Week 7 - Day 4

*Turkey is low in fat and high in protein (one serving has 24 grams of protein).

*It is an inexpensive source of iron, zinc, phosphorus, potassium, and B vitamins.

*It is also a good source of riboflavin and selenium.

(see pages 118-119 to see what these vitamins and minerals do for your body)

Gather your supplies and ingredients.

As always, wash your hands before beginning.

Turkey is so easy to make, it's good for you,

and if you buy 2 or 3 when they go on sale and freeze them,

you'll have an inexpensive meal that feeds a crowd.

Pre-heat the oven as directed on page 96.

Make sure your roaster fits in the oven.

You may have to remove some oven racks before the oven is hot.

Remove the thawed turkey from the bag.

I keep it sitting in the bag so as not to touch the sink.

But make sure the sink is clean to begin with anyway.

Remove the giblets from the large inside cavity...

...and the neck cavity.

Wash the turkey with cold water

inside and out.

I transferred my turkey today

 to an open roasting pan

so you could better see the procedure.

You could also transfer it right to your black enamel roasting pan.

This turkey came with a pop-up meat thermometer.

When it pops up, the meat is cooked.

If you don't have this, use a meat thermometer as directed in your Healthy Home Ec book.

Pour oil over the turkey to cover all the surfaces

and rub in using your hand.

Don't forget the underneath side.

Wash your hands before and after touching the turkey at any time.

Sprinkle generously with sea salt.

Sprinkle both sides of the turkey.

Then sprinkle both sides with ground black pepper.

Transfer to your black enamel roasting pan if you haven't already done so.

Other roasting pans will work if that's what you have,

but I have found that a black enamel pan works best for moist meat and

a nicely browned skin.

If you are stuffing your turkey, you can do that now.  (see page 97)

(I have also stuffed the turkey with lemons, limes, oranges, rosemary, and ginger.)

I didn't stuff the turkey today.

If you are planning on stuffing your turkey, allow an additional hour of preparation time

to make the stuffing before baking.

(Plan on when you want to eat, add an hour for making the stuffing, and add the allotted amount of

baking time for your size turkey.  That's when you need to start your preparation time.)

Turn the oven heat down from where you pre-heated it,

then bake as directed on page 97.

This turkey was 13 pounds,

and was done in about 3 hours and 15 minutes.

See page 97 for roasting times.

See page 99 for how to carve a turkey.

Serve and enjoy!

If you are approaching Thanksgiving when making this meal,

you might want to consider reading 1Chronicles 16:7-36

for your Thanksgiving prayer.

If you thought that Abraham Lincoln was the first to declare a day of Thanksgiving,

you're wrong.

In verse 7 of chapter 16, it says:

"Then on that day David first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the Lord..."

This is a beautiful song of Thanksgiving that you can use, too.

"Give thanks to the Lord,

for He is good,

His steadfast love endures forever!"

(Psalm 106:1)

If you have left-over turkey,
pick it off the bones while it is still warm,
and put in quart size Zip-Loc freezer bags.
Freeze until ready for use.

Cut the turkey up into pieces.



Fill a quart size bag.



Press the meat flat in the bag,
pushing it all the way up to the zippered area
to remove all air from inside the bag.

 Label the bags with the date
using a black sharpie pen.

Freezing turkey into quart sized bags
makes for quick and easy meals later.
For example,
heat up some organic chicken broth,
add noodles and cook according to package directions,
then add a bag of thawed turkey.
Add salt and pepper if desired.