Frugal Feasting Friday: Christmas Dinner Make Over Madness

One of the BEST aspects of holiday meals is all the leftovers.  One of the worst aspects of holiday meals is ALL those leftovers.  One can only eat so many turkey and ham sandwiches before they become boring.  But in our home nothing goes to waste and that is why I like to "make over" our leftovers into other dishes.  This year our Christmas dinner provided us with plenty of ham sandwiches and 6 other dishes enjoyed by all.  First up,

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Batter:
1 1/2 c. leftover over pumpkin from making pumpkin pies
1 c. buttermilk or soured milk
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbsp. white vinegar

2 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves

cinnamon sugar, if desired

Cream Cheese Filling:
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 egg yolk, reserve the egg white for upcoming recipes
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease 12 muffin cups.
In a small bowl beat all cream cheese filling ingredients together until smooth.  Set aside.
In a medium bowl mix pumpkin, buttermilk, oil, egg and vinegar until combined well.
In a third bowl sift together dry ingredients; flour, baking soda, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
Add liquid ingredients to dry and stir until combined, being careful not to over mix.  Batter will be thick.
Use a scoop to place 1/2 the muffin batter in the bottom of each greased muffin cup.  Top with a dollop of cream cheese mixture.  Top with remaining half of muffin batter.
Sprinkle tops of muffins with cinnamon sugar mixture, if desired.
Bake at 400 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes.  Immediately remove from pan to cool.

Makes 1 dozen muffins