News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Alpena resident Beverly Bodem stands on Sunday with her leftovers from Thanksgiving.

ALPENA — With Thanksgiving coming to an end, many households find themselves with an excess of food.

When it comes to post-Thanksgiving cleanup, some people like to keep it simple, like the Bodem household in Alpena, which consists of 83-year-old Beverly Bodem, her 86-year-old husband, Dennis, and their 56-year-old daughter, Heather.

In a move that is just as much about the storage as it is about the food, the Bodems place their leftover cranberry sauce, stuffing, and mashed potatoes together in a single bowl and serve it with the remainder of the turkey as what Dennis Bodem refers to as the “last meal.”

“The leftovers are all in one dish,” said Heather Bodem. “I empty the cranberries, the gravy, the stuffing, and the potatoes into one container.”

Taking a similar approach, Carolyn Watts, from Harrisville, likes to make what is referred to as “leftover casserole,” which sees all of her leftovers layered in a glass baking dish and then heated in the oven for a bit.

“You layer the stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean, turkey, and gravy,” Watts said. “We’ve even put the cranberry sauce in there, so it kind of has a little bit of everything. Make sure you cover it when you warm it up. Like 350 degrees Fahrenheit for around 40 minutes.”

Another leftover dish of which Watts said she is fond involves taking her leftover stuffing and putting it in a waffle iron.

“We put the stuffing in a waffle iron, and then cover it in gravy and stuff like that,” said Watts. “It’s kind of crispy and light and it’s fluffy on the inside.”

For those feeling a bit more ambitious, Dawn Hansen has a recipe for turkey chili.

Hansen cooks together her leftover turkey, a spice blend, black beans, onions, green peppers, and tomato sauce.

“I use a spice mix that I make, black beans, green peppers, for sure onions, and tomato sauce,” said Hansen. “I can make regular turkey chili and white turkey chili.”