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A Guy’s Survival Guide for Christmas Leftovers – Grilled Turkey Dinner Burritos

Greg Chaffins
Like a lot of you out there, I had a leftover Christmas dinner in the fridge but wanted something a little different. The rest of the family was out of town for a couple days after Christmas, so that gave me a few options for dinner. I wanted to fix something that fit the usual requirements:
 
  • easy to fix
  • edible
  • at least somewhat palatable
 
After staring the pantry down for a short while, inspiration struck me. The end result was so good (but then I was really hungry), that I wanted to share it with my readers. So, let me present to you, the specialty of the house for the moment, Grilled Turkey Dinner Burritos.
 
Step 1 – Lay down a good foundation
First, start with the fixin’s from a turkey dinner. Here I used a layered approach with turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, stuffing, and a little gravy for a balanced meal flavor in a convenient burrito form.
 
Step 2 – Fold, spindle, and mutilate
Once you have your ingredients roughly centered on the burrito wrapper, fold and roll as you would a standard burrito. Make sure to tuck it in as you roll – you don’t want gravy spilling onto the cooking surface.
 

 
Step 3 – Lay the heat on 
Place the turkey dinner burritos on a double sided sandwich grill (or panini grill). Center the burritos so that they will get the maximum impact from the surfaces.
 

 
Step 4 – IMPORTANT: Don't forget the timer!
Since we are grilling refrigerated food, we want to give it a little additional time. Set the timer for four minutes.  While it is grilling clean up the mess you made getting everything out.
 

 
Step 5 – It's all in the presentation 
The turkey dinner burritos should come off heat quite easily, and the grilled leaves a nice brown mark to the outside. The raised grill surface serves to help cook the inside of the burrito to the perfect temperature. Since presentation is so important in a quality meal like this, I opted for the festive paper plates instead of the regular white ones.
 

 
Step 6 – My favorite part, Eating it 
Now eat and enjoy the Grilled Turkey Dinner Burritos. The classic turkey dinner taste is nicely complimented by the grilled flour shell, making it a tasty treat without the hassle of cooking.
 
 

 
Bon Appetit! 
 

The straight turkey on Tryptophan and post holiday meal drowsiness

Greg Chaffins

Have you ever ate a big turkey meal and felt the need to catch 40 winks as a result?  One common belief is that tryptophan in turkey meat is the prime contributor to this effect.  But that is not actually the case. 

First, why the focus on tryptophan?  Well, the amino acid is used by some people as a dietary supplement as a reasonably effective sleep aid, found in some health food stores.  Tryptophan has been shown to increase the brain's level of the calming neurotransmitter serotonin and the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin.  The clinical research testing its effectiveness has given mixed results, but the interest level remains high.

Now here is the rub – while turkey does contain a high level of tryptophan, it is in line with the amount in most other meats.  So why does it hit during holiday feasts moreso than steak night?  The answer may lie in th entire meal, which tends to be loaded with carbohydrates (and in some cases varying amounts of alcohol). 

A large consumption of carbohydrates triggers the release of insulin. This insulin increases the amount of non-tryptophane (trp) amino acids to be injected into the body's muscles, leaving the blood system richer in our friend trp.  This now trp rich blood is carried across the central nervous system, where it is converted into serotonin by the normal enzymatic pathway.   Then the serotonin is metabolized into melatonin by the pineal gland.  This leads to our feast drowsiness.   

So there you have it.  In a way the need to crash after a big holiday meal does involve tryptophan, but not by direct ingestion.  Instead thank the breads, heavy sides, and deserts for the drowsiness.  Of course, knowing what causes it does not stop its effect, so if the need to close your eyes for a bit after a big holiday meal hits you, just relax and enjoy the ride.