Hey folks,
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Like most people can attest to, we’ve got a fridge full of leftovers right about now.
I wanted to share a couple practical ways to stretch those leftovers—especially if you picked up one of our turkeys.
These aren’t complicated recipes or anything fancy, just honest ways to get more value out of what you’ve already got.
Turkey (or Chicken) Stock from the Carcass
This one’s pretty simple. After you’ve carved off all the good meat, don’t toss that carcass. Break it up a bit, throw it in your biggest pot with some water, maybe add an onion, a couple carrots, some celery if you’ve got it. Let it simmer for a few hours.
What you end up with is real stock—not the stuff in a box. It’s richer, has more flavor, and honestly just makes everything better.
Use it for soup, gravy, cooking rice, whatever. We freeze ours in quart containers and pull them out all winter.
Leftover Meat Casseroles & Stews
If you’ve got picked-over turkey or ham sitting in containers, throw together a quick casserole or stew. Mix it with some vegetables, add stock or cream, top with mashed potatoes or stuffing. Bake it. Done.
Same goes for beef roasts or pork—dice it up, add to a pot with potatoes, carrots, and stock. Let it simmer. It’s comfort food that uses what you’ve already paid for.
Freeze What You Can’t Use This Week
This one doesn’t sound like a great revelation really, but a lot of folks forget to do it.
If you’re tired of eating the same leftovers, portion them out and freeze them. Turkey meat, gravy, even mashed potatoes freeze pretty well.
Pull them out in a few weeks when you’re not sick of them anymore.
Soup Bones for Beef Broth
While we’re talking about making stock—if you grabbed beef from us recently and have bones (or if you want to grab some soup bones), the process is the same. Roast them first for deeper flavor, then simmer for hours. Makes incredible broth for soups and stews all winter.
We’ve got grass-fed beef, pork, chicken, and (sometimes) eggs in stock right now if you need to restock after the holiday feast.
Curbside pickup is available 24/7 at the farm, or we deliver Thursdays to Charlottesville and surrounding areas.
Let us know what you think—do you have any leftover tricks you swear by? I’d love to hear them.
Thanks for reading and until next week …
Thanks for following us and allowing us to serve you. If you have questions, give us a shout! Have a wonderful week!
With our appreciation,
Jason, Lexi, & Family
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