Healthy meal w/chicken AND turkey soup that anyone can make and post 5 - no turkey, just stuffing

idea is you take 1 pound of your favorite vegetables and top them with chicken in gravy. everything is seasoned the way you like it so it tastes delicious. 8)
BUT there is a catch! You don't get FAT because it causes obesity, CVD and numerous heath problems. everything from joint pain, to slow recovery and less endurance. No butter, no olive oil, nothing with fat.
As an example i'll describe my lunch for the past 3 days:
i like to buy things on sale, so my healthy lunch costs less than $1.
1st i boil 3# of chicken in a pot for nearly 2 hrs. the aroma smells great, but i discard the broth because the fat and unhealthy things leech out of the chicken into the water. then i strip off the meat and discard any fat or skin. i got a pound of meat, some i froze for future meals. i took 2.5 oz of meat and added it to gravy. i buy a powdered mix for .49. i put 1t and 1t corn starch into 3 oz water, make gravy and add seasoning and add the chicken. Dollar General has this week 3# of sweet potato for $1 so i cook 12 oz and add 4 oz zucchini, and 2 oz of cooked onion.
I bake my own bread, so i put 1/2 slice on the plate and add the chicken w/gravy, but you can pour it on mashed potatoes. i've done that too. Everything tastes delicious despite being ultra low fat. 8)

Today i made a vegan variation :lol: instead of chicken i used 1/4 cup (dry) lintels. Publix has a 16 oz bag for .99 makes 9 portions 8) And they keep on the shelf for a year or 2, so you can always have it on hand. Kind of a neutral flavor, so they take on whatever spices you add. 1st time ever i made the brown gravy and poured it on the lintels. It was very good, but not quite as good as the chicken, so tomorrow i'm going to add 1 oz of the chicken i froze. needs a little something to chew on.
When i froze the extra chicken, i put it in a plastic bag, cut and pressed it down to 1/4 inch. this way i can break off any size piece i want, and keep the rest frozen. The lintels have protein similar to chicken, so the chicken is mainly to boost the chewing satisfaction.
I boil the lintels for 35 min. +10 off.
UPDATE
i tried the lintels plus just 1 oz of chicken and it tasted great 8) So there is no need to eat a lot of chicken, which while it may not be a junk food, it is no health food either.
The 1 oz dispersed in the gravy looked and tasted just like the 2.5 oz from the other day. :thumb:

Made the 1oz chicken in brown gravy again, and i like it so much i'm canceling the turkey this year
The idea is to use meat like seasoning. You put ketchup on a burger because it tastes better. The chicken adds a nice taste to the lintels. All the grocery store meats come from factory farms where they are fed the cheapest food, often disgusting stuff. So they are not health foods, but my view is that in small amounts they won't cause heart disease or other illness. But chicken is known for having salmonella so it is really dangerous. I just open the package in the bag, on the floor and i don't touch it with my hands. i use a fork to drop the thighs into the pot, then i drip bleach on the fork. Never got sick this way, but meats are really dangerous. I guess they are junk food after all. I won't be buying it often.

so i did buy a turkey after all :thumb: it is a tradition; i love making a soup on a cold day
only 10#, the smallest i could find, only $5
SOUP:
take half the carcass and boil it in 1 qt of water for 2hrs. remove to cool
add 1 cup of your favorite dried bean and spice, like salt, and garlic.
i used split peas, and 1/4 cup barley. 3 stalks celery, and an onion. then i pkg chopped spinach.
cooked the peas 12 oz of potatoes and 1 carrot 45 min
took the meat off the carcass, got 12 oz, made 6+ bowls of delicious soup 8)

so after 40 years of turkey at thanksgiving, my tradition ends this year it is just the "stuffing"
potatoes, sweet potatoes, celery, onion, and green beans, boiled, my usual lunch EXCEPT covered with turkey gravy from the .87 oz powder, which contains no actual turkey :lol: just turkey flavor, whatever that is?
actually due to my sensitive taste buds, i have to dilute it with an equal amount of corn starch. so a single .49 pkg makes 2 cups of gravy, enough for 4 meals.
Had it today and it was just as festive and tasty. (i gave up junk food for the health benefits, and turkey has nothing in it to make the cut)

Gonna try and make turkey soup this year, get a free one from work every Thanksgiving. 8)