WFP: Turkey
Ever since I slaughtered my own chickens I feel a much greater desire to not waste anything on an animal. Ever since starting a vegetable garden I feel bad about any part of the plant being wasted. My guilt about slimy vegetables at the bottom of the crisper is definitely magnified now that I have a connection to the energy and time it takes to grow those plants. A few years ago I heard that your average person wastes about 30% of the food that is brought into their homes. That's kind of an enormous figure. And I hate to be a total cliche, but with all the starving people out there, and all the problems caused by modern agriculture/food production/etc… I just see the effort to not waste any of our food as being one of the very simple and necessary acts of stewardship that each of us should employ.
I am happy to say that we waste almost nothing- it all goes into our bellies, or it goes to the chickens, and beyond that- into the compost to be used again. Closed loop. The only thing I have yet to do is compost bones, but I just learned that the old advice to keep meat/dairy/bones out of the compost pile is a myth. Apparently, when you are actively composting (meaning the pile gets hot and has the right mix of water/air/materials), these components hardly pose a threat. So, bones are going in from now on, or at the very least getting buried around the yard.
My point is, this is a subject I feel pretty strongly about. I believe that every household should have a compost pile. If anyone feels daunted by this task, or thinks this is something they couldn't do, please write me a comment. I would be happy to write a post that outlines the hows and whys of composting and tackle any questions you might have. It's just one of the simplest ways we can give back, and as a species that just takes and takes… I think doing what we can to give back is imperative.
Back to the food, yes? Turkey. This year I found myself really working to use all of this animal. First step: turkey stock.
I got the bones from one of our Thanksgiving celebrations, and that made about 10 quarts of stock. Then I cooked my own turkey up for a dinner with my family and that made about 9 quarts of stock, not including the few quarts I put directly in the fridge to use for soups that week.
After I had made stock, I was left with cooked meat that I divided up into two containers. One was for the "good" meat that I would use in sandwiches and soup, and the other for everything else. This included all the skin, organs (including liver, which is a challenge for me), and little bits of meat that just seemed less savory. There was a lot, and I really picked it clean. Big birds, those turkeys.
The plan? Turkey meatballs. I ground up all of it in my food processor until it looked a lot like tuna salad. I added breadcrumbs, eggs and spices, rolled them into balls, and baked them up on cookie sheets.
While those were cooking I took the last window ripened tomatoes (they were looking pretty sad and wrinkly) along with an onion, some garlic, and spices. I roasted that for a while, then put it all in the food processor. I have to say, it felt pretty great to have the last of my homegrown tomatoes at the end of November.
Finished meatballs. 
Finished product- turkey meatballs with a fresh homegrown tomato sauce on top of cheesy polenta. It was totally delicious (I couldn't even taste the liver!), and I feel good knowing that I used every last scrap of meat from that animal. 
The kiddos definitely approved.
I also made a turkey and vegetable soup that was lovely- made with the stock and lots of homegrown veggies (including green beans, kale, parsnips, carrots). I froze 4 quarts of this soup for easy meals in the future.
There were many leftover meatballs, too, so they turned into a saucy Italian style soup. Again, I froze 4 quarts for use over the winter.
With just a little extra effort I managed to squeeze at least a dozen extra family-sized meals out of those birds. Not to mention all the turkey stock.
Thank you, turkey.
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Do you have any tips for apartment composting? It is really daunting. Not gonna lie. And collecting compost then taking it somewhere else to dump it, is not a daily task that is practical for me. (This is what we used to do. it ended badly.) I really miss composting because I do think so much less ends up in the trash, and it’s a great way to give back, but it’s something I’ve given up doing because it went from something that was a really easy, simple, daily task, (my parents compost and have space and a yard, etc.) to something that ended up being a huge pain in my ass. Sooo yeah, any tips you might have would be lovely!
Those turkey meat balls look like they turned out deliciously! I roasted a chicken this weekend and then made what was left into soup on Monday. I get SO much satisfaction from picking every last morsel of meat off of that bird. Next time maybe i’ll divy it up some and make chicken meatballs or something. Thanks for the inspiration!
This, exactly. I have a good idea about how to compost small-size on the balcony, but do you have any advice about how to find a person/place to take it once it’s composted? No garden to spread it on here, alas!
Cheesy polenta sounds good! What’s your recipe?
Niiiice. I hadnt thought of meatballs…
Our turkey left us a bunch of stock, meat for sandwiches, turkey curry and bones for the dog.
Everyone wins! LOL
We used to throw bones with some gristle scraps (like pork or chicken bones that dogs shouldn’t gnaw on) to our chickens. They would peck every.single.scrap of ANYTHING from those bones, and then the bones would get down into the hay/dung at the bottom of the coop. Every so often, my mom would clear the chicken coop and put down fresh hay. The older stuff she made into a separate compost pile from our household scraps and the chicken compost went onto the garden twice a year.
i’m in the same boat as a couple other people here. apartment composting is a task i’m afraid to undertake. we’re in 900 sq ft of concrete with only a small metal fire escape outside our bedroom window. i don’t want to pay $30 a month for compost removal!
during csa season we use the bin in the back of the church where our produce is delivered. in the off-season i’ll sometimes freeze scraps for a week and drive them down to the compost bin but my freezer is tiny and it’s just not a practical long-term solution. i wish there was a cohesive source of ideas and tips for apartment composting.
hmmm, meatballs. brilliant! i roasted a chicken a couple days ago, made the stock tonight, and was looking at the bits of leftover meat wondering what the heck to do with it. there’s definitely a meatball lunch in there.