Leftover Turkey Noodle Soup

Sometimes it is hard trying to figure out what to do with all those leftovers. If you are anything like my husband, you do not want to waste any food, ever! I can’t say that this is a bad thing. I used to be very wasteful but thanks to him I am not anymore. After our lovely turkey dinner, we had some leftover “crappy” sections. I call them crappy because I don’t like them. It was a leg and a thigh – all dark meat. Don’t get me wrong, it has a lot of flavor, I just don’t like that portion of the bird. Anyway – he was out hunting one evening and I knew he would need something hot to warm him up when he got home. I decided to make a turkey soup using those leftover pieces. It worked. I was able to use up all of the meat, flavor the soup and cut the meat into chunks large enough I could pick out what I didn’t want to eat. Everyone wins – plus we got rid of the leftovers! This makes about 6-8 servings.

1large cooked turkey leg (or other part of bird, bone in)

1 large cooked turkey thigh (or other part of bird, bone in)
4 cups of water or vegetable broth
½ cup chopped celery
1 ear of corn
¼ cup diced onion
½ cup chopped carrots
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp garlic salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp parsley
8 oz of GF pasta (I used rice penne pasta)

•  In a large stockpot, sauté celery, carrots and onion for about 10 minutes or until soft. Add in water or broth, turkey pieces, corn, salts, pepper, sage and parsley. B
• ring to boil and cook for about 20 minutes. Remove corn and turkey from pot. Cut corn from the cob and return to pot.
• Cut pieces of the turkey meat into small chunks and return to pot. Add in pasta and return to boiling.
• Cooking time will vary at this point, depending on your type of pasta. Just watch the soup closely until pasta is finished cooking. 

Happy Thanksgiving!! Black Friday Shopping Menu and easy recipes!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! May your day be blessed with great food, great people and great conversation. Remember to thank our wonderful Lord for this great day and all your blessings! If you are traveling – please stay safe! Also, if you are cooking – stay safe! Don’t think I haven’t heard of those crazy Thanksgiving Day accidents. I’m not one for Black Friday shopping – unless it involves me in my pajamas with a laptop. However, I know many people LOVE to do it. So I figured I would post a couple options that you can use tomorrow while you are out and about (or tonight!) Just remember, they are just things; don’t get crazy over a deal! Hopefully you find a good deal. Not me though – I’ll be snuggling my babies by the Christmas tree as my shopping is done!!

Obviously, you are going to want something quick and portable that you could possibly make ahead. So try these recipes:

• Cinnamon Roll Scones (make ahead just warm up before you go!)
• Peach Raspberry Muffin (make ahead and warm up!)
• Easy Breakfast Sandwiches (make ahead and warm up!)

You’re going to want a drink to wash all that down so try these:

• Hot Homemade Apple Cider
• Pumpkin Spice Latte

How about a new recipe?? This is a filling and healthy smoothie.

BANANA MOCHA SMOOTHIE (for extra energy!-makes two servings; one for you, one for a friend!)

1 cup almond milk

Ice cubes (about a cup or however much you want!)
1 banana
½ cup strong coffee
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp chia seeds (optional but extra nutrition!)
1 Tbsp honey

• In a blender (I used my Magic Bullet), combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour into a travel mug and hit the door!

Are you a coffee drinker?? Try this one!

MOCHA PEPPERMINT COFFEE

 

1 candy cane, crushed

3 cups strong, black coffee
1 tsp cocoa powder, unsweetened
1-2 tsp honey, depending on desired sweetness
1/3 cup vanilla almond milk
1 tsp non-dairy coffee creamer
1 shot of espresso, if desired

• In a blender, combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. Heat using desired method, either over stove or in microwave. Pour into large travel mugs or coffee cups and enjoy!

Cranberry Pear Crisp with Lavender Crumble

If I could bottle the smell of this dish, I could make millions! This dessert smells absolutely wonderful cooking and tastes even better! I love a good fruit crisp. They are so easy to make and very versatile. I’ve already posted a couple crisp recipes – Cherry Rhubarb is one of my favorites also! I haven’t made a pear crisp before but I needed a quick dessert one evening and my mother-in-law brought over TONS of fresh Asian pears so I thought I would try. I love the combination of pears and cranberries. I also like adding just a little something extra and I thought that lavender would complement the fruits nicely. It turned out great! This would be a perfect addition to your holiday menu!

6 pears, peeled and sliced into ¼” slices

½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup chopped pecans
1 Tbsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp allspice
¼ cup coconut sugar
2 Tbsp GF all purpose flour
1/3 cup fresh pear juice (or apple juice)
Topping
1 cup GF oats
¼ cup potato starch
¼ cup rice flour
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ cup butter or coconut oil
1 tbsp fresh lavender, finely chopped

• In a large bowl, mix together pear slices, cranberries, pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, coconut sugar and flour. Carefully mix with your hands until fruit is coated with dry mixture.
• Pour fruit mixture into a greased 3 qt baking pan or a 9x13 pan and drizzle fruit with juice.
• In a separate bowl, combine oats, potato starch, rice flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter or coconut oil.
• Blend butter and flour mixture with a pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in lavender.
• Sprinkle topping mixture evenly over fruit.
• Bake at 350°F for 50-60 minutes or until crumb topping is slightly brown. Let cool for about 10 minutes. Refrigerate leftovers.

Red Wine Cranberry Sauce

So if you want to have a cranberry sauce that doesn’t come out of a can this holiday season, try this recipe! You can even leave out the wine, but it does give it an extra flavor (don’t worry, you cook out all of the alcohol). This has just the right combination of sweet and tart plus it is made with natural ingredients – no high fructose anything, preservatives, etc. We served this over some chicken and it was delicious. It would also be good on a turkey sandwich or just as a small side dish to your Thanksgiving feast. Who cares how you eat it, just as long as you give it a try! This makes about 2 cups of sauce.

12 oz fresh cranberries

1 cup fresh grapes
2 cups red wine (I used some leftovers from an already opened bottle – no need to waste wine!)
¼ cup orange juice
1/3 cup stevia or sugar or honey
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp chili powder
½ tsp roasted garlic

• In a large saucepan, combine cranberries, grapes, wine and juice. Simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes or until berries and grapes start to pop. 
• Add in sweetener and seasonings.
• Using an immersion blender, blend mixture until smooth. Add more or less sweetener/spices to taste.
• This recipe gives  a slightly tart flavor with just a hint of spice (not much at all!). Store any leftovers in a sealed container in fridge.

Gluten Free Stuffing & Stuffed Acorn Squash

Since it is getting close to Thanksgiving – I figured I’d better share one of my favorite stuffing recipes. This one is a keeper! This year will be hard on us for traveling to families for dinners. However – we will not be missing out on delicious holiday meals! We may get strange looks and some feelings may get hurt – BUT there is no need for me (or the rest of us) to suffer just from eating foods we can’t handle anymore. I will be making all of our foods ahead of time and just bringing them along. This stuffing will definitely be on our menu! It has such a wonderful flavor with the sage and oregano. My favorite way to eat it is stuffed into an acorn squash. The squash gives it the right amount of sweetness to complement the savory flavors. I hope this little dish makes its way to your family table this year!

1 lb of turkey sausage

1 onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 carrots, diced (or ½ cup)
1 apple, diced (I used a sweet red but any kind will work)
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
6 slices of gluten free bread, dried and cubed
¾ cup turkey broth (or water)
1 tsp dried sage
½ tsp dried oregano
1 tsp sea salt
¼ tsp paprika
¼ tsp cumin
¼ cup pecans, chopped

• In a large skillet, brown turkey sausage with olive oil. Add in diced onions, celery, carrots, apple and garlic until cooked through.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine sausage mixture and bread crumbs. Add in seasonings and broth or water.
• Mix until well combined and bread is moist. Stir in pecans.
• To prepare the acorn squash: cut lengthwise and discard seeds. Pierce shell with a knife and put in a glass 2 quart dish, cut side down. Pour ¼ cup water over squash and microwave for 5 minutes. In a large baking pan, place the two pre-cooked halves of acorn squash cut side up.
• Fill squash with as much stuffing as will fit in it. For the remaining stuffing, pour into a greased 9x13 baking pan.
• Bake stuffed squash at 375°F for 20 minutes or until stuffing has started to brown.
• For the extra stuffing, bake at 375°F for 30 minutes or until stuffing is brown and is cooked through.