Thanksgiving leftovers used to make me a lot happier than they do at this point in my life! When I was working and feeding a family, I enjoyed having quick turkey and dressing in the freezer. I could come home and pop a casserole in the microwave and we had a good meal ... fast! Now, I don't have a reason to worry about that, and this year I planned to have as little food left as possible!
After sending a care package home with my daughter's family, I had this left: 2 cups of wild rice, 1 cup of mashed potatoes, half a box of fresh mushrooms that I didn't use, 3 cups of really good gravy, some turkey and 3 scoops of dressing! I froze the dressing to have with another meal; froze the turkey to make turkey salad sandwich spread later in December; froze half of the gravy poured over the wild rice for a soup pot in January; and the rest went into Cream of Mushroom Soup!
It was delicious and easy. I sauteed a 1/2 cup of chopped onion, a 1/2 cup of chopped celery, and a 1/2 cup of chopped carrots in a little butter and canola oil ... until they were tender. Then I added the mushrooms (sliced) and the gravy. I let all that simmer together; added the mashed potatoes for thickening ... and a couple cups of Half and Half. Because the gravy was well seasoned, I added just a little more salt and pepper ... and a sprig of thyme. This makes great soup! At my house, it won't last long, but if you cook for one, you can freeze small portions. Thaw/heat in the microwave for a quick lunch! This soup is "free" because it came from leftovers!
I'll be sharing this recipe with a few parties. Make sure you click through to see the other posts.
The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Monday
Full Plate Thursday-Miz Helen's Country Cottage
