Everyone loves turkey for the holidays, but they quickly tire of it by the end of the week. A big turkey usually means a lot of leftover turkey meat. No frugal person in their right mind will throw a scrap of meat away.
I made three excellent meals from some leftover turkey I had over the holidays. Before I tell you about the meals, I will first suggest you read My Frugal Turkey Meals by Mary Ann Romans. To add to her list, here are my frugal turkey meals that I made from leftover turkey and items I already had in my pantry.
Instant Turkey Soup:
I took a bag of leftover frozen turkey breast out of the freezer and tossed it in the crock pot with a can of beef broth. When it had thawed I poured a can of chicken and dumplings and a cup of peas into the crock pot for instant chicken soup. This would work with any vegetables or canned soup you have. (I always use meat like chicken or turkey to ‘beef’ up my canned soups.)
Turkey Fried Rice:
I took about a pound of thawed leftover turkey cut it up into 1 inch long pieces. I pulled out my wok and added some oil and scrambled two eggs. I added ½ cup of chopped mushrooms and 1 cup of peas, then I threw in 2 cups of cooked brown rice and the shredded turkey. I added some soy sauce and my family of four gobbled it up.
Barbecue Turkey:
I made this one the day after Christmas before cutting up and freezing the rest of the leftovers. I grabbed the wings and legs off the turkey and put them in a baking dish. This gave me six pieces of turkey, 2 wings, 2 drumsticks and 2 thighs. I covered these with barbecue sauce served them with left over stuffing and rice and beans. Dark meat is always better with barbecue sauce!
~Andrea Hermitt writes for parenting (specifically teens), the home blog, and also the frugal blog, and homeschooling at families.com.
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