Plenty of cooks plan their Thanksgiving meals counting on leftovers. And that’s a great thing. Having leftovers means you can turn out several meals quickly days after the big meal. Most of the work and cooking is just about done.

Today’s potpie soup uses up plenty of Thanksgiving leftovers, including turkey, vegetables and gravy mix. It makes the best use of the little tidbits of leftover turkey. If you have any cans of French Fried onions hanging around, you can use those, too, as a tasty garnish.

This soup has all the makings of a potpie, minus the crust, although you could make some pastry crisps from leftover pie crust to add as a garnish.

The soup gets its creaminess from low-fat milk and flour, its starchiness from potatoes. But you can substitute half-and-half or cream for the milk. Use whatever leftover vegetables you have. If you made a stock from the leftover turkey carcass use it in place of the broth.

Still have leftovers? Freeze any leftover turkey stock or opened cartons of broth in quart freezer bags, squeezing out as much air as you can, then label and date. Using bags means you can store them flat in the freezer. Stock will keep several months frozen.

Freeze turkey meat in containers or sealed bags in portions easy for you to use. After about four months in the freezer, the quality starts to suffer, but you can still use it in soups and casserole dishes, where you will have added moisture.

TURKEY POT PIE SOUP

By Susan Selasky

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 carrots, peeled, diced
• 1 small onion, peeled, diced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 6 cups fat-free, low-sodium chicken or turkey broth
• 1 cup low-fat milk
• 1 medium to large russet potato, peeled, diced small
• 2 cups shredded, cubed or bits and pieces of cooked turkey
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1/2 packet (0.87-ounce) turkey gravy mix
• 1 cup frozen peas
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• French-fried onions, for garnish (optional)

In a soup pot, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add carrots and onion and saute about 5 minutes.

Sprinkle with flour. Stir in broth and milk; heat just to a boil. Stir in potato, turkey, poultry seasoning and gravy mix. Reduce heat, cover slightly and simmer about 30 minutes.

Stir in peas; simmer another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with french-fried onions if desired. Serves 8.

>> Variation: While soup simmers, make pastry crisps by cutting ready-to-roll refrigerated pie crust into wedges. Place on a foil or parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees until browned, 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Serve strips on top of soup.

Approximate nutritional information, per 1-cup serving: 196 calories, 6 g total fat, 2 g saturated fat, 20 g carbohydrate, 17 g protein, 322 mg sodium, 40 mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber.