Turkey Soup with Dumplings! YUM!

Well, the last 2 days I have been down and out with a stomach virus.  This morning I woke up with my stomach feeling fine but now I'm feeling like I'm coming down with a cold.  So since I made that huge turkey on saturday and in honor of the cold I know is coming, I decided to make turkey soup!  Today was the first time in a few days that I felt like even looking at food let alone cooking anything so I thought I'd make up my own recipe as I so often do in the kitchen.  Also as a treat to my readers, I decided it would be fun to photo journal my progress for you all!  So here goes!

Turkey Soup with Dumplings!  

What you will need:

Half an onion
3 carrots
5 or 6 potatoes
2 cloves of garlic
turkey stock or chicken stock (I had a bunch of turkey stock in my freezer from the last time I cooked a turkey)
Left over gravy
1 tsp of Thyme
1/2 tsp dried parsley
cream of chicken soup.
salt and pepper
one recipe of The pioneer woman's dumplings which you will find here ~  "The Pioneer Woman Cooks"

Okay so first thing I did was cut up my carrots and onions.  Don't they look pretty?

Next I threw a spoonful of butter and a swirl of olive oil into my pot.

And threw my carrots and onions into it.

Cook those for a min or so while I tend to this! 


Her most favorite time to demand I pick her up with her oh so sweet "up peas" is while I am trying to make supper.  I have come to learn that this is common with wee folk as small as her.

Next I cut up my potatoes and peel my garlic.

Here is a handy contraption!

My friend Beth gave it to me last year I think for my birthday.  I think she just got frustrated at not being able to find a garlic press in my kitchen since I didn't have one.  hehe Thanks Beth!

Sooo moving on, I went ahead and threw those potatoes and the pressed garlic into the pot. 

It was really starting to smell yummy at this point!

I then added some turkey brothI didn't have quite enough turkey broth defrosted so I had to add some low sodium chicken stock as well.  It was just enough to completely cover the veggies.  I also added some leftover gravy at this point as well.

Stir it around a bit and let it come to a boil so that the veggies will cook. 

At this point my oldest girl started screaming for me to come quick!  Fearing for her life I grabbed my camera and ran. (don't ask why I grabbed the camera.. I'm thinking that someone might accidentally throw it in the soup if I left it unattended in the kitchen)  Here's what I found anyway.  She's been practicing this trick all day and thought she would finally reach the top.  At this point though, she was slipping and falling.

Back to the cooking, these guys will come into play in the next few minutes. 

(on a side note, As I type this it's almost bedtime and I just witnessed one of my boys run past my bedroom with his pants to his ankles. my guess is that he was trying to get an early start to getting his pj's on before he actually got to his bedroom)

 OKAY!  No more distractions!  A teaspoon of ground thyme.  Did I mention I love this herb?  Just love it!  It's so pretty when growing in my garden too... now unfortunately it is covered with snow.. grrr!

Next up, a half teaspoon of dried parsley

mmmmm this soup is really coming together nicely!  It looks gorgeous!

Let this cook for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender.

I took this opportunity to document a precious moment on camera.  My girl finally knows how to read and "I" gets to reap the benefits!

when the veggies are cooked, add that can of cream of mushroom soup.  I love how those soups come out in the shape of a can.  In retrospect, I'd probably whisk this soup with a bit of the hot broth until it was smooth before adding it to the soup.  It took a good bit of mixing to get all the little tiny chunks to dissolve.

Ooops don't forget to add the main attraction!  The turkey.  Yikes!  Kind of reminds me of the time we invited our neighbor Moe  over for some chicken curry and half way through the meal realized that I had forgotten to put the chicken in! HA!  That has got to have been at least 4 years ago and Moe still brings it up once and a while!  Haha.. so funny!

Okay at this point I mixed up my pioneer woman recipe for dumplings.  I took pictures of the process but forgot to upload them.  Oh well, the pioneer woman has way better pictures on her blog. 

I added them to the soup a tablespoon at a time. Then I covered the pot halfway and let them cook on med-low for about 15 minutes.

This is the lovely sight I saw when I lifted the cover.  The smells in my kitchen nearly made me faint they smelled so good!

And it's ready to eat!!! 

And this is what we like to do to torture the poor little one.  Put her in her chair and then set her food outside to cool.  If only she could talk, she'd say "what the heck are you doing to me!!  I am HUNGRY!"

Ahhh finally time to enjoy!  She loved this meal.  She had two bowls!

The family ready to eat.  "I" is furiously stirring his soup.  He does this alot.

Yum!!  Another one that loved the soup!!  He especially loved the dumplings!

J wanted her picture taken too.  She loved the soup, but was not so fond of the dumplings!

I had to take a picture of our resident picky eater.  You can tell by the look on his face that he's not so sure.  He generally dislikes any supper food.  He's a huge fan of breakfast food though!

Take a look at Hubby.. wonder what he's thinking... maybe "Holy heck that's a big dumpling!"

Here's the final verdict from T.  Big thumbs down!   I'm not too worried though.  Like I said, he pretty much hates all supper foods.  It would be practically a miracle for him to like something I serve for supper and that's okay.  He eats enough to stay alive and that's all I ask!



So there you have it!  My first blog recipe!  Sorry if it seems a bit vague in parts.  I had to make a special point to actually measure things out.  I am usually a throw it in the pot any which way kind of gal.

Now since I've spent all this time writing, it's now time to tackle the large basket of laundry that awaits me and spend some time with my daughter before she goes to bed.  I love this time with her so!  Until next time!