THANKFULNESS & BEING FRUGAL

One of the things I am thankful for about our Thanksgiving holiday is all the left over turkey and the good eating we get afterwards!!! Yesterday at lunch we had a wonderful turkey sandwich. Nothing like it!!!

For the past several years I have always made turkey soup out of the left over turkey frame. I am amazed at the wonderful broth and the large amount of turkey meat that is obtained. I must admit that I am ashamed of the fact that for years and years I just tossed the carcass into the garbage can and didn't take advantage of the bounty that it held. Not so once I fixed my first pot of turkey noodle soup :o)

This year, when I opened my Bet*ty Cr*oc*ker cookbook to the page where I had inserted my handwritten recipe for Turkey Noodle Soup my eyes fell on another recipe which called for adding tomato's. Now that was different. At first it just didn't sound "right" to me and then Mickey said, "Well we like tomato soup so I bet we'd like it." I decided to give it a try and am I glad I did.

Here are the yummy results and the recipe.

This is truly a super, healthy, rich wonderful soup!

Turkey Frame Soup

1 meaty turkey frame

2 large onions, quartered

2 stalks celery, sliced

1 tablespoon instant chicken bouillon granules (I omitted this)

2 cloves garlic, minced

Chopped cooked turkey

1-14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano, basil, marjoram, or thyme, crushed (I used marjoram)

3 cups (any combination) sliced celery, carrots, parsnips, or mushrooms; chopped onion or rutabagas; or broccoli or cauliflower florets (I used celery, broccoli & cauliflower)

1 1/2 cups dried medium noodles

1. Break turkey frame or cut in half with kitchen shears. Place in an 8 to 10 quart kettle or Dutch oven. Add 8 cups water (I added 10), onions, celery, bouillon granules, and garlic. Bring to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours. (I simmered mine 2 hours)

2. Remove turkey frame. When cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones. Discard bones. Coarsely chop meat. If necessary, add enough turkey to equal 2 cups; set turkey aside. (I actually had 3 cups of chopped turkey meat so I saved one cup to use later in another recipe)

3. Strain broth, discarding solids. Skim fat from broth. (I actually put my pan of broth in the freezer for awhile so the fat would rise and firm and was easy to remove)Return broth to kettle. Stir in undrained tomatoes, spice, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Stir in vegetables. Return to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Stir in noodles. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes more or until noodles are tender, but still firm and vegetables are tender. Stir in turkey, heat through.

Have to add this note: Friday Tar*get had cauliflower & broccoli for $1.33 a head. I had two $1.00 off coupons on cauliflower & broccoli I had printed out on line....YEAH

so I paid $.66 + tax of $.06 for a total of $ .72. What a deal!!! Ordinarily I wouldn't have driven over there to get it because the gas and drive would have cost me that much since it's in Tul*sa but we were going that direction anyway so I pulled in, ran in and got this wonderful buy.

I am so thankful that even though we lost 2 large trees to the December 2007 ice storm and another to a lighting strike (the one the wind just blew down) that our back yard still blessed us with the beauty of these two colorful displays this fall.

We have two other large trees in our back yard but they don't turn pretty colors in the fall. One just turns brown and drops it's leaves and the other (pin oak) holds on to its brown leaves until the new growth next spring pushes them off. As I wrote this the Lord reminded me of just how varied His creations are and just how VARIED we each are.......I hope I'm one who displays His creation in a lovely way and not drab and dull!!

Here's to wonderful, tasty leftovers and ALL of God's wonderful creations!!!!

AND to the GOD to whom we owe ALL our thankfulness.