Mystery Meat

Now what? So you have all this leftover meat...what are you going to do with it? Keep topping it with gravy? Freeze it? Throw it away without telling anyone? (Especially your friends who actually believe in not wasting food.) You really should do something with it before it becomes unrecognizable, a.k.a. "mystery meat". I'm sure you could find a-million-plus recipes online for ways to use your not-so-precious leftovers, but wouldn't you rather get recipes from a trusted friend? I thought so. Here are a few of mine. I would love to get a few of yours also!

TURKEY WILD RICE SOUP
Ingredients:
30-ish oz. chicken broth (it really doesn't need to be exact)
2 c. water
1/2 c. uncooked rice (wild, if you have it; whatever, if you don't--don't you already love this recipe?)
1/2 c. chopped green onions (or regular onions)
1/2 c. butter (or margarine, if you like it--we can talk about that later...)
3/4 c. flour
salt and pepper
1/4 t. poultry seasoning
2 c. milk (if you didn't gain any weight on Dec. 25, you could use half-and-half, otherwise, milk works great)
3-6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional)
Bite-size pieces of leftover turkey, whatever amount you want

In a soup pot, combine broth, water, rice, and onions. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer 25-30 minutes. Meanwhile, melt butter in a medium saucepan. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Continue stirring for a few minutes until smooth. Stir in milk and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Add milk mixture to broth mixture. Stir. Then add bacon and turkey. Heat and stir for another 10 minutes or so. Serve.

TURKEY POT PIE
Ingredients:
Double pie crust (you can also make it with just one, see below)
2 cans cream of potato soup
1 and 1/4 c. milk
1 can mixed vegetables (or use leftover ones you have on hand)
1/4 to 1/2 c. frozen peas, thawed
1 c. (or more) cooked turkey

Lay one pie crust in pie plate. Combine all other ingredients and pour into crust. Top with the other crust, seal, cut a few slits in top, and bake about 1 hour at 350 degrees. OPTIONAL: Lightly grease pie plate, pour ingredient mixture directly into pie plate and top with one crust. Wrap edges of crust over lip of plate to seal, cut a few slits, and bake as above.

My favorite pie crust recipe:
Combine 2 1/2 c. flour and 1 t. salt in a large bowl. Cut 1 c. shortening into flour mixture using pastry cutter. In a small bowl, use a fork to beat together 1/4 c. water and 1 egg. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir together. Use hands to form into 2 balls of dough. Roll each ball out to 1/8 inch thick and use as desired.

CRUSTLESS BROCCOLI-HAM QUICHE (Versatile, easy, delicious, and low-fat--what more could you want?)
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 can evaporated milk (skim is fine)
3 T. flour
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 t. dry mustard (optional)
3/4 c. shredded cheddar or swiss (or whatever)
1 c. chopped cooked ham
1 c. small broccoli florets, cooked but still firm
(You can use bacon instead of ham, and cooked mushrooms are great in the quiche; so is chopped fresh basil.)

Whisk together eggs and milk in a medium bowl. Whisk in flour and seasonings. Gently stir in cheese, ham, and broccoli. Pour into greased 8x8-inch baking dish and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes or until quiche is set. Let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Hope these are useful. And I guess let's not forget to be thankful for all this excess food. There really are starving people in many parts of the world, just like Mom said.