Frugal Turkey Part II

I've posted about the value of turkey before. . . I purchase the frozen birds before Thanksgiving when they are practically giving them away and keep them in the freezer. I cook one every month or so. A 12 pound or so bird will feed our family for 3 or 4 meals, depending on what I make with the leftovers.  With the leftovers of the last bird I roasted just last week, I made mini turkey pot pies yesterday and cooked it halfway then froze it.  I have a quick meal to heat in the oven in the future when I don't feel like cooking.  

I always make stock with the leftover carcass, and this time was no different. I simmered it with water to cover for several hours, cooled the stock, and put about 5 ladle fulls of the gelatinous stock into zippered sandwich bags to freeze.  Just one bag added to a soup or any dish calling for canned stock adds a je ne sais quois flavor costing nothing but the price of electricity and pennies for the bag.

This time, I took frugality to the next step by tipping the used up carcass into a crock pot with some more water and simmering the bones a second time for 15 hours or so.  This makes all but the largest bones soft enough to blitz in a food processor. (If the bones snap easily in your hand, you can put them in the food processor.)  The resulting mush was given to my dogs as a special treat. I give them a big glob along with their regular dog food. They get so excited when they see me taking the container out of the fridge! It looks disgusting, but they LOVE it! And me. : )  Don't know what the nutritional values are, but at least they are getting their calcium!