Turkey and Wild Rice Crock Pot Recipe

Well, Thanksgiving was fun!  Leftovers are fun too...what to do with all that food?  Well, tonight I tried a new recipe using my leftover turkey.  It was a hit with the hubby and me and the kids choked it down (unless it's straight sugar, they choke down everything I serve...).  The best part?  It took 5 minutes to prepare this morning and the crock pot did all the work during the day and we had a wonderful soup to warm up to!  It took another 5 or 10 minutes to do the last minute stuff in the recipe, but no big deal.  Pair it up with some leftover rolls and some eggnog or sparkling cider and we were all set!  (I paired mine up with leftover Hot Buttered Rum, but let's not split hairs...)

Creamy Turkey and Wild Rice Soup {Crock Pot}

 

Ingredients

• 4 cups chicken or turkey broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 (4.3 oz) pkg. Long Grain Wild Rice (any brand)
• 1 cup diced or chopped carrots
• 1 cup diced or chopped celery
• 1/2 onion diced
• ½ tsp salt
• pepper to taste
• ½ cup flour
• ¼ cup butter
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups cooked and shredded turkey or chicken

Instructions

1. In a slow cooker, add the broth, water, rice mix along with seasonings from seasoning packet, carrots, and celery. Stir to combine.
2. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
3. When soup is almost ready, melt the butter in a sauce pan. Add the flour, salt, and pepper, to the butter and whisk together. Cook for a minute or two until the mixture begins to turn golden brown.
4. Slowly whisk the milk into the flour mixture until smooth and well combined. Stir the mixture into the soup in the slow cooker until well combined.
5. Add the turkey or chicken to the slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover and cook for 5-10 more minutes until the turkey or chicken is heated through. Serves 8.

Notes

For a broth type soup, you can skip making the cream mixture and just and the turkey or chicken.   Recipe adapted from Real Mom Kitchen.

For my version, I totally forgot to add in the 2 cups water.  Still came out wonderful.  And I accidentally bought beef stock and not turkey or chicken...still was great.  I also cooked mine for only 5 hours since I'm not fond of mushy veggies in my soups (started it at noonish - chopped up veggies and started the cooker after going shopping in the morning with the hubby.  And, unfortunately, it wasn't for Christmas presents...our dishwasher went kaput just before Thanksgiving Dinner started...nice timing, huh?)

All in all, very good.  It made plenty for my family of four, so I will freeze the leftovers and reheat again for another cold night.  Should keep very well in the freezer, even with the milk in it.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Remembering For What We Are Thankful

Last year (2011), I hosted Thanksgiving for the first time.  In years past, we've just celebrated with my parents - even after I was married we spent the day with them (my in-laws got Christmas).  But last year my parents passed on the tradition to my family.  They claimed it was because we just bought our first home and now had the space, but I think secretly they were ready to not have that hassle anymore!  (They still host Christmas Eve).

I am a hostess at heart and jumped at the chance.  I also am not afraid to delegate, so Thanksgiving Dinner became more of a potluck.  I decorated the table, put out matching dishes, and started a new tradition.

I purchased a plain white tablecloth.  On each corner of the cloth, I wrote in Sharpie a Thanksgiving quote from scripture.

After dinner, everyone at the table took another Sharpie and wrote what they were thankful for, signed it, and put the date down (especially the year).

(this is my favorite, of course...)

Once the dishes were cleared, the thankfuls from my family was clear.  This year, in 2012, I will be bringing out this same tablecloth (it's been washed, of course, and the sharpies stayed put) and having my guests sign again.  Won't it be a wonderful problem to have in the future to find an empty spot?  What a great memory to see from year to year!  And to see my children's notes (my eldest's from 2011 is in the top left corner - she took up nearly the entire side there!) will be precious to see as the years go by.  

I know my daughter is really looking forward to this.  She wrote a story about it at school (even without me reminding her of this activity last year - so it must have stuck in her mind!). And then when she asked if we were going to do it again this year, she squealed with excitement when I said yes.  Oh, the joys of a child!

What are your favorite Thanksgiving traditions?

UPDATE: Here are pictures from our 2012 tradition!
The table was a bit longer this year...(more guests!)  But here it is with two years of signatures

Our place settings:

Rei the Reindeer

I like the whole idea of "Elf on a Shelf".  I have never bought the book or read it, but I see enough photos and blogs about it, I think I have a pretty good idea of the premise.  However, I have not been (ever) gung-ho about Santa.  I don't mind him, but I'm not going to make a huge effort to see him in the mall or to sneak around my kids or go crazy with the Santa decorations.  We do stockings, we play along and tell the girls that Santa lives in the North Pole and comes to everyone on Christmas eve, but we don't get carried away.  I want my kids to remember the REAL reason for Christmas.

But I love the playful attitude of the Elf!  So, how to I merge the two?  How do I make Christmas not all about being on the naughty or nice list and still keep it fun and magical, but focused on Christ?

Then I stumbled upon this blog.  She was facing the same dilemma   But, she had a solution!  And I shamelessly stole her idea, tweaked it a bit, and made it my own.  I took her letter and re-wrote it to better fit our family and the fact that we're not using an Elf, but a Reindeer.  I liked how instead of the Elf "tattling" on the kids to Santa each night (as the book that started it all describes), our Reindeer is learning from OUR children about grace and forgiveness and love.  That's what I love about this gal's idea - turn the Elf on the Shelf into a teaching moment (or moments!).  When Rei the Reindeer does naughty things (albeit, not as naughty as some of the photos I've seen...I don't have time to be that extravagant!), it will be an opportunity for Ash and Em to teach little Rei about right and wrong and grace.  I shared it with the husband and he gave his stamp of approval.  So, come December 1st, we're giving this Elf on the Shelf thing a try, but we're doing it our way and with God and His Son Jesus as the primary focus.

Here's Rei.  His name is from the Bible (it's just a coincidence that it's the first three letters of Reindeer...) and it means "my friend, my companion".  His story - verse - is found in 1 Kings 1:8.

He's cute, isn't he? ;)

And for those of you wondering, here is the letter.

Have a very Merry Christmas and although it's cliche...remember the Reason for the Season!