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Maybe you purchased a bigger turkey than you needed because it didn’t cost much more. This means you have a turkey carcass with meat left over. But what to do with it?

This week’s ‘Super Saving’ idea

I’ll show you how to turn that Thanksgiving turkey (or any chicken or wild game bird) into many more yummy, nourishing and healthy meals for you and your garden.

First: Use a sharp knife to thinly slice the white meat from the bone.

Package the slices in meal-size portions and freeze for hot sandwiches. Serve smothered in hot gravy on a bun or cold turkey wraps with cranberry. Yum!

Now cut off all other bits of meat. Package this meat and freeze to be used later as burrito filling, added to soup, or as a meat topping on your Friday night pita pizza.

Now, let’s make bone broth from the naked carcass.

Bone broth

Bone broth is nourishing and delicious. Making it is a process of extracting the nutrients from the bones. Here how we do this: We use a counter top turkey cooker or a large pot.

• Break up the carcass as much as you can.
• Place the bones into your pot/roaster.
• Add 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar and 2 teaspoons of salt.
• Fill the cooker or pot 2/3 full or up to the full line with water.
• Set the cooker at 300 or the pot on medium. Keep the broth simmering for 17 hours (we set everything up in the afternoon and let it go overnight). The long, slow simmer breaks down the cartilage and allows the glucosamine and collagen to transfer into the water.
• Place a colander over a large bowl. Pour the contents through the strainer. Your big bowl is now full of nourishing bone broth.

To store the broth you can pressure can it or pour it into one-litre containers and freeze for later.

But don’t throw out those bones yet. Make a second and third extraction. Don’t forget to add the vinegar and salt to each batch. Each time you simmer the bones, the broth will have less flavour. Use this lighter broth for the base of tomato or vegetable soups.

The bones will begin to disintegrate after the third extraction, but you can still make a fertilizer to amend your garden soil (process below).

Meal idea

A simple, quick meal: Boil noodles in the broth. Twist the noodles into a pile in the middle of a soup bowl. Pour the hot broth around the noodles. Enjoy this comforting rich meal with a side of bread and butter. Your joints will thank you for supporting them with so many nutrients.

Tomato soup recipe

Heat together:

• One litre of broth
• One can of herbed tomatoes

Purée. Scoop the hot soup into a bowl. Top with half and half or sour cream.

Serve with crackers.

Bone meal

• Remove and discard the largest bones. Lay the small bones out, single layer on a cookie sheet.
• Dry overnight in your oven at the lowest temperature.
• When the bones are very dry, pulverize them into a powder.

Spread this nourishing bone meal over the area you’ll be planting tomatoes in next year.

Your tomato plants will benefit from this extra hit of nutrition.

Shopping saver tip

When purchasing turkey or chicken, buy bigger than you need. The larger bird won’t cost much more and the leftovers will keep you eating many more healthy meals for almost nothing!

Thanks for reading.