Good to the Last Drop

Thanksgiving is a fantastic time to spend time with family and be thankful for all of life’s blessings. But as I look back to my Thanksgiving dinner with my family I recall a lot of leftovers. So what do you do with all those leftovers? I envision hundreds of turkey sandwiches, but I am not referring to those leftovers..

What about that Turkey carcass? Yes, you heard right. Immediately everyone would throw that right into the garbage. Instead, I see a fantastic turkey soup.  Why not take advantage of Thanksgiving for every last little bit!

Today, I spent my day making some delicious turkey broth and turkey soup. Here's how:

Start with a large pot, add the turkey carcass and the organs (if you haven’t already used them). Fill the pot to nearly cover the turkey carcass.

Next, chop up 3 stalks of celery, 2 carrots, and an onion. No need to get fancy, just do a loose chop. These veggies are what you will be using to flavour your stock.

Time to add some spices. I don’t do too much measuring, but add about 1 and a half tablespoons of Italian spices, 1 tablespoon each of black pepper and onion powder, 1 teaspoon salt and 3 cloves of garlic.

(Mike sits sneaking a peak at what is happening in the kitchen)

Bring the mixture to a boil and cook for as little or as long as you would like. The longer you cook the stock the better because it will help bring out all of the flavour.

Strain out the bones and vegetables.

And that's it. Your stock is done. This will serve as the base for your soup.

At this point, you can take that stock and freeze it so you can use it later. Even freeze it in ice cube trays for use in stir frys and other recipes.

Now it's time to start the soup.

You will need:

8 to 10 cups of turkey broth

2 carrots chopped

2 stalks of celery chopped

1 1/2 cups of frozen corn

2 cups of chopped cooked turkey (white or dark meat or both)

1 teaspoon of italian spices

1 teaspoon of thyme

1 teaspoon of curry powder

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups of egg noodles

In a large pot on medium heat, combine turkey broth, carrots, celery, corn, turkey and spices. Bring to a boil and cook until vegetables are tender. Add the egg noodles and keep on heat until noodles are cooked.

Now you have soup! I would have added white kidney beans if I had some at home and you can substitute rice or potatoes for the noodles.

I hope this makes you see leftovers in a different light! You can do this with anything, chicken, pork, ham, fish, and everything in between. Be grateful for the access to all of the resources and amenities we have because not everyone is so lucky.

In the end, it is important to not only recycle your waste but also to reduce your waste wherever possible. So this week, make it a point to be ‘good to the last drop.’ Enjoy!