The holiday season means lots of gatherings with family and friends. Whether you are preparing a meal, appetizers, or dessert it’s important to keep a few food safety tips in mind.

Keep your family safe and healthy during the holiday season by following these food safety tips.

• Wash your hands frequently.
  • Before: preparing food, packaging food, beginning a new task, or putting on disposable gloves.
  • After: using the bathroom, handling raw meat, touching pets, eating or drinking, smoking, touching your face/hair, handling trash, using your phone, handling money, or anytime you leave the food production space
• Always prepare food in a clean, and sanitized kitchen.
• Ask guest about any food allergies before planning a meal.
• Always thaw frozen food in a refrigerator and never on the counter at room temperature.
• Separate raw meat from ready-to-eat foods during storage and preparation. Always clean cutting boards and knives in between each use.
• Prepare foods to the proper cooking temperature. For more information about safe minimum cooking temperatures visit foodsafety.gov
• Cool leftovers within 2 hours

After preparing your holiday meal you might end up with leftovers. Use up leftovers within four days or freeze for later. When planning to reheat your leftovers be sure to reheat to 165° F.  

Leftovers can also be turned into an entirely new meal. Take leftover meat, vegetables, and rice and turn it into a soup or try layer leftovers and create a sandwich or even make a casserole.

Try out this Thanksgiving Leftover Casserole by The Pioneer Woman.

Ingredients

Salted butter, for the baking dish

4 cups leftover stuffing

4 cups chopped skinless leftover turkey (or use rotisserie chicken)

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped leftover green beans

1 1/2 cups leftover gravy

3 cups leftover mashed potatoes

1 large egg yolk

1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese (about 2 oz.)

Cranberry sauce, for serving

Directions

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 425ºF. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Crumble the stuffing into the baking dish and pat to make an even crust on the bottom.
2. Scatter the turkey and green beans over the stuffing layer. Pour the gravy over.
3. Combine the mashed potatoes and egg yolk in a medium bowl and mix until smooth.
4. Spread the mashed potato mixture over the turkey layer. Sprinkle with the grated cheese.
5. Cover with foil and bake until heated through, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the top is golden brown and crusty, 20 to 25 more minutes. Remove to a rack and let cool about 10 minutes before serving. Serve with a dollop of cranberry sauce on the side.

Kaitlynn Tonn is an OSU Extension Family & Consumer Sciences Educator and may be reached at 330-264-8722 or tonn.13@osu.edu
CFAES provides research and related educational programs to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis. For more information, visit cfaesdiversity.osu.edu
This article was previously published in The Daily Record.