She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. Proverbs 31

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Homemade Chicken & Rice Soup
... and some Giveaways!

There is nothing like hot soup and home baked bread when the days get chilly. I enjoy them all ~ creamy split pea, potato soup and chicken soup with rice! Since I cooked up a pot of soup today, I thought I'd share the recipe with you.



Chicken Soup with Rice

1 3 lb. broiler-fryer chicken (discard giblets)
6 1/2 cups of water
1 medium onion, cut into large pieces
2 ribs celery, cut into pieces
1 clove garlic
1 bay leaf
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1 rib celery, sliced into pieces
2/3 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper

Chopped green onions to garnish

Traditional stove top method for chicken & stock:
Place your chicken, water, large onion pieces, celery, garlic, and bay leaf in a stockpot over high heat; bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 1 hour or until chicken is tender.

Remove chicken from stock. Strain chicken stock and chill; discard vegetables. Skin and bone chicken. Pull meat into bite-size pieces; chill.

Crock pot method:
Place same ingredients as above into your crock pot. Cook for 6 hours on high or until chicken is really tender. And then follow the remainder of above instructions. I prefer to use my crock pot since I put the chicken on in the morning before school. By the time Jeffrey comes home, it is ready to be made into a fresh soup.

Now skim any fat from the chicken stock. Combine stock, carrots, celery, rice, chopped onion, bouillon (if desired), salt and pepper in a large soup pot on the stove over medium-high heat; bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 30 minutes, adding chicken pieces during last 10 minutes.

Frugal tip: I only add about 1/2 the chicken back into the soup. I save the other 1/2 for making chicken tacos the next day for lunch.

If you wish, garnish with green onions and serve warm with fresh bread & butter. Of course, always get creative and use what you have. I always add lots & lots of carrots if I have them available. Sometimes I don't use buillon at all. Sometimes I don't even add the chicken ... I just save it for another meal and use lots of carrots & celery. It is delicious that way too!

This recipes makes about 9 cups of soup. Hope you enjoy it!


Now for some fun giveaways!

Dalyn at Muckbooks N Aprons is hosting a giveaway for one of her homemade goat milk soaps and a lotion bar. She is also beginning her journey with raw foods which I find fascinating. Can't wait to read more.

Another giveaway is going on at Living Off The Grid. Ang is giving away a delightful farm basket of homemade goodies. She has just moved to a 40 acre farm and has gone completely off grid. That has always been a dream of mine and I look so forward to reading about her adventures.

40 comments:

carolyn@simple~primitive~devotion said...

Oh, I love soups! Especialy this time of the year! And chicken is one of my all-time favorites. YUMMY! Thanks for sharing your recipe!

Have a blessed day!

Julie said...

Your food always looks SOOO good. Your family is lucky to have such a wonderful cook!! I'm impressed that you cook so much from scratch. That is soon to be a lost art--thanks for sharing. Julie

Linda ★ Parker's General said...

I LOVE HOMEMADE CHICKEN RICE SOUP!!! Can you send some my way?
At Thanksgiving, I always try to get 1 pot of turkey rice soup out of the leftovers.
Chicken tacos sound great, too!
Have a wonderful day, my friend....
Blessings~Linda

Autumn said...

Your recipes inspire me- well in my head anyway!!! (There's only 3 of us here and my motivation for cooking is not good.)
I suppose one day I will get accustomed to "small" rather than the bustle of a houseful of children and school everywhere! :(

I so enjoy visiting your blog!

Unknown said...

your soup sounds really good...and I just got finished looking at the blog you mentioned about living off the grid...with the prices of everything, it sounds tempting but I don't know about outhouses and wash..those would be my main trials!

Renna said...

The soup and recipe look and sound delicious, Lea! Thanks for sharing the blog links, too. :-)

Darlene said...

Ooooo that soup looks delicious! I just wanted to thank you for stopping by and entering my giveaway....good luck!

Farmchick said...

Hi! Your soup likes great...you are a girl after my own heart!!! I love cooking and cooking from scratch is the best!

I wanted to thank you for the sweet note that you sent me in the mail!! It was so nice to get something in the mail and it reallly made my day! Thanks so much!!

I hope you have a wonderful day.
Hugs~
Tania

Unknown said...

Always a treat to find you posting! I too love soups, esp. in the fall and winter and with the world wide mess, I think more will be eating soup just to get by. Soup and homemade bread, you had me at hello! lol Thanks for the soup recipe, will hold onto it, now are you going to share your homemade bread recipe too? LOL

KKJD1 said...

Yum! We had chicken noodle soup last night too and we had pepper jelly with ritz crackers instead of the homemade bread. This cool weather sure makes you want something warm in the belly! Thanks for coming by my place. Hope you have a great homeschool week too! Blessings, karen

Toby Parsons said...

Thanks for the recipe Lea. You are a good cook. :)

How cool is it in Tn now?

Yesteryear Embroideries said...

Thanks for telling us about the giveaways. Today the wind is blowing and chilly and your soup will be the perfect thing to make! Thanks for sharing, blessings, Kathleen

CathyJean said...

Homemade soup sounds so good today, we will getting cool, rainy weather. Yes, it's time to bake some more bread! I love this time of the year when it is cool enough to make those wonderful meals and warm up the kitchen ~ the whole house smells great!:)

Carrie P. said...

I love to make soup when it gets cold. I tried a new recipe called Macaroni and Cheese soup. It was pretty good. Thanks for sharing your recipe.

Doreen Frost said...

Sounds delicious Lea. I made beef stew this afternoon...it's still cooking in the crock pot...smells soooo good..we are having biscuits with it. :)

Have a wonderful day and thanks so much for stopping by for a visit.

:)Doreen

Linda - Behind My Red Door said...

I make my chicken very similiar to this - it is one of life's simple pleasures!

Sarah said...

Thanks for the great links! I don't know much about going "raw" but it sounds interesting! As does living off the grid!

Chanda said...

Oh your soup looks so delish and I am so hungry. I need to quit blogging and go eat some supper. It really did me in. I could almost taste it. We had a nice pot of potatoe soup last week with corn bread and I must have ate a quart of the stuff, It hit the spot. Thank you for your recipe, I must try it next.
Shanda

Linda said...

Whoaaaaa that looks DELICIOUS! :)

I love chicken soup.. homemade, of course! I think I gots to buy me some chicken today.. *lol*

Greetings from the netherlands!

Anne Fannie said...

Hello Lea, I love soup and I needed a good chicken and rice soup recipe. Thanks for sharing. But, I don't think I will make it yet, today it was in the 90s!
Love, Ann

david mcmahon said...

Here in Australia we're heading to summer, so it's too hot for soup!

Justina said...

Oh It looks delicious! Thanks for sharing! Justina

Anonymous said...

Nice to see a recipe that calls for an actual chicken to make the stick, and not store-bought. I am not disparaging store bought stock, as it can be a great time saver. But nothing compares to making it from scratch.

Toby Parsons said...

In a major hurry Lea. Just want you to know that I am praying for you and your family.

'Many' blessings!!! :)

Juanita said...

Thanks for visiting my site, I love soup!! Especially right now that soup would really feel good on my throat!! Come back and see me. I will be adding you to my favs!Have a blessed day!
Juanita

Something Nice and Pretty said...

The soup looks so good...thanks Lea for stopping by for a visit and your kind sweet words I'll keep you in my prayers too.
Rondell

MamaHen said...

I just found your blog today. So cute. I'm going over to enter some contests, but I'll be back to look around.

FlipFlop Mom said...

The soup looks WONDERFUL!!! YUM!!!! It warmed me up a little .. ** wink wink**

Vickie said...

I could eat soup everyday during the fall and winter months. Thanks for Sharing :)

Paula said...

Yummmm- great sounding recipe, Lea!!!
And the crock pot method is the only way to go this time of year... put on a big pot of soup on a chilly morning and smell it cooking all day... and you're ready to dig in by supper time!!

Julie said...

Oh, Lea!
That soup sounds delicious! I made some the other night -- but I added egg noodles. I don't know why rice never occurs to me?!?!

Now we have another problem.... you mentioned Chicken Tacos! You know that you need to share that recipe, too!!! ;*)

Blessings,
Julie

Katy said...

yummy!!!! That soup looks sooo fantastic and warming!

Brandy said...

Well of course I had to come visit your blog "neighbor" and see what you are all about too. I am craving chicken soup now thanks to you. I believe we'll have some soon! You blog have some wonderful post. I will come again!

Toby Parsons said...

Praying blessing for your day today Lea. :)

Debra said...

Your soup looks inviting on a chilly day like today.
Hope all is well with homeschooling!
Love, Debra

Anonymous said...

Hi Lea, just wanted to thank you for your visit to my blog. I love meeting new people and so glad that I met you. I have you in my reader now, so I will be back.
The soup looks yummy and perfect for a day like today. Going to go check out the giveaways. :)
Hugs,
Cindy

Anonymous said...

this looks and sounds yummy, love a good bowl of soup to warm the soul

HDMac said...

Yummy! yes, now is the most wonderful for comforting homemade soups such as this one! :)

Tammy ~ Country Girl at Home ~ said...

Soup sounds good about now! It's cooler here today! Thanks for sharing your recipe, Lea!

Thanks too for the giveaway info! I'm headed over to check it out now!

Have a great weekend!
Tammy

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the kind words in my guestbook...I really appreciated it! :)
Your chicken soup looks delicious!!

Bethany
http://www.sketchesbybethany.net