Turkey Noodle Soup

You will need about two hours for this meal. Even the wait adds to the desire of this hearty warm meal. The aroma will fill the house and have everyone waiting anxiously for dinner. It is worth every minute of preparation time.

The ingredients that you will need for this recipe:

• 1 turkey carcass
• 1 cup of celery
• 2 large onions
• 2 cups of carrots
• Salt (to taste)
• Pepper (to taste)
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 package of noodles
• 1 package of turkey gravy

Take out a large pot and place your turkey carcass into it. Add water to cover the carcass as much as possible. You may have to break the carcass down so that it will fit into the cooking pot. Turn the stove on and let the turkey carcass start to boil. Add about one teaspoon of salt, one tablespoon of pepper and one tablespoon of garlic powder to the boiling water.

After the turkey carcass has come to a boil, turn down the heat so it will simmer. Let it simmer for one hour.

While you are boiling and simmering the turkey carcass, cut up the ingredients that you will later add to the soup. Cut up the celery, onions, and carrots and set them aside. The vegetables do not need to be exact in either quantity or consistency (size of the pieces you chop up). Set the vegetables aside; you will be adding these later.

If you are going to make homemade noodles this is a great time to do so.

Remove the carcass from the stock, and remove the stock from the heat so it will cool a bit. You'll also want to let the carcass cool just a little so that you can remove the meat from it. As you are able, remove any remaining meat from the carcass and put it in a bowl. Make sure that the pieces in the bowl are no larger than bite-size; they will make a great addition to the soup.

If you want to have a low-fat meal, place the turkey stock into the fridge as you are picking the meat off the carcass. As it cools in the fridge, the dissolved fat in the stock will rise to the surface and solidify. You can then easily remove the fat by skimming it from the top of the cooled stock.

Regardless of whether you cool the stock in the fridge or not, you'll want to strain it. This will help you find some of those little bones or cartilage that may have boiled off the carcass.

When your turkey stock is ready, take one cup of the stock and mix it with the gravy mix. Take this mixture and place it back into the full stock. Place the stock back on the stove and begin to heat it. Mix in the other ingredients—meat, carrots, celery, onions, etc. Simmer the ingredients about a half hour.

Finally, add the noodles and cook over low heat for another fifteen to twenty minutes. Your turkey soup is now ready to serve.

Do not forget to have fresh bread or hot rolls to eat with this soup. You'll find that it is a real crowd-pleaser that keeps people coming back for more.