Turkey Soup

Ingredients

a roasted turkey after you have sliced off most of the meat.
all other ingredients are optional

Instructions

After you have enjoyed your turkey dinner and are facing the mountain of dishes - do this first! Take the carcass of the turkey and all the little scraps, skin and all and put it in your largest pot and cover it with water. Throw in any little bits of leftover vegetables if you like. I even like to add bits of the stuffing - if there is any leftover! to give more flavoring or you could add some poultry seasoning. Put it on the stove and heat to a boil and then let it simmer for several hours.

You don't want to have boiled your pot dry so be sure that the turkey carcass is well covered with water and the pot lidded (We eat our big meal in the evening so we usually start the soup right after and let the pot simmer all night!). In the morning, (or after several hours on low heat) drain the liquid into another large bowl or pot and then put back on the stove to keep hot. It is now what you would call turkey 'broth'.

Allow the solids to cool enough so you can separate the meat and veggie pieces from the bones and skin. This will be a lot of bones to pick out - some tiny while others larger so do be careful. Return the turkey meat to the broth and add whatever other ingredients you like to make the soup or freeze as is to make various soups later!

Sauté some onion, and/or chopped celery and add to the broth with the meat or add frozen mixed veggies. Eat as is but usually you want to add some sort of carb. to make it more filling.

Our favorite is to add Ramen noodles with their little seasoning package. Or you could add rice (a great way to use leftover cooked whole grain) or add Minute rice. Or Add chunks of potatoes, carrots, cabbage turnip, etc to cook until soft.

Season to taste. You might like to freeze the meat/broth in smaller portions so it can be pulled out when someone drops in at meal time and you can decide which of the above (or anything else you have on-hand) to create a delicious and memorable lunch!!

Joyce’s Story

Family gatherings occur most often around various holidays and times off when more distant family members can travel to join us. Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving - and the main meal is turkey (although we usually throw a ham in there as well!). But all the fixings and hoopla over the huge turkey dinner are not our family's favorite meal. Our favorite is the TURKEY SOUP the next day or in the containers being taken home by the various family members, or stuck in mom's freezer to pull out for our next unexpected visit. DELICIOUS~ and so easy and versatile! It is amazing to me, therefore, that so many people do not make TURKEY SOUP!
Here is the scoop!