As anyone who has been reading my articles for a while knows, I am a big fan of leftovers. Well, Thanksgiving offers one of the best opportunities of the whole year to take advantage of all your efforts you have put into this annual feast by enjoying it several times again after that big food day without doing much more work. Savvy homemakers take advantage of this lasting bounty by planning ahead of time to have on hand a few minor additional ingredients that will help present freshness and imagination to your favorite recycled portions of those cooking rewards. Only you know what you like best and therefore can purposely make an abundance of those favorite items for the repeat treats in the days ahead.

Therefore this month my recipes will be for utilizing the parts of Thanksgiving that I like best for a couple of my favorite leftover indulgences. My regular readers will also remember that I am also a big fan of planning, and if you prepare in advance what you want to do with Thanksgiving leftovers, it will pay huge dividends for you and your family.

I love a traditional classic Reuben sandwich, but corned beef is not a very healthy meat - lots of fat!

Turkey, on the other hand is a very healthy meat and is inexpensive.

If you have never had a turkey Reuben sandwich, try one, adjusted to your own personal taste and let me know what you think.

Another favorite for me is soup. How much easier can it get than to take the bones from your turkey and make a really flavorful and healthy and inexpensive turkey soup.

A big plus is that you can make gallons of it; portion the broth into quart-size containers that can be frozen for months.

Bob Leonardi, of Auburn, ran a successful restaurant business, catering, and gourmet food store in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for 15 years

Turkey Soup

4-5 pounds turkey bones with meat

2 celery stalks, chopped 2 or 3 carrots, chopped 1 large onion, thickly sliced

3 quarts water 2 ripe tomatoes, chopped Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Break or cut turkey into manageable pieces, using basically the whole turkey carcass while trimming off any pure fat.

Place all the turkey pieces in a large pot; fill with the water which should cover the turkey by at least three inches.

Put a cover on the pot and bring it to a boil.

Lower heat, skim off the foam and add the vegetables, salt and pepper.

Cover and simmer for 2 to three hours, skimming off the foam occasionally.

Strain the soup.

Remove skin and bones from turkey and discard.

Discard the vegetables.

If you have a lot of turkey left, you can use some of it to make turkey salad or you can put it back in the soup.

If you want just the broth you can remove all the turkey.

Then, you can use the broth to add vegetables and beans to make minestrone or you can cook any small pasta in the broth like you would any pasta dish.

I love to add a little escarole or curly endive with pastina to make a really healthy and flavorful soup.

Add your own touch of creativity to make it according to your own taste.

4 slices turkey, sliced thin

4 tablespoons coleslaw 3 tablespoons Russian dressing 2 slices Gruyere or Swiss cheese

4 slices bread and butter pickle

2 slices rye (crusty) bread Russian dressing:

1/2 cup mayonnaise 2 tablespoons catsup 2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 teaspoons black pepper 2 tablespoons pimento, minced 1 teaspoon chives, minced Coleslaw dressing:

1 cup carrot, shredded 1 teaspoon French's mustard 1/4 teaspoon celery seeds 1 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 cup vinegar, white 1 teaspoon celery salt 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 cups green cabbage, shredded

Make coleslaw: Whisk vinegar, oil, celery seeds, celery salt, sea salt and mustard in blender or bowl. Add in carrot and cabbage and toss with hands or tongs or stir with a wooden spoon. Cover and refrigerate.

Make this the day before or at least an hour before needed so it has time for flavors to blend together.

Make Russian dressing: Mix all ingredients in a blender or bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Make this also the day before or even several days in advance as it will keep at least a week refrigerated. Decide if you would prefer to have your sandwich cold or hot. It's great both ways.

Cold: Simply layer each ingredient and enjoy.

Hot: Make as you would a grilled cheese sandwich, buttering both sides of bread and then adding the cheese on the side that you will toast last so the cheese melts down on to the rest of the ingredients. Since it is a really thick sandwich, try doing it on a George Foreman grill, Panini maker or simply press down on it or put a lid on while cooking that sits on top of sandwich to press it down.