Chicken Soup

With 5 people in the house (and one more to arrive soon), it seems like somebody is always sick, particularly in the winter months. When I'm sick, the only thing I ever want to eat is chicken soup. I admit that when I'm the one feeling bad, usually we end up eating a lot of a canned soup. But when I'm feeling well enough, I like to make good homemade chicken soup from scratch. It's kind of an involved process, but it is definitely worth it in the end - nutritious and delicious! Plus you can break it up into stages to make it less of a production.

Chicken thighs or any pieces with the bone in works best, because you need the skin and the marrow from the bones to make the really good rich chicken broth that tastes best. (I've tried it with breasts and you basically end up with "chicken water" which isn't that tasty...) I just put the frozen pieces directly into a large stock pot full of water and boil them for a long time. Even }better is an entire chicken...but I usually don't buy it that way since it is so much work.

An easy shortcut, however, is to buy a whole rotisserie chicken (you can get one for $4.99 at Sams Club) and use that carcass. This saves a lot of work and time because the chicken is already cooked, plus you end up with several meals out of it. One of our favorite meals is to buy a rotisserie chicken, tear off all the nicest bits of meat like the breast and legs, and eat the meat with slices of cheese and fresh fruit (apples and grapes are yummy!). We sort of make up a tray and everybody just eats off it until they are full. It is very fast, simple, and delicious! Then I take the chicken carcass and boil it whole for several hours. Once it's cooled off, strain the broth out and then pick out all the meat from the carcass (yes, this is the gross part. I hate it too...but I just grit my teeth and remind myself I'm doing this for the health of my children!) One you've got all the meat, throw that icky carcass away and put the meat and broth back in your stock pot. Add some vegetables. For a fast version, you can just add a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. I like to use that plus some chopped onion, carrot, and potato (or noodles, if you want chicken noodle soup.) Cook until vegetables are tender. Don't forget to add salt! And other spices, if you want them.

The great thing about this soup is that you can freeze it at about any stage, which makes for less work later. You can freeze the broth, and use the chicken for another meal, or you can freeze the chicken and the broth together, so all you have to do for a quick soup is pour the frozen mixture in a pot and add vegetables; or finally, you can freeze half your recipe so you have the next time someone gets sick. *If you do this, make sure to freeze it before you add the potatoes or noodles, cause those will come out really mushy once thawed.

Now I am going to go and eat a hot bowl of delicious chicken soup! Take that, winter cold season!