Soup Recipe for a Chilly Day......

I don't know about you but in my house leftovers aren't our friends. Sure, I cook dinner and there is some left over. My oldest daughter stores it in the fridge (mind you, begrudgingly and fussing the entire time, as she HATES her chore of cleaning up after dinner) with the best of intentions of eating it the next day for lunch..... Well, that almost NEVER happens, as I don't typically eat lunch (yes, I actually forget. Its not an excuse. It really happens!)..... so the leftovers tend to go bad and the dogs get the treat.....

Well, I made this the day after Thanksgiving this year as a way to get rid (and not waste) the leftover turkey. I had never made a creamy soup before so I really wasn't sure how it was going to work out (insert lots of praying here while looking around the kitchen like its a foreign planet!). Imagine my surprise when it not only turned out pretty darn good, but my kiddos actually LOVED it!!! As in, got up and asked for seconds!! But my absolute favorite thing about this recipe is that it only took me a few minutes of prep and then the occasional checking on it. So without further ado.......

*If you have a slow cooker, its great for that. If not a standard stock pot works great too.

Ingredients:
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 4 stalks celery, chopped (2 cups)
- 4 carrots, chopped (2 cups)
- 2 cups diced turkey
- 1 cup brown rice (uncooked)
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 cups chicken broth (2 - 32 oz. containers)
- 2 cans evaporated fat free milk
- 2 cups frozen peas
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour

1. In a skillet, heat oil and sauté onion until tender. Approx. 4 minutes.

2. Place onion, celery, carrots, pepper, salt, brown rice and turkey in stock pot. Pour chicken broth over it.

3. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours until rice is tender.

4. Stir in frozen peas. Cook for another 30 minutes.

5. Mix milk and flour. Stir into soup and cook for another 30 minutes or until soup thickens.

**I made this and served with warm brown bread and my family just ate it up. It also works well to freeze!

***Please note: I do not remember where I originally got this recipe so this was from memory.....

You can also substitute chicken in the recipe instead of turkey. For those of you who cook turkey and/or chicken for Christmas dinner.... this recipe comes just in time to save those leftovers from waste!

Please let me know if you have any other variations on this recipe or any other great left over recipes in the comments below! Have a wonderful day...... I am off to tend to my little sick kiddo.....