Food storage Q&A: storing leftover turkey

Audrey asks, "I have SO MUCH extra turkey. Any way I can store it? Thanks!"

You can either freeze or can leftover meat. To freeze leftover meat, I separate the meat into meal-sized portions. I wrap it with two layers of plastic wrap, and then label the package with the contents and the date. I store packages of the same type in the same part of the freezer, so I can find it when I need it.

If I want to freeze in portions smaller than a meal, I will "flash freeze" it. That means I will place the food individually on a jelly roll pan, and place that pan in the freezer. After the food is frozen, I place the individual frozen pieces into a zipper-lock freezer bag. I do this with chicken breasts, homemade chicken nuggets, grated cheese, fruit, and occasionally cooked hamburger or sliced turkey. This way you can open the bag and take out a couple of pieces of meat for a sandwich, without defrosting the whole bag.

Or, you can can it. Wendi, our new blogger, wrote up a detailed description of how to can chicken breasts on her blog (scroll down to November 9). She took photos of every step of the way, so it's easy to follow. She canned raw chicken breasts, but you can replace that with cooked turkey without any major changes.

Enjoy your leftover turkey!