Did you know when you enjoy a turkey sandwich from SUBWAY® or Jimmy John’s®, it’s more than 80 percent likely the turkey in your sandwich came from Iowa? The Iowa turkey industry is incredibly important to our state, adding significant economic activity and creating employment in rural Iowa (www.iowaturkey.org).

As we work to honor farmers in our Friday family recipe posts, I couldn’t think of anyone more fitting to feature this month than the turkey producers who help feed our families and put a delicious turkey on the table at Thanksgiving.

Turkey is a fitting meal for just about any occasion and any day of the week.  So now that the weather is getting a little cooler, I’m going to add Becke Dorenbush’s Southwestern Turkey Soup to my list of “go to” meals. My mouth was watering just looking over the ingredients, so I can’t wait to give it a try.  Even better, it’s low in calories and fat (something I wish I could say for all of my favorite winter recipes). Becke also recommends this soup as a great dish to accompany football festivities, so perhaps this year I can serve it on Soup-er Bowl Sunday. (Hope you’ll forgive my bad pun here, but I couldn’t resist!)

I’m also looking forward to making Rich Hogrefe’s recipe, “Shoot the Turkey.” This recipe is named so because you inject the marinade to “shoot the turkey” with great flavor. With butter and garlic, it can’t help but be good!

Be sure to stay tuned for next Friday’s post when we feature more recipes from proud Iowa turkey farmers. A special thank you to the Iowa Turkey Federation for providing the following recipes submitted by their members.  Bon appétit!

Southwestern Turkey Soup

Recipe from: Becke Dorenbush, Jewell, Iowa

Makes 10 servings.

Ingredients

• 6 cups turkey OR chicken broth
• 1 (14 ½ ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (14 ½ ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 3 cups cubed cooked turkey
• 1 large onion chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• 2 to 3 cups frozen whole kernel corn

Directions

1. Wash hands.

2. In large Dutch oven combine all the ingredients except the frozen corn.  Bring mixture to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour.

3. Stir in frozen corn and return mixture to a simmer.  Simmer for 10 minutes or until the corn is tender.

Serve with: coarsely crushed tortilla chips and Mexican shredded cheese over soup.

Some Fun Turkey Facts:

• Economic value per turkey is about $20.00. (Farm – processing)
• Yearly, all of Iowa’s turkeys will eat about 62,000 acres of corn and 69,000 acres of soybeans.
• A female turkey is called a hen and a male turkey is called a tom. Toms and hens are raised separately. Most Iowa turkey growers raise toms.

With different schedules for work, school and extracurricular activities, it’s no wonder that mealtime has gone the way of the moldboard plow for many families. That’s why I try to make Sunday dinners extra special.

Sunday mornings can be just as busy as any other day of the week, so fortunately the following recipe is quick to make and can be prepared ahead of time. Just pop it in the oven by 9:30 a.m., and your main course will be ready at noon. I like to serve it with baked apples or frozen peaches plus a side of green beans.

http://family.samhsa.gov/get/mealtime.aspx

Oven Baked Chicken

Ingredients:

• Frying chicken
• 1 cup old fashioned rice ( I use 2 cups of Minute Rice)
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups milk
• 1 package of dry onion soup

Preparation:

• Heavily grease a 9×13 inch pan.
• Sprinkle dry rice in pan.  Lay raw chicken pieces on top of rice.
• Mix cream of chicken soup & milk together; pour over chicken.
• Sprinkle dry onion soup on top.
• Cover with foil; bake for 2 1/2 to 3 hours at 350 degrees.