I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. Mine so far has been fairly low key, which is a good thing, but I may get to see a couple of friends tonight for some post birthday laughs! I talked with Nathan last night, and we've decided that I am still twenty-eight since we have yet to celebrate my birthday together (every girls dream lol), but I really liked the sound of that because he is the one person I do want to celebrate my birthday with! Now don't get me wrong, I love all my family and friends, but he has a way about him that can make me forget, even if just for a moment, that I'm constantly in pain. But enough about me, lets get to the meat of this blog, or in this case the chicken lol!!
I don't know about you guys, but the smell of freshly made soup wafting through the house is absolutely divine. I don't remember clearly who had made soup from scratch in my house, but smelling the soup I am making right now, is giving me a nostalgic feeling that is reminiscence of my childhood. Soup is really a great dish to make during the colder months, not just because it warms you up inside or is easy to make, but more importantly it stores and keeps fabulously! You can literally throw in whatever your heart desires, because after all, it is your soup :) I feel like soup is the "everything but the kitchen sink" kind of meal, because you can go through your crisper, cupboards, and leftovers to create a one of a kind creation, that is completely reflective of your pallet. Now I made a dumb move, and instead of boiling down the bones into a broth, I threw them out (smh). A girlfriend of mine (Heather), her boyfriend just got back from deer hunting, so overnight she had made the broth for her soup (yes I am a little jealous but now I know for next time). So I just ended up using boxed broth. I know not a great choice, but I did buy the lower sodium, and used all fresh ingredients for the rest (with the exception of my leftover chicken). As of right now, it has been simmering for just over 35 minutes, and I have topped up the broth and added the noodles, within 30 minutes it will be all done and ready to eat! Now lets get to this delicious recipe, so all of your homes can smell as savory as mine ;)
Canuckette's Chicken Soup
Ingredients
1/2 Box Whole wheat rotini noodles (or which ever you prefer)
1Qrt Chicken broth (or make your own)
1-2C Chicken, diced
1Tbs Extra virgin olive oil
3 stocks Celery, diced
3 Carrots, diced
2 potatoes, diced
1/2 Spanish onion, diced
Bay leaves
Garlic
Celery Salt
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
Whole Coriander, crushed
Oregano
Directions:
1) In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil, meanwhile dice all the vegetables. Place vegetables into pot and stir for 3-5 minutes, or until they start to soften. Then add the garlic (about 1Tsp), allow to become aromatic (about 30 seconds), before mixing into the vegetables.
Before and After
2) Dice the chicken, add to the vegetables, and top with the broth. Add all your spices, I didn't give measurements because I don't use them I use my nose (if I had to guess; 4 bay leaves, 1Tsp garlic (after softening the veggies), 1/2Tsp celery salt, 1/2Tsp sea salt, 1Tsp pepper, 1/2Tsp coriander, and 1/2Tsp oregano). Let simmer for at least thirty minutes, on low to medium heat.
Before and After simmer
3) While that is simmering, boil your noodles. I tend to leave them "al dente", because they will cook a little more on the final simmer.
4) Add the noodles to the simmered vegetables and broth, at this point you'll be able to see if you need to top up the broth, or if you need to adjust the spices. Let simmer on low for another fifteen minutes at least.
already looks and smells so good!
5) Remove from heat, and serve, or divide up among containers to freeze and store. But most importantly enjoy the fruits of your labor.
one for the fridge and one for the freezer :)
Now I like a heartier soup, so I opted out to adding anymore liquids to mine, but I did try some and it is a very nice, mild chicken noodle soup with plenty of vegetables with each bite! I don't add a lot of salt because some people like it saltier than others, but you can always add this when you make your own bowl. Every time I make a new recipe I always make mental notes, what could I add more of, what can I include next time that I didn't this time. And this soup is no different, although I think my next adventure will be trying my hand at the McWhorter stew that Nathan and his grandmother make :) I do after all, love family recipes that get passed down from generation to generation, like my grandmothers banana bread, or my grandfathers baked rice. Perhaps tomorrow I'll do a biscuit or bread to accompany my soup, I guess you'll just have to come back and see ;)
Do you have a favorite soup you like to make? Or maybe a favorite that someone in your family makes? I always love hearing from everyone, with suggestions or even just fun facts. Until next time..........
Stay sweet,
Jennifer xoxoxo
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