The Sick Hubby and Chicken Soup

My husband has a cold...to those of you living with someone else (of the male persuasion) you know what life is like at our house.  Lots of moans, groans and grumbles.  Of course he wants to be left alone (supposedly) but has been making numerous trips to the fridge looking for something to eat.

It was time for me to spring into action this morning with a pot of home-made chicken and rice soup.  I didn't have any chicken stock in the freezer but fortunately there was a left over chicken with its bones in the freezer so that was the start for our stock although I also added two legs and thighs so we had more meat afterwards in the soup. The whole thing took about 5 hours of simmering and you really don't have to do much but the end result is so rewarding!  I keep left over rice in the freezer in zip-lock bags so that saved even more labor.  You could also put egg noodles this if you prefer!

Chicken Soup

1 chicken carcass

2 chicken legs and thighs

4-5 carrots

4 celery ribs

12 cups water

1 large onion, peeled and rough cut

2 cups cooked rice

Salt and pepper to taste

Place the chicken, 2 carrots (unpeeled and rough chopped), 2 celery ribs (rough chopped), onion and the water in a large pot.  Place on a high heat and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer about 2 hours (if you notice the chicken falling apart you are done).

Drain the stock from the pot, reserving the legs and thighs and discarding the bones and veggies.  Place the stock back in the pot, peel and chop the carrots and chop the celery and add to the stock.  Once the chicken is cool enough to handle break up the meat and add back to the stock (I do not add the skin back in).  Season with salt and pepper, bring back to a boil then reduce to a simmer and  add the cooked rice.  It is ready to eat when the carrots are tender.

Viola!

To drain the stock I put a colander into my largest bowl and carefully pour the stock in.  This takes care of separating the meat from the stock with a lot less mess, I just pulled the legs and thighs out and put them to the side so they could cool enough to be handled.