I love turkey pot pie. It's one of my favourite ways to enjoy Thanksgiving or Christmas leftovers. And you can certainly make a delicious one by making pastry from scratch, cooking a sauce, combining the ingredients and doing that whole thing. I usually do just that once I get to a point where the only leftovers I still have in the fridge are containers of roast turkey and all the other accoutrements are gone. But while I still have all the other good stuff, too? I cheat. [caption id="attachment_2782" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="This took precisely 2 minutes to put together"][/caption]

• chop leftover roast turkey and mix it with just enough leftover gravy to moisten it (I purposely make too much gravy, just so I can make this the next day)
• stir in frozen peas and finely chopped green onion (Want to add other veggies? Go for it!)
• scrape into a freezer- and oven-safe casserole dish(es), making sure the mixture doesn't come more than about halfway up the dish (I have 4-cup pyrex ones that come with plastic lids - so convenient for this type of thing)
• top with leftover mashed potatoes, spreading evenly and leaving a bit of headspace (Don't have leftover mashed potatoes? Use leftover stuffing!)
• sprinkle with a little grated old white Cheddar or whatever cheese you love
• cover and freeze for a rainy day

And that's it. So easy and talk about a nice surprise to find in the freezer one day, when you don't feel like cooking! When it's time to reheat, just thaw the casserole overnight in the fridge and reheat at 375 F (190 C) until hot throughout and the potatoes are starting to brown on top. It depends on the size of the container you use, but it usually takes anywhere from 40 minutes to 1-1/4 hours. The trick to making good use of your leftovers is planning for them ahead and dealing with them right away. Right after dinner, the last thing I want to do is cook, but since I have to pack everything away, anyway, I pick all the turkey off the carcass, make the pot pies -- they take 2 seconds, just do it -- and then I start a turkey stock in my slow-cooker, using the carcass. That way, I don't have to deal with a bunch of random leftovers that just sit there to get old in my fridge. Do you plan ahead for leftovers, or do you fly by the seat or your pants?