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Great Leftover Turkey Recipe- Turkey Bone Gumbo
What do you do with the leftover turkey and carcass from Thanksgiving? Make turkey gumbo, of course! More than just turkey soup, its a great way to use all of the turkey with little waste, and is a great alternative to turkey sandwiches.
This recipe was originally printed in the Times Picayune (the local New Orleans newspaper) a few years ago, and my family and I have been making it almost every year since. I lost my original copy of the recipe, but luckily one of my family members had it written down. It is called “turkey bone gumbo“, due to the fact that it gets its incredible flavor from the delicious stock made from the leftover turkey bones, but it could also be called turkey sausage gumbo.
Hope you enjoy!
Turkey Bone Gumbo
For the stock (should make about 8 cups):
1 turkey carcass
3 ribs of celery, cut into 4 inch pieces
2 med. onions, quartered
Enough water to cover the carcass (should be about a gallon)
2 tsp. of salt
1 tbsp black peppercorns
3 bay leaves
Place the carcass in a large pot. Add the onions, celery, salt, peppercorns, bay leaves and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for two hours. Remove from heat, and skim off ant oil or fat that has risen to the top. Strain through a large fine mesh strainer. Save any meat that has fallen off, and pick off any remaining meat that is left. Save the onions and celery for use in the recipe as well.
For the gumbo:
3/4 cu. vegetable oil
3/4 cu. all purpose flour
1 1/2 cu. chopped onions
1 cu. chopped bell pepper
1/2 cu. chopped celery
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional-if too hot)
1/2 lb. smoked sausage, chopped
8 cups turkey stock
1 1/2 lbs. turkey meat plus any leftover from making the stock
Onions and celery leftover from making stock (chopped)
2 tbsp. parsley, chopped
2 tbsp green onion, chopped
In a large pot (cast iron, if available) combine the oil and flour to make a roux. Slowly and constantly stir the mixture about 20 to 25 minutes, until it is a dark brown (chocolate) color. (Note-many people find making a roux difficult-if you burn it you have to start over, here is a good tutorial on making a roux) Add the salt, cayenne, bell pepper, onions and celery. Cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.
Add the sausage and cook for another 5 minutes, again stirring frequently. Add the stock and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes. Add the turkey meat and reserved onions and celery and cook for 15 minutes. Add the parsley and green onions.
Serve in a bowl over rice.
Enjoy!
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Happy Thanksgiving from Think Your Way To Wealth!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, and you are spending time being thankful in the company of relatives or friends if you are able to do so.
So chow down on the turkey and fixings, but try not to over do it! I’ll be spending almost all day with relatives on both sides of the family, so it should be a great day.
This evening I’ll post a great turkey gumbo recipe using a turkey stock made from the leftover turkey carcass that I’ll be enjoying tomorrow, so stay tuned and save your turkey bones!
Take care,
RC
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10 Tips for a Financially Stress Free Christmas
When you are a kid, Christmas is probably the best day of the year, maybe even better than your birthday. The anticipation, the holiday traditions, and even time off from school make it a very enjoyable time of the year.
Fast forward 20 to 30 years, and, especially if you have children and other friends and relatives to buy presents for, it can end up being a lot less enjoyable. Even shopping for loved ones can be more of a chore than enjoyable, especially fighting the crowds at the mall or a retail store, or trying to figure out what to give that special someone who seems to have everything.
Even worse, all of the spending around the Christmas season can deplete your savings account and even cause you to go into debt if you are not paying attention. Certainly, when you don’t have a game plan for your holiday shopping, it is a lot easier to spend more than you need to or even should, depending on your budget.
Start planning carefully now
Do you know all of the people you need to buy presents for? What about holiday parties? Do you need to bring a gift for a person or gift exchange, or a bottle of wine to your neighbor’s party? This is one I am always forgetting, and it ends up costing me because I have to run to the store at the last minute and try to pick a bottle of wine or something that doesn’t look too cheap-and I usually spend more than I would really like.
Make a list
Brainstorm and think of everyone you are planning to spend money on this year, and every occasion that you will buy something to bring. OF COURSE, you won’t forget your kids, or your wife or girlfriend, but what about your administrative assistant at work? Does everyone chip in to buy something for the boss? Do you donate money to a charity every year at Christmas time? Write it all down so you don’t have any surprises as Christmas gets closer.
After you write the list, let it sit for a couple of days and re-examine it. Did you forget anyone? If so, put them on it. Leaving off just a few people or parties where you need to bring something can cost you money you don’t think you will be spending.
Check it twice- and eliminate what you can
Go through the list and think about who is on it. Did you forget anyone? Can you eliminate anyone? Will your second cousin Bill mind if you doesn’t exchange gifts this year? Give him a call and find out. He probably won’t because he didn’t really like the fruitcake you were sending him every Christmas, even though he said he did!
Set a budget or spending limit
Even if you don’t like the “B” word, you need a budget or an idea of how much you are going to spend on each person or occasion, and how much you are going to spend in total. If you’ve saved money in a Christmas fund all year long, you may already have an idea of your limit. If not, can you afford to spend as much as your list is adding up to? If not, you need to cut back on how much you will spend on each person, or eliminate some of the items on the list.
Be practical
While you really need to buy a $40 bottle of wine to bring to your boss’s Christmas party when a $12 bottle will do just fine? Does your nephew have to have an Ipod or will another brand of MP3 player work just as well and cost a lot less?
Add a buffer
Whatever you come up with as a holiday spending budget, add at least 10%. So if you are at your budget limit, try to cut back to about 90% of that budget. Leave yourself a buffer to allow yourself a little wiggle room if the right gift comes along for that special person, or if you just can’t find something for the amount you planned for someone else.
Start comparison shopping now- and online too
Believe it or not , there are many good sales and great deals that can be found both before and after the shopping season really kicks off on Black Friday. I have been doing more and more online shopping over the last few years and I really like finding great deals on the Internet and getting them shipped to my house.
Jump on the good deals when you see them
When you see a gift idea for someone at a great price, go ahead and get it. The more gifts you buy now, especially at a good price, the less you will have to buy as Christmas grows near and the malls and retail stores become really crowded.
Be flexible
Don’t worry if you don’t spend as much as you planned on someone, or if you spent $20 extra on your younger child than your older one. Unless you got the younger child a whole lot more presents than the older too, they will never notice. If you have to spend a little more, and it doesn’t break your budget, do it without worrying- you goal is to make someone happy.
Relax!
The Christmas season is about giving freely of yourself, spending the holidays with those you love, and relaxing. Hopefully these tips help you enjoy the holiday shopping season a little more this year, with a little less stress and frustration when it comes to holiday shopping.
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Free- One year of Triple Advantage Credit Monitoring, Experian Scores and Credit Reports from MSN Money
Edit: 11/26/08-I’ve received an email that someone just tried to sign up, and apparently they have reached the 10,000 limit and the offer is now expired. Sorry if you missed it!
MSN Money in partnership with Experian and the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) are “working to raise awareness about the importance of credit monitoring” by giving away 10,000 free one-year memberships to Experian’s Triple Advantage service. You will not need to enter a credit card number to take advantage of this offer, so you will not have to worry about them charging you after the free year is up.
From the MSN article:
Triple Advantage offers consumers daily monitoring of their credit reports at all three national credit-reporting companies and alerts them if key changes are detected. You also get unlimited access to your Experian credit reports and Experian PLUS credit score.
To sign up directly for the credit-monitoring-service giveaway, visit http://www.money-promotions.com/. You’ll be asked to enter an e-mail address only; replies to Hotmail and Live.com accounts may take several hours. If you use gmail, be sure to check your spam folder.
MSN Money also offers credit professionals available for questions you may have after reviewing your report.
To post your question for a professional credit counselor, visit the Ask A Credit Counselor message board on MSN Money.
You must be one of the 1st 10,000 to sign up in order to take advantage of this free offer. If you are interested, do it soon, as I am sure they will reach the limit quickly-probably within a day or so.
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Weekend Roundup- Thanksgiving Week Edition
Its almost Turkey Time! Thanksgiving Day is this Thursday, and while many people are very concerned about the state of the economy, fear or a recession, and rising unemployment rates, take a few minutes this week to think about all of the things you have, and be thankful for them. Hope you enjoy the week!
I participated in 2 carnivals this past week.
David at Moneyning hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance- Smile Edition and included my article “Asset Allocation and Your Age”
My favorites from the COPF:
Money is 100% Emotional from Ron at The Wisdom Journal
Saving Money on Health Care at PT Money’s Pay Yourself First Challenge blog (Don’t Forget to vote for PT (Phil) here!)
Free Money Finance presents Why AAA is Worth the Annual Fee
The Financial Wellness Project hosted the Festival of Frugality #152- Affected by Recession Edition and included my article “Mastering Frugality- The Art and Science of Saving Money”.
Great reads from the FOF:
Getting Started With Once A Month Cooking at Simply Saving
Frugal Storage Solutions for the Small Kitchen posted at Cheap Healthy Good
Other good reads from my RSS reader:
Manage Your Spending, Not Your Bills from No Debt Plan
Specific Saving Goals to Increase Accountability at Paid Twice
When is it the Right Time to Start a Business? at The Digerati Life
If you haven’t yet done so, be sure to subscribe to the Think Your Way To Wealth RSS feed, or via email to get all of the latest posts and updates free.
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Mastering Frugality Series- Delaying Gratification
This is the first part of a 4-part series on trying to “master” what I consider the key components of frugal living. They are delaying gratification, developing self-sufficiency, reducing waste, and simple living and avoiding consumerism.
As I discussed previously in my post about Mastering Frugality, delaying gratification can be an important component of developing frugal habits.
Everything is instant these days. You can talk to anyone around the world from anywhere on a cell phone or over the internet, you can shop 24/7 from your computer, and can get a gourmet meal to go on your way home from work. No one really likes to wait for things these days, and I know I am guilty of this quite often myself. In this day and age of instant gratification, learning how to delay purchases for a while and avoiding impulse buys can really help improve your bottom line and reduce your overall spending. Here are some tips for delaying gratification and avoiding impulse buys.
Avoid temptation- Sometimes, being in the wrong place at the wrong time (like an electronics store like Best Buy if you are into tech gadgets, for example) makes it hard to keep from making impulse purchases. Avoiding these situations, and avoiding “window shopping” or shopping without a real purpose can keep you from making spur of the moment purchases you really shouldn’t be making.
Establish a waiting period
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