I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends and enjoyed a delicious meal together!

Now that it is has passed, if you were the lucky one to cook the big bird – what do you do with the turkey leftovers??

At our house, after we’ve eaten the next day meal of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans and gravy, and made a few turkey sandwiches with cranberry sauce, I usually make soup!  There is still a lot of turkey left on the carcass – you would be surprised! Don’t throw it away! There are about 2-3 more additional meals you can create with what is left. Grab your biggest pot and I will show you how.

Toss the remaining picked-apart bird into a big pot and fill with water – enough to just about cover the whole carcass. Bring it to a boil and cook on a simmer for about 2 hours. You can add an onion (with the skin, this gives is color), a few carrots, and some celery pieces plus the leaves, a bay leaf, salt and pepper. I brined my turkey this year with salt and seasonings so I didn’t have to add anything additional to the water. There was already so much flavor in the bones. See the rich color of the broth below?

After a few hours of simmering, I turned it off and let it cool. Then I removed all the bones onto a platter and strained the remaining broth into another big pot. This made about 8 quarts of broth. I cooled the broth in the refrigerator, and separated the turkey meat from all the bones. I ended up with an entire plate piled high of turkey meat – mostly dark but some white too! This was A LOT! You could make ANY recipe that called for cooked chicken and substitute it with the cooked turkey – such as turkey enchiladas, turkey pot pies, turkey stir fry, turkey and dumplings, turkey and stuffing casserole, etc,!!

When I make my soup, I sauté the onions, celery, and carrots and ground thyme in butter and olive oil until they are soft. Because this is a creamy soup, I added a few tablespoons of flour to help thicken it. I add the broth and bring it to a boil. When it is boiling, I add the noodles until they are cooked – about 8 minutes. Then add the turkey and the cream. This recipe is the ultimate in comfort soup! The savory thyme mixed with the richness of the cream is heavenly. As my son describes it, “it is diabolical!” I made a batch of creamy chicken noodle soup a few weeks prior and it was such a hit that I couldn’t make the traditional turkey noodle soup without making it the “creamy” version. As the days are consistently getting colder, this soup will surely warm you to the bones!

“Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with grateful hearts”  Colossians 3:16

As we move from this season of thanksgiving into the Advent season, I’m trying to remember to always be grateful for all that the Lord has blessed me with. It is so easy to oversee many of the blessings in our lives, and even easier to see what we don’t have! I am so grateful for what and WHO God has provided in my life! But I need to be mindful and make myself aware each day. So, I’m going to write down 3 things everyday until Christmas day of what or who I am grateful for. Will you join me?

As St. Paul told the Colossians, we should fill our lives with the Word of our Lord and all his wisdom! And sing psalms and songs to Him with grateful hearts!

May all the richness of His Word and the richness of this creamy turkey noodle soup fill you up and make you grateful!

Blessings,

~Lori

Creamy Turkey Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

1 cup onion, chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

1 cup carrots, chopped

2 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. olive oil

2 tsp ground thyme

salt and pepper to taste

3 tbsp. flour

4 qts of turkey stock (if you didn’t make your own stock, you can use 4-32oz of store bought turkey or chicken broth, I promise, I won’t be upset with you!)

1/2 bag of 12oz egg noodles

2 cups of cooked and chopped/shredded turkey meat

1/2 pint of heavy cream

Directions:

Saute onions, carrots, and celery in the butter and olive oil until soft. Add thyme, salt, pepper and the flour. Mix ingredients around, it should resemble a paste. Slowly add and whisk the turkey broth to incorporate with the flour paste, and bring to a boil. It should thicken up a little bit. When the broth is boiling, add the noodles and boil for about 8-10 minutes. Turn the heat down so it is no longer boiling. Add the cooked turkey and cream. Mix together. Serve with a salad and warm bread!