggs

1 cup shredded cheese

1 cup steamed broccoli

Salt and pepper to taste

Nonstick cooking spray

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, combine mashed potatoes, stuffing, eggs, and cheese. Gently stir in steamed broccoli. Season with salt and pepper. Divide mixture into muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes. Source: Adapted from createbetterhealth.org.

For more information on holiday food safety or healthy eating, contact your Garland County Extension Service office.

Crystal D. Rushing is a county Extension agent, Family and Consumer Sciences, SNAP Ed, with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service in Garland County. She can be reached by emailing [email protected].

4-H information

There are 4-H clubs for Garland County young people who are 5 to 19 years old. For more information on all the fun 4-H activities that are available, call Sara Jackson at 501-623-6841 or email her at [email protected].

Master Gardener information

Master Gardener meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month at the Elks Lodge. They’re open to the public and guests are welcome. For more information, call Arin Shaffer at 501-623-6841 or email him at [email protected].

EHC information

Are you interested in joining an existing Extension Homemakers Club? EHC is the largest volunteer organization in the state. For information on EHC, call Alison Crane, family and consumer sciences agent, at 501-623-6841 or email her at [email protected].