Chloe's Virus-Killing Chicken Soup

Yeah, it started here. And it was posted here. And again here. And those are just the ones I know about. But this is my version. :-P

Seriously, this soup is amazing. It tastes incredible, and the anti-biotic and anti-bacterial properties of the garlic, the nasal-clearing properties of the peppers, and the general immune-boosting properties of the vitamins from the veggies can't help but improve/maintain your health.

I was re-formatting it into my standard recipe format, which makes it easier for me to read, anyway, so I thought I'd share it here.

We're trying to avoid another round of the stomach virus that's been circulating and avoid getting the flu at all, so we're having this for dinner tonight.

• one whole chicken
• water to cover + 4 bullion cubes or 4 t bullion powder
o or 2 boxes/cans chicken stock + water to cover
• 15-30 cloves garlic, minced or crushed (1 1/2-2 bulbs)
• 1 T salt
• 3-4 fresh thyme sprigs
o or 1 1/2 t dried thyme
• fresh rosemary
o or oregano sprigs
• cayenne pepper, about 1 tsp.
o or 1/2 t cayenne + 1/2 t curry powder + 1/2-1 t crushed red peppers
• ground black pepper

• 1 large onion (coarsely chopped or sliced)
• 1 fennel bulb (sliced thin)
o or 1 t dried ground fennel
• 1 leek (sliced thin)
• 4-6 stalks of celery (coarse chopped)
• 1-3 large red and/or yellow bell peppers (coarse chopped)
• 1/2 lb. carrots (coarse chopped)
o or 1-2 lbs. carrots, if missing several of the above veggies
• any other stout veggies preferred by your family
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 C white wine, optional
• salt and pepper

• Frozen green beans
• Frozen peas
• zucchini
• flat leaf parsley (chopped)
• 1-2 cans chopped tomatoes with juice
• any other quick-cooking veggies preferred by your family
• salt and pepper to taste

• leafy green veggies

1. Place chicken, garlic, salt, thyme, rosemary, and peppers in a soup pot.
2. Cover with water/bullion or chicken broth.
3. Simmer on stove top until chicken starts to fall apart (1-2 hours, depending on attitude of bird and altitude of home).
4. Remove from heat.
5. Remove chicken and set aside to cool.
6. Using slotted spoon or strainer, remove larger herb pieces (i.e. stems).
7. Place oil in bottom of large pot and heat.
8. Add first group of veggies and sauté until onion is just transparent.
9. Add wine and simmer for 3-4 minutes.
10. Cover the vegetables with chicken broth from chicken--add more broth from can or box if you don't have enough broth from chicken.
11. Or skip steps 7-10 and just add the sliced veggies to the broth.
12. Simmer veggies until beginning to become tender.
13. Meanwhile, de-bone chicken.
14. Add quick-cooking veggies (2nd group) and de-boned chicken meat and continue to simmer until veggies are tender.
15. Add any greens, such as spinach, simmering a minute or two to wilt.
16. Serve or cool and freeze.

Serving options:
• Tortilla Soup: top with monterey jack or mozzarella cheese, slices of avocado and tortilla or tortilla chip pieces.
• Chicken Noodle Soup: Add egg noodles and simmer until cooked.
• Freezer Soup: Freeze, either in meal- or individual-sized portions to be served to sick members of the household as needed.
o For example, freeze in a standard-sized mug, remove from mug and store in freezer ziplock bag. Thaw and heat in original mug.

Benefits:
• Garlic: anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties
• Peppers: opens sinuses
• Veggies: vitamins and minerals
o i.e. carrots are packed with Vitamin A and bell peppers with Vitamin C

Saha!

Chunky Potato Soup

Okay, finally the review of BETHANY's CHUNKY POTATO SOUP that I promised a few days ago.

Well, when she says "my crockpot cooks fast," you shouldn't necessarily assume that your crockpot is going to cook fast, therefore, not making it the best meal to plan for dinner when you've slept in late due to your 3yo having a really rough night and are fixing this to go into the crockpot at the same time as you're fixing "breakfast" that actually should count as lunch, given the time you're serving it.

It does, however, taste great the next day.

The potatoes, while cooked, were not at the "mushy" consistency typical of chowders (this would make a great option for kids with texture issues). This was perfect for serving to ZL without the liquid, because it was basically finger food (who am I kidding? what is *not* finger food with this kid?). However, next time, I might give it a couple of jabs with a stick blender to for a more chowder-esque taste/texture, because I like those kind of soups.

Oh, and if you forget how small the cans of condensed milk are in your country and only ask your husband to pick up two, thinking that will be enough, only it isn't, you can always use the tried-and-true powdered milk-with-half-the-water for the condensed milk (which is what I always do, but I was going for convenience this time; oh well). Heck, if you're going to use a stick blender, skip the water, and just put some powdered milk in (maybe 1/3-1/2 C?). That's what I usually do in my cream soups, anyway.

6 c. cubed, peeled potatoes
5 c. water
2 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. thinly sliced carrots
1/4 c. butter
4 t. chicken bouillon
2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
12 oz. can evaporated milk (2 1/2 160 ml cans)
3 T. chopped parsley
snipped chives (optional)

In a large crockpot, combine the first nine ingredients. Cover and cook on high 7-8 hours or until the veggies are tender. Add milk and parsley; mix well. Cover and cook 30-60 minutes or until heated through. Garnish with chives, if desired.

BETHANY's Notes: My crockpot cooks fast, so we eat this 5 hours after it starts cooking. We only let it sit about 5 minutes after putting the milk and parsley in as it really doesn't take long for the milk to heat up.

Final notes:

We rarely have celery here and didn't this time, so I just put in more carrots.

If you do not have parsley, don't use rosemary. Use something savory. The soup was still good, but I would have preferred it with a different spice.

Cream of Tomato Soup

Sunday nights after church (and often committee meetings) growing up when we lived in Dallas=canned soup (quick and easy, since we had school the next day and needed to get to bed), usually Campbell's Tomato Soup made with milk so that it was cream of tomato soup, served with cheese toast. Aaah, comfort food.

Living overseas, I missed cream of tomato soup. I attempted an approximation with fresh tomatoes. Just didn't cut it. Not to mention how much of a pain it is to do the whole dip 'em in boiling water, then ice water thing to get the skins off.

When we moved to our current location, I was thrilled to find Campbell's in some of the import groceries in the capital. They weren't cheap, so they were an occasional treat.

Then, someone posted the following recipe on the SL boards*, and dinner was saved! Okay, so maybe that's an exaggeration, but we sure have enjoyed it.

And the other night, I even added some leftover rice I'd made with up with a bag of frozen vegetables (originally served with fish; we ate all the fish). Even yummier and added bulk to the meal (although not all of the kids appreciated the adaptation; we'll probably alternate with and without rice; at least I got the little leftover serving).

And, of course, we had cheese toast with our soup. So it was mozzarella cheese on sub bread, rather than cheddar on whole wheat loaf bread, but still...

• 4T butter
• 4T flour
• 2 c. milk
• 1 qt. tomato juice
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp. Italian seasonings

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan.
2. Whisk in flour, salt and pepper.
3. Cook and stir for a min. or two.
4. Whisk in milk.
5. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly.
6. Whisk in tomato juice and Italian seasonings.

*And I've searched and searched and even posted the recipe for someone to claim, but no one has, so I can't even credit them.