What to Do With Your Turkey Bones and Leftover Meat

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey, what are you doing on the computer on Thanksgiving day anyway.....?

hmm.

it's okay. I won't tell.

Are you wondering what to do with your leftover turkey meat and the bones? Look no more--I've got you covered!

Here are three completely different but absolutely wonderful soups. I can't decide which one I'm going to do this year, but I'm leaning towards the stew because it's good cold-weather food and it's supposed to rain the next few days.

enjoy your family! and don't pick fights with the crazy uncles...

{PS: click on the words under the pictures--- for some reason Blogger isn't letting me add a URL to the photos today. grrr.}

turkey and wild rice soup

turkey stew

old fashioned chicken turkey and noodle soup

Have an absolutely wonderful day with your family. 

updated, November 28: Happy Cyber Monday! I'm giving away 5 Hamilton Beach Slow Cookers this week! Click on over to my review page for your chance to win! 
 

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A Slow Cooker Thanksgiving

 

Be thankful for your crockpots this year. 

It sounds peculiar, and maybe even a bit stupid, but if you stop to really think about it, your crockpots are providing a gift. The gift of time.

thanks to this simple machine you have more time in your day to do the things you really want to do: garden, read, play, tickle, sleep, write, create, and spend time with your family.

life is good.

traditional stuffing

cornbread stuffing

candied sweet potatoes

homemade cranberry sauce

amazing mashed potatoes

sweet and sour caramelized onions

perfect turkey breast

creamed corn

 

spinach artichoke dip

crustless pumpkin pie

 

even MORE holiday food!

and just in case...

how to company clean in 30 minutes or less

have a wonderful Holiday! We're hosting again this year, and I'm looking forward to having all of our family in one place instead of making the rounds. As an added bonus, my birthday falls on Thanksgiving--pumpkin pie as birthday cake! yum. 

We're still hosting daily giveaways to help with your Holiday gift giving over on the GiveAway page--- go check them out and win! win! win! :-)

gobble ~ gobble ~ gobble

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Italian Minestrone Soup in the Slow Cooker

 

The temperature has followed the clock's lead, and has turned back a notch. It's officially cold outside, and we're ready for soup season.

mmm.

There is something terribly soothing about minestrone soup--- regardless of your age, curling up with a bowl of hearty soup is as if you're being cuddled from the inside.

simply lovely.

The Ingredients.

serves 6-8

1 pound lean ground meat: pork, beef, or turkey. I used beef.

4 ounces sliced mushrooms

1 yellow onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 stalks celery, sliced

1 cup chopped carrot

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced or stewed tomatoes

1 tablespoon dried oregano

4 cups beef broth

2/3 cup dried elbow pasta (to add later; I used Tinkyada brand which is gluten free)

kosher salt (add to taste at the table)

The Directions.

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Brown the first four ingredients on the stovetop, and drain the fat. I know, I hate cooking before I cook too, but this is a good thing because you're draining the rendered grease/fat.

Add meat to the slow cooker, and your vegetables. Add the whole can of tomatoes, the oregano, and beef broth. Stir to combine. Cover, and cook on low for 8 hours. 30 minutes before serving, stir in the dry pasta. Flip to high, and cook for an additional 30 minutes or until pasta has become bite-tender.

Serve in wide-mouthed bowls with a bit of shredded Parmesan cheese, if desired.

The Verdict.

I served this soup last week to my family of five, my parents, and my grandma. We didn't have any leftovers. I am  beginning to really prefer beef broth to chicken in my heartier soups that have tomatoes--- it's just a more rich flavor.

If you plan on freezing this soup, I wouldn't add the noodles until you reheat and serve; they'll break up on you in the freezer.

additional soup season favorites:

Albondigas Soup

Tortilla Soup

Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

Doro Wat

Black Bean Soup

Corn Chowder

Clean out the Pantry Minestrone

End of Summer Harvest Soup

African Peanut Soup

GIVEAWAY!! I'm hosting a giveaway for Chime.In over on the review page, and I have a FREE Amazon Kindle Fire for a lucky (randomly selected) winner!

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Slow Cooker Shredded Korean Beef Tacos

I can tell you've been really good lately. And because of that you deserve a really, really good crockpot recipe. 

Not mediocre. 

Not eh, it's okay, I guess. 

Nope. 

A REALLY GOOD RECIPE THAT'S ALSO REALLY EASY AND ALSO PRETTY CHEAP.

here you go:

The Ingredients.

serves 6-8

 

 3-4 pounds beef roast (I used a trimmed chuck roast)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup soy sauce (La Choy and Tamari Wheat-Free are gluten free)

1 head garlic (peeled, but leave cloves intact--approx 10 cloves)

 1/2 onion, diced

1 inch fresh ginger root, peeled and grated

2 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 whole jalapeno, diced (be careful! use gloves!)

The Directions.

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Okay. This truly can't be any easier. I didn't brown my meat, but I did trim off the visible fat. I can make these directions complicated and tell you to add this or that first,

but it honestly doesn't matter. This is going to cook on low all day long, and the ingredients will distribute just fine all on their own. Throw everything in however you'd like.

Cover, and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until meat has fully shredded--- you can help it out by cutting the meat into pieces an hour or so before serving time. Serve in soft corn or flour tortillas (we are gluten free, and used tiny corn tortillas that are labeled gluten free) with shredded cabbage salad and white or brown rice.

this is how I made my shredded cabbage:

1 bag shredded coleslaw from the grocery store's produce section

1 tablespoon soy sauce (la choy or tamari wheat-free)

2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

toss together and serve immediately (it gets too wilty if you make it early in the day)

The Verdict.

Oh gosh. I must admit I've never had an authentic Korean taco off of a food truck because I'm not sure of the ingredient list, but I can't imagine they'd be any better. I was so pleased with this ingredient combination I was eager to share with my brother and sister-in-law and the neighbors. Everyone gave high praise.

My own children ate everything off their plates--- the jalapeno leaves a slight tongue burn, but it sneaks up and really isn't anything major--- just mostly smokey.

yum.

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