Day After Thanksgiving Turkey Rice Soup

It is the day after Thanksgiving and big surprise, we have left over turkey!  My sister made 30 pounds of turkey and there were just 25 of us.  Two of those 25 were babies so they did not eat much.  We did share the leftover turkey and give some to the other guests but I was still left with two Ziploc bags of turkey!  I thought a soup would be the perfect idea.  I found this recipe on http://www.allrecipes.com/. It is definitely tasty but I made a few alterations.  I did not have a whole turkey carcass but I did have a wishbone that I threw into the soup instead.  I also used mashed potatoes to thicken the soup rather than stuffing.  Initially I thought we did not have stuffing but after I made the soup I did find a bag of it in the fridge.   I used much much more chicken broth and water than the recommended 2-1/2 quarts.  If you use just the recommended amounts the soup will be more like a casserole.  Just sayin.  Another change I made is that I used brown rice rather than white rice because that is what I had in my pantry.  I also had to cook the rice quite a bit longer than 25 minutes.  The last change I made to the recipe is that I left out the peas.  My son doesn't like peas. The soup is really good if you make a few tweaks and it is a great way to use up some extra turkey!

Day After Thanksgiving Turkey Rice Soup

Ingredients:

1 picked over turkey carcass
1-1/2 cups leftover stuffing
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 onion, peeled and sliced
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon ground sage
4 quarts chicken broth (increased from 2-1/2 quarts)
4 cups water (added by me)
garlic powder to taste
ground white pepper, to taste
2 cups (uncooked) regular long-grain white rice
1 (16 oz) package frozen green peas

Directions:

1.  Place the turkey carcass in a large, deep pot, and add the stuffing, celery, carrots, onion, bay leaves, poultry seasoning, sage, and chicken broth.  Pour in water to cover.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat to medium, and simmer for about 1 hour, skimming off any foam.  Remove the carcass and any bones.  Pick any meat off and return to the pot, discarding bones and skin.  Remove the bay leaves. 

2.  Season to taste with garlic powder and pepper.  Stir in the rice and return to a boil over medium-high heat.  Lower heat to medium, and simmer 20 minutes.  Stir in the peas, and continue to simmer until rice is tender, about 15 minutes.  (Times were increased by me.)   Adjust seasonings to taste. 

Enjoy!

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

I haven't done much with pumpkin this year on my blog but I did see an article about making toasted pumpkin seeds for a snack in Parade Magazine. Since I happened to still have my Halloween pumpkin sitting on my kitchen table I thought "hmm, maybe I'll make some toasted pumpkin seeds!"  I have never tried doing this before so it would be a new and interesting idea.  I also thought it would be fun to share it with all of you.  So, I proceeded to cut the pumpkin in half and scrape out the seeds (kind of yucky) then I picked off the membranes and washed them off in the kitchen sink.  The next step is to spread the cleaned seeds into an oiled baking sheet; dry them in a 300 degree oven for 30 minutes.  Take out and toss with 2 Tbsp melted butter and seasonings (for sweet:  1-1/2 Tbsp brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and a pinch of nutmeg; for savory: 1/2 teaspoon course salt, 1-1/2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese, and a pinch of black pepper).  Roast at 375 degrees for 7 minutes and you're done!

These pumpkin seeds are easy to make, quick and yummy to eat.

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook