It was a moment almost right out of The Waitresses 80s holiday song “Christmas Wrapping.” I’d just finished cooking the turkey, had placed it on the table with the corn, potatoes and gravy, when I realized, “Oh damn, we don’t have any cranberry sauce.” So my husband grabbed his wallet and keys, and dashed out to SuperFresh to save the day. Thankfully, this “oh, damn” moment hadn’t happened on Thanksgiving but instead just tonight, which is Sunday.
You see, like so many other Americans, I “earned” a free turkey from my supermarket, based on how much I’d spent this fall. However, since my husband’s mom and her sister were hosting Thanksgiving this year, I didn’t need to cook a turkey. But I’m not one to pass up a free dinner, so last week, when picking up my groceries, I also picked up my free 21-pound turkey (which would have otherwise cost me $22).
After spending the weekend painting inside the house and putting up Christmas decorations, we decided that today would be the perfect day to cook up our free dinner. Thanks to the November 2007 issue of Cooking Light, I found an easy (and healthful) turkey recipe, one for which I already owned all of the ingredients. Five hours later, dinner was on the table (save for the cranberry sauce, which was a last-minute addition).
Now, we are a family of four (plus the dog), so you can imagine how we barely made a dent in this 21-pound turkey. At this point we need to brainstorm creative ways to use up the turkey, and I’m hoping that this week, I can figure out a way to work turkey leftovers into at least one meal a day. For example, tomorrow my husband and my daughters have all agreed to take turkey-breast sandwiches to work/school. I’ll probably have something similar for lunch, too. Tomorrow for dinner, we might have a mixed salad with cold turkey, or I’ll mix shredded turkey with chopped celery, dried cranberries, slivered almonds and mayonnaise to make turkey-salad sandwiches.
The Renaissance Faire folks would be proud of the turkey legs and shanks we have left over, and unless we’re planning to have a Renaissance-like dinner (which we’re not), I’m not 100 percent sure how best to use these leftovers for dinner. I’m thinking some kind of turkey soup, but having been raised on Jewish chicken soup, turkey soup will be a whole new cooking experience for me.
In fact, beyond traditional Thanksgiving dinner and cold turkey sandwiches, I’m drawing a blank on creative ways to use turkey leftovers in after-Thanksgiving meals–considering my kids picky palates. If anyone out there has some great links to share or recipes to tell me about, I’d love to hear them.
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Turkey Pot Pie is a great way to use up the scraps on the turkey carcass.
I always use the carcass to make roasted turkey stock which I freeze in ice cube trays or small ziploc bags. That way when a recipe calls for a can of chicken stock I don’t need to run out and buy a can. One 20 lb turkey usually makes at least 20 cups of stock.
I used turkey stock to make matzoh ball soup one year and no one noticed the difference.)
Turkey quesadillas are another way to use leftovers so you’re not so aware you’re eating turkey for the fifth day in a row.
Soup. Make a stock with the carcass. I freeze some of the leftovers if there are enough; I can use them later. I know what you mean aobut the free turkey; I’d get it, too, even if I weren’t hosting Thanksgiving.
You don’t have to eat it all right now. . . why not package it up and put it in the freezer?
Otherwise just substitute the cooked turkey in any recipe you normally use chicken in, such as stirfry, with gravy (you can use a packet) over toast or biscuits, in any sort of chicken casserole recipe. . . you get the idea.
For next time . . . Many years ago my husband and I also got a free turkey, but it was just two of us. I had the butcher use his handy-dandy buzz saw to cut the thing in half – perfect solution for a small family with a large free turkey!
For the time being – cut some up and freeze it for future use in soups or pot pies. Make turkey enchiladas or burritos. Turkey & stuffing panninis are also delicious!
I got one for ya…Turkey Tetrazzini
http://www.moneymakingmamas.org/2007/11/left-over-turkey-turkey-tetrazzini.html
it works and I’m making it tommorrow night..
blessings! lylah
I haven’t tried this yet, but I got a turkey for $5 and will be cooking it tonight. I’ll freeze most of it and make this over the weekend.
Tex Mex Turkey Soup
One 15-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 small onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic
1/4 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 ounces raw, dried angel hair pasta, broken into 1″ pieces
3 cups drained, canned pinto beans
6 cups low-sodium turkey or chicken stock
1 1/2 cups cooked, diced turkey
In a food processor, combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic and Cajun seasonings. Process until smooth. In a heavy soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta starts to turn golden, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the beans, tomato mixture and the chicken stock. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered, until the pasta is al dente, about 5 minutes. Add the turkey and heat thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper. Serves 6.
Calories 283 Carbohydrate 36 g Fat 6 g Fiber 7 g Protein 23 g
We buy turkeys when they are on sale for .69/lb and use them throughout the year.
Here is what we do:
First night, whole turkey. We’re a family of four, so we don’t make much of a dent either, but I also try to only buy a 10 lb. turkey as I feel the meat is more tender and we don’t get tired of turkey as quickly.
I take the juice from where the turkey has been cooking and I put it into my crockpot dish and put in the fridge.
Lunch the next day, turkey sandwiches
Dinner next day, turkey noodle soup.
Shred some of leftover turkey, use leftover stock already in crockpot dish, add water and additional chicken stock (not necessary though). I also add peas, carrots and corn. I cook on low all day in the crock pot. About an hour before we are ready to eat, I throw in some noodles or I will make my own from scratch, but you have to start those early enough for them to dry.
We have leftovers for the next day lunch and dinner from this pot of soup. My family LOVES it. It’s better than chicken noodle.
I freeze whatever is left as we’re all tired of turkey at this point. I freeze it into ziplock baggies and usually have about three 1 lb. baggies. I usually shred before I put into the baggies, as I know I’ll be using these for recipes and casseroles. Make sure you label clearly what it is, the date and what you plan to use it for. I then pull those bags out from time to time and make things like the turkey pot pie someone mentioned, turkey casserole, or turkey quesadillas.
We do the same thing with hams, buying them at Christmas and Easter when they are cheap and using leftovers for sandwiches, ham and bean soup, and then in casseroles and for quiche.
I have here some tips on cooking a turkey, but I’m really not very good in that…:( So I usually buy ready turkey:)