10 Days of Turkey~ Turkey Rice Soup!

photo credit:  Just A Pinch

Here is another easy recipe for using up that leftover Turkey!  Turkey Rice Roasted Garlic Soup!

Ingredients:

2 C.	Turkey
5 C.	Water
1 C.	Rice, try jasmine for the more flavor
1 1/2 C.	Carrots, baby, canned doesn't mattter whatever you have
1 can(s)	Green beans
3 Tbsp	Vegetable Bouillon
1 tsp	Black Pepper
10 clove	Roasted Garlic, see note
	salt to taste
2 tsp	Dried Basil

Combine all the ingredients in a large pot and cook until the Rice is done (about 1 hour) or toss them into a Crock Pot and cook until the rice is done (about 4, depending on how hot your Crock Pot runs)

Thanks for the recipe, Just A Pinch!

10 Days of Turkey~Carcass Redux!

In reality, my family will not tolerate the same leftover foods for more then a few days, at best.  And at best is usually after Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter.  It's rather ridiculous, on one hand, they enjoy the big meal with seven or eight different dishes, but on the other, if they have to eat that menu for more then three days in a row, they start getting picky! 

So, over the years I developed a thrifty little system for making sure we get the most out of the holiday meals (and the money spent), and keeping the family from going into a full on dinner mutiny.  I make TV Dinners and freeze them :)

I just get small disposable aluminum pans from the Dollar Store and divvy up the remaining left overs.  I like the ones that have the cardboard lids with them.

Write out what is in the dish, the date, and instructions for how to cook.   Now, if I am out of town, away for the evening or not feeling well, my husband can pull out a couple of these little meal trays and avoid hitting Zips for Dinner.  If you can find trays that are microwavable, this concept would be good for work lunches too (I just haven't found disposable microwavable trays anywhere, if you know where to get some please let me know!)

After I finished off all the leftover Turkey and sides, I stripped off the rest of the meat, bagged it and stuck it in the freezer  for Casseroles/Enchilada/Soups on some other day, then I put the all the Turkey bones in the crock pot, covered it with water and turned it on high for 8 hours for homemade Turkey broth.  This year I got about 8 cups of broth. 

After I strained off the broth, there was still a good deal of meat left on the bones.  If it isn't to dry, it would also make good meat for Soups and Casseroles, but I usually pick out the bones and save this meat for the Dog and Cats.  They like Turkey too :) 

10 Days of Turkey~ Turkey and Stuffing Enchiladas!

photo credit: Ready Set Eat!

Haven't finished off that Turkey yet?  Here is another way to use it up!  Turkey and Stuffing Enchiladas!


Ingredients:

PAM® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
1-1/2 cups turkey gravy (1-1/2 cups = about 12 oz)
1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
1-1/2 cups chopped cooked turkey
1-1/2 cups leftover stuffing, warmed
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
10 corn tortillas (6 inch), warmed
1 can (14.5 oz each) Hunt's® Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic and Oregano, drained

1.Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 13x9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Combine gravy and sour cream in small bowl; spread 1/2 cup mixture in dish.

2.Combine turkey, stuffing and 1/2 cup cheese in bowl. Top each tortilla with 3 tablespoons turkey mixture. Roll up and place seam-side down in baking dish.

3.Spoon remaining gravy mixture over enchiladas; sprinkle with drained tomatoes and remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Cover dish with aluminum foil; bake 25 minutes or until enchiladas are hot and cheese melts. Remove foil; bake 5 minutes more.

10 Days of Turkey!

Maybe not 10 whole days (hopefully)  In a few days, we are all going to be tired of the same leftovers so here is an easy way to use up the last of that Turkey without it being the same ol same old!  You can put this together quickly and have dinner ready in 30 minutes, or throw it all in the Crock Pot on low before you leave and dinner will ready to eat when you get home.

Southwestern Turkey Chili!!

The Ingredients:
2 C. cut up cooked Turkey or Chicken
1 Can of Chicken Broth
1 Can of Tomato Sauce (15 oz.)
1 packet of Chili Seasoning

Mix  the Turkey, Broth, Tomato Sauce and Chili Seasoning together in a large Pot. Heat to boiling, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occassionally.

Add:
1 Can of Black Beans, (don't drain)
1 Can of Kidney Beans, (don't drain)
1 Can of Corn, (don't drain)

Reheat Chili to Boiling, reduce the heat to low and serve!

You can also make dumplings to go with it using:

1 1/2 C. Bisquick
1/2 C. Cornmeal
2/3 C. Milk

Mix until a soft dough forms. Drop by spoonfuls into the hot Chili. Cook for 10 minutes uncovered. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes, sprinkle with a little shredded Cheddar cheese and cook for another 3 minutes or until the Cheese is melted.

Tell us your favorite way to use up leftover Turkey!

The BEST Stuffing In The World!

{photo credit: bettycrocker.com}

I am not lying, this really is the best Stuffing/Dressing in the world!  This recipe comes from a family friend who is the best cook in the world!  Beats the pants off of Stove Top any day :)

Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing
Ingredients:

1 (7 oz.) box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
1 (8 oz.) box of Mrs. Cubbisons Stuffing Mix
1 C. of sliced, diced Celery
1 C. of chopped Onion
1/4 C. Margarine or Butter
1 LB. Bulk Pork Sausage
1 tsp. salt
1/2 - 1 tsp. Poultry Seasoning
just a pinch of Black Pepper
2 Eggs, beaten
1 1/2 C. Chicken Broth
1 1/2 C. Milk

Before beginning the dressing, bake the Corn Muffin mix per directions on the package (you will need 5 muffins, crumbled). Brown the Sausage and drain well. Saute the celery and onion in the Margarine. Add the Chicken Broth, Salt, Pepper and Poultry Seasoning. When mixed well, add the remaining Ingredients.

This will stuff a 12 to 15 pound Turkey and can be made a day ahead, just wait to add the eggs until you are getting ready to stuff the bird. I actually prefer to make it on the side, just pour the stuffing mixture into a casserole dish and bake at 355 degrees for 35 - 40 minutes.
Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Saturday (Or Any Day!)

Crock pot and Slow Cooker meals have made a big come back lately, largely in part due to the Crockin' Girls and their phenomenal success on Facebook.  Everyone, really - EVERYONE- has been pulling out their Slow Cookers and putting them back to work!

With the Holidays upon us, our weekends are becoming frantic so I am planning on using my slow cooker to ease up some of the stress and take the worry of "when is dinner" out of the equation by planning to prepare at least one meal a week in my slow cooker, preferably the busiest day.  Today is Beef Stew!

I like to play around with the ingredients a bit, I mean, it's stew, you can't really ruin it :)  This time I used:

2 pounds of stew meat
2 Potatoes, you can use more, depending on how Potatoey you like your stew, cut into pieces that are close to the same size as the stew meat.
6 small Cipollini Onions I bought at the Pike Street Market a few weeks ago.  Any Onions work, just cut them into chunks that are about the same size as the Potatoes.
1 Can of mixed Veg
4 packets of that new Swanson Beef Flavor Boost, (1 packet + 1 C. of Water = 1 C. of Broth)
1 packet of Stew Seasoning
1 -2 additional C. of Water

First,  I brown the meat in a bit of oil in a skillet.  You don't have to do this, as a matter of fact, if your cooking it in your Crock Pot for several hours, you don't even need to thaw it out.  Frozen meat cooks just fine.  You might want to thaw it just enough to break it up so your not throwing a big lump of meat in though.

Toss the meat into your Crock Pot, sprinkle a little bit of flour over it and stir it to coat. Add the Potatoes, Onions, Stew Seasoning, the Broth and enough water to cover everything.  Cover and set on low for 4-5 hours.  Truefully, the longer it cooks, the more tender the meat will be.

Walk away...

About  a half hour before your ready to eat, open and drain the can of mixed veg (frozen veg works too) and stir into the Crock pot.  Once they are warmed through, you are ready to have dinner!  Serve with warm rolls and enjoy your home cooked meal :)

As I said before, I play around with the ingredients, sometimes I will add some cooked Egg Noodles or Rice to make it a little more stick-to-your-ribs like.  My mom likes to put Stewed Tomatoes in her Stew.  There are lots of ways to make a yummy Stew. 

You can find a ton of great Crock Pot recipes and ideas on The Crockin Girls and my other favorite Recipe website, Justapinch.com!