Gnocchi Chicken or Turkey Soup/Great with left over turkey

Do you ever wonder at the waste when tossing out the entire carcass of the turkey at thanksgiving or any other time? I raised four kids, sometimes on my own entirely. I couldn't afford to throw away anything!

• Place the entire carcass of your turkey after the meat has been sliced and picked clean into a large pot
• Fill pot 2/3 full with water and let it cook several hours.
  
• Place a colander or strainer over another large pot or slow cooker and transfer all of the broth into it .
• Be sure to pick out any meat that has cooked off the bones and place back into the broth.
  For a low fat content: set the broth in refrigerator over night and clean off the solid fat that rises to the top.
  
  
  Mix together:
  
• 2 cups cooked meat-turkey, chicken or other meat (chopped in small pieces, approx 1" cubes)
  
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 4 carrots, diced
• 3 stalk celery, diced
• 1 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large potato diced small
• 1 small can mushrooms or 1 cup of fresh mushrooms
• 1 tsp. oregano or Italian spices
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 cups or 3 cans of broth or broth from turkey)
• 1 16 oz. gnocchi

• 1 hour before dinner is to be served, add the ingredients above to your broth and bring to a boil.
• Let simmer until vegetables are tender.
• Add gnocchi according to pkg.instructions. (approx. 3 min. or until they all float to the top) Do not over cook the gnocchi.

Crab Cakes

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tabs. mayonnaise
• 2 tsp. chopped fresh parsley
• 1 1/4 tsp. old bay or seafood seasoning
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. dry mustard
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 cup soft bread crumbs (I shred my own from rolls)
• 1 pound crab meat
  
  Combine and mix together the following in a bowl:
• eggs
• mayonnaise
• parsley
• seasoning
• Worcestershire sauce
• pepper
• dry mustard
• lemon juice
  
  
  
• add the bread crumbs and crab meat gently.
• Shape 8 patties about 2 1/2-3" in diameter
• Place patties gently onto a baking sheet, cover and place in refrigerator for 30 min.
• Cook over medium high heat in a large skillet (do not press down on the crab cakes.) Add crab cakes after the skillet is hot. Cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side or til browned. Do not over cook or they will be dry!
  

Makes 8 crab cakes

Lemon Meringue Pie

Mix the next 4 ingredients together and set aside

• 4 tabs. Flour
• ¼ c. sugar
• 3 tabs. Cornstarch
• ½ c. cold water

Separate 3 eggs
Beat yolks
(put whites aside for Meringue)

In saucepan heat:

• 1 ½ cups hot water
• 1 c. sugar

When water mixture is steaming (not boiling) add the flour mixture (first 4 ingredients)
Put a few spoons of hot filling into eggs and then pour the eggs into the fillingand then the beaten egg yolks.

Cook til thick and remove from heat
add 1 tabs. butter and the juice from 1 ½ lemons.
cover with wax paper to cool

Meringue Topping
3 egg whites
6 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Beat egg whites until frothy. Add sugar gradually and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Add vanilla.
Pile on pie and bake at 325° for 15 to 20 minutes.

White Lasagna with Spinach

18 lasagna noodles
2 frozen pkg. of spinach
3 c. milk
6 tabs. wondra flour or cornstarch
1 small onion chopped
1lb. ground beef or turkey or cubed pieces of ham
1 1/2 tsp. of Italian seasonings
32 oz plain non fat or low fat yogurt
1 ¼ c. Parmesan cheese
2 cup low fat cottage cheese
2 ½ c. mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375
1. Cook noodles according to the package directions, rinse and drain.
2. Cook spinach and drain. Set both noodles and spinach aside.
3. In a large saucepan combine milk, cornstarch (adding slowly) and onion. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly; After it bubbles, cook and stir two minutes more. Remove from heat.
4. Stir in yogurt.
5. Spread 6 tab. of sauce mixture evenly on the bottom of a large lasagna baking dish.
6. Add meat to the remaining sauce.
7. Place a layer of lasagna noodles and then a layer of sauce (division for layers is approx. 1/3)
8. Add a layer of spinach and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and 1/2 of mozzarella cheese. 9.Repeat #'s 7 and 8 again ending with 3rd row of noodles topped with sauce and mozzarella cheese
10. Bake 40 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

Note: I found the original recipe for this in "Light cooking," It is intended to be low calorie but I won't vouch for that, it certainly does not taste low calorie. I've never had white lasagna I liked until I tried this one.

Potato Salad

Potato Salad

3 lb bag of potatoes Boiled til soft
(I like to use red skin and I do not peel but that is a personal choice) IF you do peel, red skins are easier to peel.

1/2 chopped onion (medium size)

3 sticks of celery sliced thin

6-8 hard boiled eggs chopped

3 cups Real Mayonnaise (you can substitute with Miracle whip but it won't taste like mine if you do)

1/2 c. milk

2tsp. salt

pepper to taste

2tsp. lemon juice

2 tabs. sugar

Boil your potatoes until tender (do not over cook or they will be mushy)
Cut the potatoes into desired size chunks - 1/2" or smaller
After potatoes are cooled (they don't have to be completely cold)
Add eggs
Add cut celery, onion, lemon juice and mayonnaise and milk
Add sugar - a little more sugar to taste is fine
1/2 cup of chopped fine or grated carrot can be added for color

*If your salad seems to be too dry; add a little milk mixed with some extra mayonnaise

*This is also a good second day fix to bring it back to a creamier texture