The Canadian Turkey Marketing Agency reports that Canadians consumed 138.6 million kg (nearly 305 million pounds) of turkey in 2006, and the National Turkey Federation reports U.S. consumption of turkey in 2006 was 16.9 pounds per person and expects that households in the United States will eat 46 million pounds of turkey at Thanksgiving and 22 million pounds at Christmas.
Turkey consumption around the world has increased exponentially in the past decade and for good reason. Turkey is a healthy, low-fat food that provides more meat per pound than most other alternatives. And around the globe, holiday traditions each November and December increase demand for turkey while prices decrease with stores using turkey as a loss-leader, cutting prices low to draw in holiday shoppers at little to no profit. Retailers can offer budget prices on turkey during the holidays because consumers spend more on groceries for holiday celebrations.
Budget Better with Holiday Turkeys
Use holiday turkey sales to your budget's advantage by making space in your freezer for extra turkeys while on sale. If you have an extra freezer, buying and storing a few turkeys in that freezer saves money over time. The U.S. Department of Agriculture advises that turkeys will keep frozen for a year, so take advantage of budget prices on turkey during holiday sales to enjoy throughout the year.
Preparing and Storing Turkey
Suite101 Healthy Cooking has 10 tips for choosing, thawing and roasting a delicious turkey whether for a holiday meal or any time throughout the year.
Chances are you will have leftover cooked turkey meat to store after roasting a turkey. The best advice for freezing turkey comes from the book, Frozen Assets Lite & Easy, where Deborah Taylor-Hough recommends freezing sliced or cut up turkey in chicken broth. Save more money by using chicken broth made from inexpensive chicken bouillon cubes instead of using canned broth.
Budget Turkey Recipes for Leftovers
- Frugal Homemade Turkey Soup: Warm up with an inexpensive yet healthy and substantial meal of soup made with leftover turkey. Healthy Cost-Cutter Turkey Soup not only makes use of turkey leftovers, it makes enough soup to freeze for quick, convenient meals later.
- Fast and Cheap Noodle Supper: Use turkey in the place of chicken in Ramen Noodle recipes for inexpensive and easy-to-prepare entrees. The seasoning packets in Ramen Noodles are high in sodium, so do not use them too often. But with some vegetables and low-fat turkey, Ramen Noodles get a healthy meal on the table fast.
- Easy Budget Turkey Melts: Make turkey melts on a budget with bakery sale bread or rolls, Swiss, mozzarella or provolone cheese (store brand or on-sale), mustard or other condiment of choice, turkey slices and , optional left over cranberry sauce. Assemble turkey and cheese on bread and heat on an indoor grill, or wrap in foil and heat in oven until cheese melts. Spread mustard or other condiment and cranberry sauce on the sandwich and enjoy.
