Left-over Turkey: Recipes

Sorry for the late post, but Thanksgiving isn't over for us yet!  We eat at my parents' house tomorrow, so this is 'technically' early.  :)  


My Mom purposely prepares an abundance of turkey so that we can bring some home with us, which my hubby loves.  He usually makes turkey sandwiches, but I like to mix it up a bit since turkey is not a meat of choice for me.  Thought I'd share with you a few recipes I've collected over the years to make good use of that leftover turkey.  Enjoy!

Turkey Jambalaya

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds turkey
• 1 pound smoked sausage
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups uncooked long-grain white rice
• 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning

To Prepare:

1. In a large pot over medium heat, add all ingredients except the rice.  Cook for 30-45 minutes, until the celery has had time to cook.  

2. Prepare the rice as usual in a separate pot.

3. To serve, pour a serving of the jambalaya mixture over a serving of the rice.  

We like just a little spice, so this recipe does the trick.  If you, like my hubby, like to sweat when you eat Cajun, you will want to add an additional spice of your choice.

Turkey Pot Pie

Ingredients:

• 2 unbaked pie shells 
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup cooked, chopped turkey meat
• 1 can mixed vegetables, drained
• 1 can (left after emptying the cream of mushroom soup) of milk

To Prepare:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the mushroom soup and milk. Stir in the remaining ingredients and pour into one pie crust. Top with the other pie crust, and seal the crust edges by crimping with a wet fork.
3. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown

I usually make 2 of these, and freeze one for later.  If you choose to do this, allow one full day for the frozen pie to thaw before following the same directions above.

White Turkey Chili

Ingredients

• 3 cups chopped cooked turkey
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 can diced jalapeno peppers
• 1 can chopped green chile peppers
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 2 cans chicken broth
• 3 cans white beans
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

To Prepare:

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook and stir until tender. 
2. Add the garlic, jalapeno, green chile peppers, cumin, oregano and cayenne.  Continue to cook/stir 3 minutes, or until tender. 
3. Add the chicken broth, chicken and white beans. Simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Remove the mixture from heat. Slowly stir in the cheese until melted. Serve warm.

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving!  

Triple Fudge Cake

1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 cup chocolate chips

1 box of chocolate cake mix

1/2 cup veg. oil

1 cup applesauce

2 eggs

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix cake mix and oil until crumbly.  Take out 1 cup and set aside.  Add applesauce and eggs to larger mixture and beat until creamy.  Spread into a 13x9 pan sprayed with cooking spray and lightly floured.

In a small bowl, microwave 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and milk for about 1 minute.  Stir until creamy.  Drop by teaspoon full on batter, more along the edges than in the middle.

Stir remaining chocolate chips and pecans in the cup of batter that was set aside, and sprinkle on top of batter.

Bake 38 – 42 minutes, or until center is set.  Make sure you run a knife around the edges after removing.  Let cool completely before serving.

Gain 10 lbs after eating half the cake.  :)

5 Way to Simplify Your Cooking

I've been reading articles and talking to friends, and have found a few ways to simplify your time in the kitchen.  Here are my 5 favorites:

1. Use your crock pot.  In years past, I have only used my crock pot for making roast and potatoes.  That's one of my least favorite meals, so my crock pot has rarely seen the light of day.  However, after looking around online and talking to some other ladies, I have found many other ways to use it.  From beef stroganoff to spaghetti, to potato soup, to homemade barbecue, the crock pot cooks the meat while you're out, and makes the meat much more tender in the process.

2.  Use online cooking websites.  My favorite is allrecipes.com but there are several others.  What I like most about allrecipes is that you can search for a dish (Fried Chicken, for example), and then sort by rating, and you're virtually guaranteed a recipe that is fantastic.  There is also a tab called "Ingredient Search" which allows you to search for recipes by the ingredients you have on hand, or would like to use for that particular meal.  I use this all the time, especially during harvest time when veggies are plentiful.

3. Buy meat in bulk.  I have been doing this for a couple of years now, and am thankful every time I open the freezer.  I buy 5-10 lbs of beef, chicken breasts, or whatever meat is on sale.  Then I cook it, bag it by the pound, and freeze it for later.  When you want to make a dish of beef stroganoff in your crock pot, just grab the already cooked beef from the freezer and throw it in the pot.  Easy.

4. Sign up for an online cookbook. I've signed up for both free and paid versions of this, and my favorite version is TasteBook.  You can copy and paste recipes from any website, email, or document, and keep them all in one place.  And if you're ever at your parent's home and want to make a special dish, all your recipes are accessible.  I love this.  I use it all the time, and can now t hrow away all those random slips of paper in my makeshift recipe book.

5. Buy frozen veggies.  I don't always do this, because they are sometimes more expensive than fresh.  However, during winter and spring, this is a very time-saving and affordable way to keep those vegetables in you menu.  Corn, peas, green beans, spinach...all the frozen varieties contain the same vitamins and minerals that the fresh version have, and are usually already chopped and diced in the package.

So, get out your crock pot, grab a couple bags of frozen veggies, a baggie of ground beef from your freezer, add some tomato sauce and have some veggie soup tonight.

Happy Cooking!