My Frugal Turkey Mealsby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 03 Mar 2008 12:51 PM Last Friday, I roasted a whole 19-pound turkey for my family of five. No, we didn't eat the whole thing at once, of course, but I wanted to share all of the meals that were and will be made from the turkey. It really is very cost effective. The whole turkey cost us about $19. I can add to that another $12 or so for additional meal ingredients, including carrots, potatoes, celery, butter, milk, spices, chicken stock, flour, broccoli, onions, stuffing mix, cranberry sauce and corn (all bought on sale or as cheaply as possible of course). The milk and butter are the most expensive ingredients. Here is how that turkey and other ingredients are feeding us. Keep in mind that some of the meals are being eaten this week, while others are being frozen for use later in the month. Our frugal whole turkey meals are: Six white meat turkey dinners for everyone in the family Six single-serving turkey sandwich lunches Two large pot pies that will yield two meals each for everyone in the family (Four complete meals) One turkey divan-type crockpot meal One fancy gourmet pot pie meal with an herb crust I still have a ton of turkey left which I will probably cut up and freeze for easy additions to future meals. I plan to check out the Food Blog and AllRecipes.com for more ideas. For this one turkey plus the extra ingredients, we have 12 full meals plus enough leftovers to build at least four more meals. That isn't bad for $31! It is less than the price of us all eating out once at a pizza restaurant. Do you have any frugal meal ideas to share for leftover turkey? What other foods so you find to be very frugal? Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here. Related Articles: Whole Turkey Versus Turkey Breasts: Cost Comparison Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments jonesx6 (1606) 03 Mar 2008 04:54 PMHow about turkey tacos, turkey quesilldas (sp?)?? I am thinking if you chop up the turkey small enough you could make chili with it, as well. I enjoy the articles on stretching the food buck. ;o) Laura marinemom8 (125) 04 Mar 2008 12:51 PMUsually when I have a lot of cooked chicken or turkey to use up I will put it in an interesting sauce and serve it with pasta. I try to vary the types of sauce that I make so that the family doesn't realize they are eating so much of the same kind of meat night after night. I might make a stir fry, I will also spice it up and serve in tortilla, and of course there is always the cheapest food in the world (in my opinion)-soup! I am really impressed by how many meals you are going to get out of one turkey, I've decided to check out the prices of frozen turkey next time i go shopping as I am considering doing the same thing. Keep the good ideas coming!  Mary Ann Romans (26876) 04 Mar 2008 01:27 PMI wound up getting an extra gourmet pot pie out of the bargain, although I had to stretch it a bit with using a single cup of cooked chicken! Thanks for the ideas mariemom! What do you usually pair with soup? I like homemade bread and a big salad. marinemom8 (125) 04 Mar 2008 05:38 PMI try to make my soup very hearty so they are a meal in themselves, but I do like to serve cornbread or biscuits with it as they are filling and quick to put together. Salad always seem so expensive to me that I don't make it as often. Good for you getting yet another pie out of the turkey, it is amazing how you can stretch food when you use your creativity. Karen MegfromAllAboutAppearances (330) 04 Mar 2008 05:59 PMYay, turkey! I just got done eating some turkey with horseradish sauce. Yummy : ) AuntJamelle (125) 08 Apr 2009 10:58 AMI like to do Turkey Enchilada Lasanga. Basically layering soft tortilla shells with chunks of turkey, the sauce and cheese. It freezes great. I make the sauce using Cream of Chicken Soup, green chiles and sour cream. Very yummy! I've also made my own taquitos using cooked turkey - or chicken would work too - by throwing it and desired veggies (corn, black beans, etc.) in a food processor. Roll it up in a tortilla, cut in half, secure both pieces with toothpicks and either freeze or go ahead and bake. I spray them with cooking spray before baking, then flip part way through and spray again. It crisps up the shell nicely! Community Tags frugal, Food, meals, turkey, thrifty Discuss this article
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