Saturday, November 29, 2008

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.

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26 comments:

kc bob said...

I love turkey sandwiches!

... said...

the soup looks yummy. my favorite is a turkey sandwich the next day, too. that's our lunch tradition and then we usually go out for mexican for dinner. last night we went out for wings instead.

Nadine said...

Your soup sounds like it would taste good especially on a cold day.

Brenda said...

My turkey sandwich, which consists of just turkey, mayo and salt on ww bread, is a tradition for me. Amazing how food brings back good memories. And thankfully, the mayo and little extra salt are not the norm for me, so I figure on TG it's ok to indulge a little!
That recipe looks delicious. I've wrapped the carcass and put it into the freezer until I can get to it.
Since it was just the 4 of us, I can probably make several batches of soup and freeze it.
ot-Please pray for my sis, Reva, she went into the hospital yesterday. I updated my post with the info. (I'll post on Hn1A once we get the Doc's opinion)
Thanks Susan.
God bless,
Brenda

Shirley said...

Oh - you are definitely NOT the drab and dull kind :) You display the splendor of the Lord very beautifully!

Debra said...

Wow! That looks good! I wish I was a good cook! it's a gift I did not recieve...but if your sick, I can help you ! LOL!

Blessings

Anonymous said...

The soup looks great Susan!

Mountain Mama said...

Your soup sounds wonderful. I bet it would work with chicken too. I will try it.
I just made up plates of leftovers for the freezer today. Mashed potatoes, dresing, gravy, turkey and sweet pototoes. Now I can have some quick and tasty suppers.
I've always saved and boiled the turkey frame and made soup. Mom taught me to do that.
The strange thing is a few days after Thanksgiving when I am tired of all the rich feast food, I crave plain old beans. I plan to put some to soak tonight. LOL!

Humble wife said...

Frugal-ness is wonderful isn't it? I love this as I am humming praises as I read.
Jennifer

Lori said...

Your soup looks and sounds delicous!!

Dawn said...

We had a very small turkey this year, but a good sized ham as well. I am ashamed to say that I've never made soup from the turkey carcas. But I always make split pea soup from the ham bone. Don't ask me why!!

Sue Seibert said...

I'm afraid all our turkey and dressing is now gone. We finished it yesterday. Carolyn's family took more than half and we had the rest. Didn't even get turkey sandwiches this year :( , but it sure was good.

Tiffany said...

Just stopping in for a visit. It looks like you had a good holiday. The soup looks so yummy. I love the trees too. That is one of the best parts of fall. I was reading below, how cool that you got a chance to meet one of your bloggy friends. I would like to meet some of y'all some day. I hope that I can get the chance to see the movie comming out about Billy Graham. I've been watching him for years. I almost got the chance to work for his ministry, before we moved here. I have a friend whose father has been working for him for over 20 some odd years now. Anyway, just wanted to catch up and say hi! ~ Blesings!

Sharon Lynne said...

Those trees are gorgeous. The soup sounds good too!

Thanksgiving is such a beautiful season, with the trees turning and the weather changing!

But now...its time to get ready for Christmas. (Hopefully we all can stay in the Thanksgiving spirit!)

retha said...

Turkey is foreign to for us. We are a beef, lamb eating country. With meat prices high we have to eat more chicken. I have bought turkey legs once - I think. It is a more expensive here. Apparently the healthy people prefer to eat turkey?

I will say it every year, those colour changing leave are so wonderful to look at. Here the trees that does lose leaves change yellow, brown and fall off.

nancy said...

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. I'm still eating leftovers! I'm the last one to get tired of them at our house.
I also share that November 24th birthday! Happy birthday to your guys.
Nancy

Susan said...

Hi Susan! The soup looks just yummy! I confess that we throw the carcass away, but you're making me wish I didn't.

I want to thank you for all of your encouragement as I've gone through the roller coaster of shipping DS 1 off to basic training.

I humbly apologize that I haven't sent the book out yet. I have not forgotten...I just haven't done it. I appreciate the grace with which you've accepted that...I'll send it this week. Can you do me a favor and resend me your address so I don't have to dig through my very full email box to find it??

You're a very special blogging friend for which I am grateful.

Hugs,

Susan

Anonymous said...

hi Susan,
So nice to be back. I have missed you all. I loved the pictures of the trees and the lovely soup. I love being frugal but I must admit I do fail sometimes.
Hope all is well with you all.
much love & blessings,
hugs Sandra nz

Anonymous said...

Maybe next time you try your soup, you'd like to try this idea I received from a recent WWs meeting when we did soup. Use fresh tomatoes and squeeze them in by hand. It really is yummy.

Maxine said...

Why do your recipes always look so good? I have yet to try one of them. I'm not the greatest for cooking, but you're tempting me to try one of these good looking dishes. Thanks for sharing with the rest of us.

Peculiar Blogs said...

I gave your blog an award, Susan. Love and Hugs!

michelle said...

Your soup looked wonderful...wish I would have clicked on sooner. I made turkey soup last night and added dumplings. It was nice and hearty but we had to turn the fans on. SOup isn't the best meal in 85degree weather.

Joy said...

I'm going to try this recipe. I saved my turkey "frame". That sure sounds like a fancy name for a bunch of picked over bones. hehe

My Aunt bought me the Betty Crocker recipe book when I was a teenager. (I've had it a long time) I still have it. I'll look thru it again.
Thanks for the recipe.
♥ Joy

Barbara said...

The trees are beautiful Susan. Just got caught u p with you. Life has been particularly busy with various outreach initiatives these last days so I have not been at my computer so often.
Glad you had a gret thanksgiving and tht Mickey is progressing well.
Blessings. Barbara

Jenileigh said...

I had never thought of using the turkey frame to boil for broth. Thanks!

Beautiful trees!

Momma Roar said...

I bet that soup was yummy!

I wanted to turn my leftovers into turkey crouquettes, but we ate all the turkey!!! LOL!! Good ol' turkey sandwiches, yum!! T took a good bit of it along to the hunting camp too.

With winter here now, I really miss seeing the leaves on the trees!