Turkey Soup

The first year my husband and I were dating, I went to visit his family a few days after Christmas.  I made it to the house in time to have my first bowl of turkey soup.  I'm sure that I made a pig out of myself and ate way too much soup, but this stuff is really good!  Shortly after my husband and I got married, I decided to try and make this.  It just didn't turn out right, so I tried a few more times and it still wasn't the same as his mom's soup! When my daughter was born, we asked my mother-in-law to make us a pot of the soup (we used chicken that time) and I watched her carefully.  When you have a two week old in the house, that is not a good time to try and remember a recipe.  This year, I sent my mother in law an email and asked her how she made her soup.  It turns out I'd been waiting too long to add the kielbasa to the soup.  It made a big difference!  My four year old ate a ton of the soup this year.  We aren't having turkey for Christmas this year, but I have some turkey in the freezer so that we can have some turkey soup very soon!

Turkey Soup
1 bag of Lysander's Bean Bag Soup
6 1/2 cups of water
1/2 pound kielbasa, chopped
2 cups turkey, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 large onion, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup chunky vegetable tomato sauce

1) Rinse the beans. Combine water and beans in a large dutch oven.
2) Bring the beans to a boil and let them boil for one minute. Turn the heat off and let the beans sit, covered, for one hour. 
3) If you are using broth, drain the beans after one hour.  Return to a pot with 6 cups of broth. If you don't use broth, leave the water in the pot with the beans.
4) Add the turkey and kielbasa, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.  When beans are done, add onion, carrots, celery, lemon juice, tomato sauce, and seasoning packet that came with beans.  Simmer for another 30 minutes.