Soupy Sunday

Every winter I get serious hankerings for soup...but I'm always too lazy to make anything on my own and end up eating lots of canned soups. Well I vowed this winter I would make more soups homemade, and what better way to help encourage me to keep my vows than by making it a weekly "feature" on my blog. My goal is to make one soup a week through February and share the recipes and results with you here. So for the first installment...

Turkey Noodle Soup
My In-laws were coming in to town today, so I thought I'd put the leftover Turkey from Thanksgiving to good use.
Ingredients:
1 medium onion
15 baby carrots
3 celery stalks
2 cloves of garlic
5-7 sprigs of fresh rosemary
leftover turkey gravy
1 carton plus 1 can chicken broth
2 cans water
1 c. frozen corn
1/2 pkg. egg noodles
leftover turkey cut into chunks
salt and pepper to taste

I began by sauteing the carrots, onions, garlic and celery in a little bit of oil until the carrots started softening a little. Then I added 3 large spoonfuls of turkey gravy I had leftover from Thanksgiving and melted that in. Then I poured in the chicken broth and let the veggies simmer until soft. While they were simmering, I boiled the noodles in a separate pot until they were al dente. (I read that this will keep them from getting mushy in the soup)
Once the carrots were soft, I added the frozen corn and the turkey. I realized I wouldn't have enough liquid, so I added two cans of water. Once everything had warmed through I tossed in the precooked noodles and served with rolls and cranberry sauce.

The Verdict: It turned out pretty delicious. I didn't have a recipe I was following, I was just shooting from the hip, so I was pleased with the taste. The turkey gravy added a great rich flavor that I don't think I would have gotten with broth alone. All the veggies and the noodles made it very filling. This was definitely a winner and a great use for all that leftover turkey.