Chicken Soup - A Master Recipe

We usually make chicken soup once a week. It's always a little different depending on what I have one hand or what sounds good or is in season. I try to plan to make it on a day that we're home for most of the day so the stock can simmer while we attend to school and other things.


Since we make it so often, and it can make a lot of soup, I often bring it to friends who are in need of a meal. Homemade chicken stock made with the bones, like this recipe, is very nourishing and healing to the body so it's a good recipe to bring to someone who is sick or recovering from illness. Because the bones are simmered, the broth is filled with the minerals and calcium from them making it an especially good food to have if you are avoiding dairy.

The soup really begins the day before with roasting a chicken. The benefit is that with minimal effort, I have dinner for at least two days, with a meal to share or lots of lunches. And if I roast two chickens at the same time, I have leftover chicken for making enchiladas, chili, sandwiches or salad. I rarely buy chicken breasts anymore. The whole chicken is much more economical even though now I'm buying organic.


If you can, it's important to use organic (free range if possible) chicken. Because you simmer the cooked carcass of the chicken for such a long time, all the antibiotics and pesticides that are in a commercially raised chicken are drawn out in the broth. I didn't know this for a long time and used regular old chicken. It will still taste great, but your body will feel much better if it's organic.

This recipe doesn't really call for specific amounts so you can be creative and use what you prefer or have on hand. I'll give you an example with specifics at the end. I've given some examples of the different things I use, but there are many more combinations that would be wonderful and give different flavors. It's a great way to learn to cook without a recipe. I used to think I couldn't do that, but cooking soup has taught me how!


Chicken Soup - A Master Recipe

• Homemade chicken broth (or your favorite store bought)


• Olive oil or butter or a combination of both (enough to cover the bottom of your pot)


• Aromatic veggies (Onion, leeks, garlic, carrots, and celery)


• Chopped or shredded chicken


• Starch (Rice, potato, quinoa, barley (if you can have gluten), pasta, corn, and lentils)


• Additional veggies (green beans, tomatoes without the skin or canned diced tomatoes, kale or spinach)


• (optional) more protein (beans, meatballs, sausage)


• Herbs (thyme, marjoram, basil, sage, poultry seasoning, oregano)


• Salt and pepper to taste

Chop up your onions or leeks (or both!), garlic, carrots, and celery. In a large stock pot, heat the oil/butter. Add the chopped onion or leek and saute over medium until soft, about 3-6 minutes. Add the carrots and celery and saute an additional 5-10 minutes. If you know what herbs you want to use, you can add them now and give them a quick toasting, stirring in with the veggies. I also add tomatoes at this point.

Add your broth leaving some room for the chicken and other veggies. If you want a thicker meatier soup add less broth. Bring to a boil. If you've been cooking your stock all day and it's already boiling, this will be a very fast step! Add in your starch and cook at a slow simmer the amount of time you would cook the starch by itself. For example, lentils take about 30-40 minutes to cook, pasta takes about 10. If you have rice from dinner the night before already cooked up you can add it and just heat up for 5 minutes or so. You might want to taste the broth at this point and add in a few more herbs. Save the salt for last.

Add in your meat. Most of the time I just use chicken, but adding meatballs, or sausage adds a lot of flavor. For the meatballs, I just form the meat into small balls and drop the raw meat into the simmering soup. They will cook all the way through in about 10-15 minutes. You can do this step at the same time as your starch so it's done faster.

Add any leafy or quick cooking veggies last. They usually only take 5 minutes to cook down. At this point, I taste the broth and add 1/2 Tablespoon of salt. I usually have to taste and add a few times to get it right. I like using pink Himalayan crystal salt or real salt.

You can change up the combination of veggies, meat, starch, and herbs to get totally different soups. Here are a few of our favorites.

Chicken noodle - leave out celery, add pasta for starch and sage and thyme for herbs

Fiesta - Add rice, beans, corn, spinach and a jar of tomato sauce (just plain, not pasta sauce!) with oregano, and thyme for herbs

Italian - All the aromatics, plus leeks if I have them, diced tomato, meatballs made with basil and Parmesan cheese, tortellini, with kale or green beans and basil, thyme and oregano for herbs

Leftover soup - (the quickest!) whatever veggies are in the fridge needing to be used up with lots of onion, leftover pasta or rice or whatever, any other leftovers I think would taste good, and herbs to taste. This comes together in less than 30 minutes.

Chicken Soup with exact ingredients

• 1/2 gallon broth


• 2 each Tablespoons olive oil and butter


• 1 large onion, diced


• 3 cloves of garlic, minced


• 6 carrots, chopped


• 4 ribs celery, chopped


• 2-3 cups chopped or shredded chicken


• 1/2 package of pasta


• 1 bunch kale, shredded or sliced thinly


• 2 tsp. each dried basil and thyme

In a large stock pot heat oil and butter. Add onion and saute until soft, 5 minutes. Add garlic, herbs, carrot and celery and saute another 5 minutes. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add pasta and chicken. Return to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Gently simmer for 10-15 minutes or until pasta is al dente. Add kale and simmer 5-10 minutes. Taste and add salt a teaspoon at a time.

Homemade Chicken Stock

This picture has nothing to do with chicken soup, but Evan took it awhile ago and I love it! Besides I didn't have any pictures of soup to share.

We make a lot of soup at our house. I've had several people ask for the recipe when I've shared a meal. All the soups I make now start with homemade broth (or stock if it's made from the bones). It's very easy to do, but you do have to plan ahead. I make several gallons of broth or stock at a time and freeze the leftovers for later use.

Making the Stock:

• One or two chickens carcasses from your favorite chicken recipe.* Add the neck in too if you have it. (Save the meat to add back to the soup and make other meals too.)



• a splash of apple cider vinegar



• an onion cut in quarters, with the skin for a nice yellow broth



• 4-5 garlic cloves cut in half



• 2-3 stalks of celery roughly cut in large sections



• 4-5 carrots again cut in large sections



• fresh herbs: a few sprigs of rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley, marjoram or tarragon. Use whatever you have available.



• Dried Herbs: 1 Tablespoon of whole peppercorns and a few bay leaves are a great addition

In the biggest stock pot you have (or crock pot), place the chicken bones and cover with filtered water two thirds full. Add a few splashes of apple cider vinegar. At this point you can cover and refrigerate overnight if you've just had roast chicken dinner. I like to do this so I can pull the pot out the next morning and simmer the broth all day and have it ready for dinner. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery and herbs to the pot and add water if necessary. Leave a few inches of headspace so you don't boil over.

Bring to a boil then cover and reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Simmer at least 6 hours, up to 24. The longer you simmer, the deeper the flavor and more nutrients are drawn out of the bones. I usually start in the morning, take out what I need for soup at dinner and keep simmering the rest until bed time.

When you're done simmering, strain out all the veggies. I use a large strainer with a handle and scoop out as much as I can into a bowl for composting. Then I place the strainer over whatever container I'm going to use to store the stock, and pour the stock through the strainer. You can now use the bones again and do the exact same thing to get another big batch of stock. It will be a bit less flavorful, but is still wonderful for rice, beans, pasta or quinoa.

I'll post the recipe for chicken soup and potato soup soon.

*Our family likes this one from Fine Cooking and this one from Thomas Kellers book Bouchon

Our Favorite Waffles

We had waffles for dinner tonight. When Evan and Amy were little we used to have waffles for dinner quite a bit. Sean was working long hours and not home for dinner, and it was an easy, well liked meal. But it evidently confused them because at one point, I served waffles for breakfast and they asked why we were having dinner food for breakfast!

At that time, this recipe was our all time favorite. If you can handle wheat and dairy, it is a good recipe. But it also takes a long time to make. Fortunately, I found a waffle recipe that is just as good, gluten and dairy free, and is so fast and easy that I usually make it for Sunday morning breakfast. And we go to early service!

The reason it is so easy is that you do most of the work the night before. At first I was skeptical about leaving a batter out on the counter overnight. Wouldn't it spoil or get funny bacteria growing? But the more I researched soaking grains, the more I saw that it was different than just leaving food out (which would spoil). There are health benefits to soaking grains, but a big benefit for me is how quickly a recipe comes together after it's been soaked. I think it works much like the way yogurt works, and the soaking softens the rice and makes it more easily digestible. You don't have to do this step. It works just fine to blend it up and then make your waffles, but I like to soak it the night before and be ready to go first thing in the morning! I originally found the recipe here but have modified it to meet our needs.

Blender Waffles

1 1/2 cups rice

1 can full fat coconut milk

water

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp olive oil or coconut oil

The night before, blend the rice, coconut milk, vanilla, and oil in your blender for 3 minutes at the highest speed. (Or 1 1/2 -2 minutes with a vita mix.) The batter should always swirl about a vortex in the blender. If it doesn’t, slowly add more liquid until the hole reappears. (I usually fill the can from the coconut milk half way and use it to pour the water.) You don't want it to get too watery, but the recipe is also very forgiving. I usually use 1/4 to 1/2 can of water added. Cover blender; let stand at room temperature overnight or 12-24 hours.

The next morning, plug in your waffle iron and add to your blender:

1 egg

Blend again for a minute. Then add:

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

Blend again briefly to incorporate the ingredients. You can use a spatula to mix it a bit more and wipe down the sides. Don't over mix the baking powder.

When you iron is ready, grease with butter or oil and cook for 4-5 minutes. I set my iron to 5.5 out of a setting of 8.

We like to serve these with homemade fruit sauce that cooks while the waffles are baking. The kids also like Justin's Nut Butter in the hazelnut/chocolate flavor. Of course, maple syrup is wonderful too!

Evan's 9th Grade Year

Evan's first year of High School! We started school this year in the summer to get a jump on things before we took a trip back east. If you'd like to see pictures of our summer trips just leave a comment asking to see Evan's blog. (It's password protected, but we'll share with you if you ask.) He took most of the pictures, and has done a great job blogging about it all.

I on the other hand, have been reading and reading some more about high school! Here's the line up.

Bible: Long Story Short with the girls and working on memorizing Philippians. Evan also has 5 books to read and write about, roughly 1 per quarter. Right now he's reading Practical Happiness by Bob Shultz. The others on his list are What He Must Be if He Wants to Marry My Daughter by Voddie Baucham, Humility by C.J. Mahaney, Knowing God by J.I. Packer, and a biography of someone from church history.

Evan is also doing a study of great books that corresponds to the time period of history he's studying. We're back at the beginning with ancient history, and of course the Bible is the great, Great Book. He's starting off the year reading Genesis through Job as his first "Great Book".

Math: Evan really likes Teaching Textbooks. This year he will be studying Algebra I.

English:
-Spelling: Spelling Power is proving to be a great fit for our family. I bought it with Evan in mind, since spelling is a weakness for him (like me). But everyone is doing well with it and liking it.
-Grammar: Evan is finishing up Easy Grammar Plus. It seems we have a tendency to not finish grammar books around here! I also have him doing a short lesson a day out of Easy Grammar Ultimate Series 9th grade. It's a one page summary of grammar rules to practice.
-Great Books: I'm planning on having Evan read through 10 great books. We're starting with the Bible (Gen-Job), then the Epic of Gilgamesh. I know Evan is looking forward to reading the Iliad and the Oddessy, but other than that there is some flexibility within a longer list based on what he's interested in and what's available.
-Writing: Each of the Great Books will have a paper due at the end. This along with the papers from his Bible class, and the numerous notes and outlines he'll be taking in History and Science should be enough writing for this year.
-Other books: Since I'm not following a curriculum per say with English, I'm having Evan read a couple of other books for reference and guidance: How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler, Elements of Style by William Strunk and E. B. White, Study is Hard Work by William Armstrong,
and sections of The Well Educated Mind:A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had by Susan Wise Bauer

History: He's reading The History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer. After reading each chapter he takes notes on the events and dates. He'll use the Timetables of History by Burnard Grun and The Annals of the World by James Ussher for context and reference when writing papers.

Science: Evan is doing a class with friends also. They are using the Apologia Biology book. He is also taking a class on anatomy and physiology through our school called Body of Evidence by Answers in Genesis. The Apologia biology book doesn't go into human biology much, so I was glad that our school was offering the class.

Foreign Language: If we can get our Rosetta Stone program to work again, he'll continue on with Spanish. I think we're just having some technical difficulties.

Art and Music Appreciation: We spend a couple of hours each week looking a different composer and listening to his music while doing some art. I'm hoping to focus on painting this year.

Electives:
-Logic: We're going through the Fallacy Detectives by the Bludorn brothers. At church, the youth group is doing a study of logic and how it applies to us a Christians.
-Eagle Scout Project: Evan is on track to finish up his work to earn the Eagle Scout rank this year. Our school requires two semesters of community service. His project will count as one full semester.

P.E.: One of Evan's boy scout merit badges is Personal Fitness. He has to make a 12 week exercise plan and evaluate his conditioning before and after he initiates his plan. That along with the hiking, jogging, backpacking, walking, tree chopping, fence building, and tree climbing he does with his friends and family are his P.E. plan so far.

Amy's 7th Grade Year

Amy is starting her first year in Junior High. Seeing that my kids can hardly remember what grade they really are in, I suppose it doesn't matter that much, but it seems a big milestone non-the-less. She, of course, would rather be outside than in, but this year has really taken off with her reading. She started "War Horse" this morning and finished it just before dinner. She has a tendency to not ask questions if she doesn't understand something so this year we will work more at vocabulary and dictionary skills. Here's her curriculum line up for the year.

Bible: We will be going through the book, "Long Story Short" as a family and memorizing the book of Philippians. I will also have time for Amy to read her Bible in the morning on her own.

Math: Amy really likes the Abeka Math series, and we will be continuing with Math 7 this year.

Language Arts:
-Spelling: I was going to have Amy do level B of the Phonetic Zoo since we own it and she liked level A. However, when she saw me reading the Spelling Power book, she was really interested in it and asked if we could do that instead.
-Grammar: Last year we started Rod and Staff's 6th grade spelling program but only got half way through it, so we'll just pick up where we left off and keep going. It's very through so it does take her a long time, but I'd like her to finish.
-Handwriting: We started with Italic, but Amy wanted to learn "real" cursive. So I started her on a book that teaches traditional cursive and we'll keep going with that then move on to Classically Cursive.
-Reading: I plan on getting library books that pertain to the period of history that we will be studying. I also like looking at the reading lists from Veritas Press and Sonlight to pick up a few extra literature books that are at her reading level. If they have horses or heroines all the better!
-Writing: I'm going to have Amy start doing more writing with her history curriculum, but we will also use the book from the Institute for Excellence in Writing that goes along with Ancient History.
-Vocabulary: We'll be working through Word Roots with Evan as a supplement. Last time I tried it with her it was over her head. But I think she can do it now.

History: We'll read Story of the World together with Emily (and who am I kidding, Evan will probably stick around too!). Then, I'll have her look up the pages in the Kingfisher History of the World Book, write dates in a timeline, and do some map work in the Geography Coloring Book that I brought for her.

Science: Amy and her friend are going to study Biology with their sisters. They will use the Christian Kids Explore Biology curriculum. Since Evan is doing Biology too, I'll try to work it out so they can watch the movies that the big kids see and observe some of the dissections and microscope work.

Logic: When Sean is at work, we're going to read a chapter of the Fallacy Detective. Evan worked through The Thinking Tool Box a few years ago and loved it. He's been wanting to go through the Fallacy Detective ever since. Coincidentally, our youth pastor is doing a study of logic at church as well. Hopefully this will be a good introduction for her.

Fine Arts: Amy loves being in the local children's choir and will continue that this year. We will also keep reading "The Gift of Music" together as a family and listening to classical music. For Art this year, I'm thinking we'll work on painting. I sure wish the kids art teacher still taught classes! This is one area that I really don't know that much about.

Home Economics: Last year Amy went through a formal Home Ec class with a friend and just loved it. This year, I'm planning on reading through "The Hidden Art of Homemaking" with her and maybe doing some projects that relate to each chapter.

P.E.: Amy will continue with her horseback riding lessons. If she took her horse out every day, I suppose that could count for all her PE, but since that doesn't happen, we'll be trying to get in some walks. I'm also trying to find a used rebounder for her to use when the weather is bad.

She has been a big help with all the chores too. We are working on a solid morning routine and working quicker so the jobs are done before school starts.

Emily's First Grade Year

We'll be starting up school soon. This year, I have one in High School, one in Junior High, and Emily just starting out. She is so different from my other two. She loves workbooks and is one of those kids who makes the mental leap from basic phonics to reading. I honestly don't know how she did it, but she'll take on any picture book we have and start reading getting it mostly right! She also doesn't like to play by herself much, so being with us and having more school work to do will probably be a good thing. Here's what we're hoping to study this year.

Bible: Long Story Short by Marty Machowski - We'll go through this as a family and work on memorizing the book of Philippians. Then while I work with Evan on some English, Amy will read to Emily some of the great Bible devotion books we have for little ones starting with God's Mighty Acts in Creation.

Math: Saxon 1- I love Saxon for grades 1-3, we already have the teacher's book and all the manipulatives, so this was a no brainer choice for me. Emily loves the Kumon books though, and we have several on math subjects, so we'll probably supplement with them as well.

Language Arts:
-Phonics: She finished up Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons last year and just loved it. I'm going to follow it up this year with Phonics Pathways just to make sure she doesn't have any gaps in the phonics and to help her with the more complex words.
-Grammar: We love First Language Lessons. Evan can still chant the list of helping verbs and linking verbs that he learned from this book.
-Handwriting: We'll continue with the Italic series.
-Writing: We're going to try Peace Hill Press's Writing With Ease book 1. I like having a lesson all scripted out for English so I bought the workbook as well.
Spelling: I bought Spelling Power for Evan then realized that it would be perfect for Emily too! She has been asking how to spell out words, so I think she's ready to start a spelling program.

That looks like a lot of language arts for a 6 year old! But most of the lessons are super short and we'll just keep working a little at a time. That's the plan anyway. If God has a different one, we'll change it up.

Science: Amy is studying Biology with friends using Christian Kid's Explore Biology. I'm going to have her follow along and do the coloring pages and experiments with Amy and her friends. If I was just homeschooling Emily, I'd go back to the section in the Well Trained Mind for first year Biology. I loved looking up a different animal each week, studying and reading about them. But I don't thing with everything else going on, that I'll really have time to do that. Plus we already own the CKEB book.

History: We'll be going back to The Story of the World. I loved going through it with Evan and Amy when they were little. Amy was so little that I doubt she remembers much. She'll sit in on it too, and then do some additional work that's more challenging. But I'm hoping that Evan and Amy will sit down with her and read library books about the ancient world.

Fine Arts: She'll be going back to choir and piano lessons. She loved both of them this past year. And we'll keep reading through The Gift Of Music and listening to Classical music. I'd like to have the kids do some painting this year. Since I have no training in that area, I'm not sure yet what book to use. Emily I'm sure would be happy just to paint wooden boxes! She loves to get out the paints.

Spring!

February is usually a blah month for me. In March, the plum trees that line our driveway burst into flowers. It always makes me so happy to see them.

On Thursday I go to see a pain specialist for my neck. I'm still pretty limited in what I can do physically. But on the bright side, my kids have done a great job taking over the household chores that I can't do anymore.