Just to clarify, this gravy has been in the freezer (not the fridge) since November. However, I brought it out of the freezer on Friday, thinking it was a quart of refried beans (or something along those lines). To my surprise, it was a quart of our Thanksgiving turkey and bacon gravy. As gravy goes, it's very delicious. It's just hard to use an entire quart within a couple of days.
We've been serving gravy over many of our meals. Yet, I still had about 2 cups remaining. It's tasty, but very rich. Yesterday, I had a thought to turn the rest into soup.
To thin the gravy and turn it into soup, I simmered onions, carrots, celery, and garlic in a couple of inches of water. When the veggies were cooked, I stirred in the gravy, plus some leftover cooked lentils for protein and a chunk of frozen spinach. Then I seasoned to taste.
This soup was another meal item based on using up leftovers from the fridge and freezer. It tasted great and put that lingering gravy to good use. Using up leftovers in new ways always puts a smile on my face.
As I was chopping the veggies, I got to thinking -- I do a similar thing, only in reverse, with brothy soups. I thicken leftover stock-based soups to use as gravy. I guess I just like to vary how we use our foods.
