RECIPE: Turkey Vegetable Soup

Tired of looking for recipes of casseroles for leftover turkey? I'm not sure what Turkey Tetrazzini is, but it sounds like it's loaded with carbs. 

After Zumba today I stopped by a local grocery store and picked up a few things to throw into a pot and call soup. I wasn't sure what I wanted, so I bought a few things I knew would be safe … Cabbage, Yellow squash, and spinach. s luck would have it, what I made was quite good and worthy of blogging.

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups Trader Joe's Turkey Broth (or equivalent)

3 cups cooked and chopped leftover turkey

2 cups chopped cabbage (I used one small head, minus the core)

2 cups fresh baby spinach

2 yellow squash, sliced

1 teaspoon garlic, chopped

1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 sprig each of fresh rosemary, sage and thyme

1/4 cup Trader Joe's quick cook barley (optional)

5 - 6 croutons

A few sprinkles of fresh parmesan

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Pour broth into a soup pot and bring to a boil, adding cut cabbage, squash and turkey as they are ready. Cover.

2. Add fresh herbs, salt and garlic … Stir. 

3. Reduce heat and simmer soup for an hour. 

4. Add spinach, then the quick cook barley, if you choose to add it. 

5. Simmer for 20 more minutes.

6. Place soup into bowls, add a few crunchy croutons, then lightly sprinkle parmesan on top. 

Serve and enjoy!

RECIPE: Thanksgiving Dinner Trader Joe's Style

Every year of my life I have had Thanksgiving dinner with my family in Tennessee. Well, all but a couple of years when we were flying there on Thanksgiving Day. This year we are at home in California. Since I've always been in Tennessee, we've always spent the day with my family. My sister-in-law wasn't there this year either. Her daughter just gave birth to a beautiful baby earlier this week, so she's at their home helping them. She said this was the first time in 27 years she's not been with our family, too. Not to mention this was the first Thanksgiving without my dad. Anyway, we will be getting together soon, so we'll make up for lost time then. Dad definitely was the glue that held our family together. I miss you, dad.

So, with many changes in traditions, it's time to try new things and start our own traditions. Conrad and I talked over options of what to do for Thanksgiving dinner and we quickly ruled out making reservations at local restaurants. We discussed ordering a meal from a local restaurant or grocery store and quickly ruled that out, as well. We ended up cooking at home. We bought a 12 pound turkey ...

 I rinsed it, dried, it, put salt, pepper, fresh sage, rosemary and thyme inside, along with the neck and the organs and a slices sweet onion … 

 I also placed a couple of slices of bacon inside the cavity, as well. I rubbed the skin with olive oil, then generously salted and peppered the skin.

 I added a few more fresh herbs … 

 Then covered the bird in BACON! I had preheated the oven to 500°, so I put the bird in for 30 minutes before reducing the temperature to 350° for the duration of the roasting time. As you know, cooking time varied by oven and size of the bird, but it's done when the temperature reached 161 degrees in the thickest part of the breast. After it's done, take the bird out of the oven, place it on a large platter, cover it with foil and let it rest for 30 minutes before carving. 

While the bird was roasting I made dressing. Some folks call it stuffing, but I grew up calling it dressing.  I had never tried Trader Joe's Thanksgiving dinner fixin's before, but I will definitely use them again. To sum it up in one word … DELICIOUS!!!

I added a few of my own ideas to their stuffing mix recipe, including a pound of sage sausage, chicken broth instead of water for a richer flavor, and an egg to hold it together better.
First you empty 4 cups of water (or broth), 4 tablespoons butter, and the seasoning mix packet into a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Stir often and let it gently boil for 3 - 5 minutes. I let it go 6.

 Fry the sausage … 

 Oh, and I added poultry seasoning! What stuffing/dressing is complete without it!

 Ready to go in the over … 350° for 50 minutes.

Yum! Finished product!

We also had grilled asparagus with olive oil, fresh thyme, salt, pepper, and fresh grated parmesan. In the background there's a triple crock pot with mashed potatoes for Conrad, mashed sweet potatoes for me, and Trader Joe's turkey gravy in the third one. 

Ding! And, the bird is ready! The bacon kept it moist, golden brown, and crispy skin with tender meat throughout!

Conrad made his famous deviled eggs, too. We splurged a little by having the dressing, a small piece of homemade rosemary bread, and cranberry sauce … Also from Trader Joe's. 

The table is set and dinner is served!

 Definitely a member of the clean plate club tonight!

RECIPE: Rosemary Olive Oil Bread

I found this recipe while surfing the web a few days ago and would have tried it earlier but we didn't have any fresh parmesan. I went to Trader Joe's yesterday and fixed that problem! I found this recipe on: Life's A Plate and had to give it a try.
INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4 cup almond butter
• 3 Tbsp olive oil (use good quality for taste)
• 1/4 cup almond flour
• 3 large eggs
• 1 Tbsp agave or honey
• 1/4 cup arrowroot powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1-1.5 Tbsp freshly finely chopped rosemary (I opened a fresh jar of Trader Joe's Rosemary as I didn't have any fresh.)

DIRECTIONS:

• Beat the almond butter and the olive oil together.
• Add in eggs and agave.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the almond flour, arrowroot, salt, baking soda and Parmesan cheese.
• Add dry ingredients to wet.
• Fold in rosemary.
• Pour into loaf pan that has been coated with olive oil and dusted with a bit of almond flour.
• Bake approximately 45 minutes at 325 or until toothpick test is clean.

Ready for the oven ...

 Fresh out of the oven ...

 Sliced and ready to eat!

 Can you smell the rosemary?

Tomorrow night we'll probably be having smoked turkey and home made Paleo mayonnaise on this bread!

**Note** Conrad likes this bread so much he gave it his official seal of endorsement!