A Great Big Welcome

Welcome all and thanks for coming!

You are probably wondering why, at 36 weeks and 7 days pregnant, I would choose to start my blog today.  Well, the answer is simple - if I don't get it going now, I definitely won't feel the drive to start it once my little one is here!   During my second trimester I got so much joy out of cooking new things and trying new recipes, that I began posting those recipes on my family website.  Everyone seemed to love them so much that I began to think that I could support a fully cooking (and eating) related blog!  So, a little over a month ago, I created the domain and template for the blog.  Since then, every time I look at its empty frames, I can't help but think about how sad and pathetic it looks! So, today, since I am making one of my favorite things for a cold winter's day, and inspired by an old friend's launch of her own cooking blog, I figured, what the hay.

My first recipe: 

I find it easiest to make chicken and wild rice soup with a pre-cooked chicken.  Sometimes, I will buy a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and use the meat for the soup.  Today, since whole chickens were on sale, I decided to cook a whole chicken in the crockpot in preparation for the soup.  With a bigger chicken, such as this 8 pounder, you can use some of the chicken in the soup and save some for other meals later in the week.  This morning, however, I wasn't exactly in the mood to prepare the chicken, so I had Dan (the husband) open it up and drop it in for me.  We cooked the chicken on high for 6 hours - you could cook it for less or more time, as long as it is cooked all the way through before adding it to the soup.  (When I use a frozen chicken, I usually have to cook it on high for closer to 10 hours, but then I don't have to go through all the trouble of defrosting.)

You can start the soup when the chicken is almost finished cooking or, if you are like us, when you get back from Christmas shopping and the chicken is done (another reason to love a slow cooker!).  You'll want to pull the chicken apart into big chunks and then coarsely chop it. I usually make Dan take over the task of pulling the chicken off the bones; I think that is a manly task that he seems to enjoy.  This part is easiest to do with your hands.

This is an incredibly easy meal and it is so satisfying.  Below are my instructions for this hearty and heart warming dish.

3-4 medium to large carrots
3-4 celery stalks
1/2 an onion
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups of chicken broth
1 package of Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice
4 cups of water (or more if necessary)
2 chicken bouillon cubes
the meat of one chicken, roughly chopped or shredded (about 4 cups)

1.  Peel, wash and slice the carrots.  Wash and slice the celery.  Peel and slice the onion.  Put all of the vegetables into a large stock pot.  Salt and pepper to taste. (I hate when recipes say "to taste" - can't you just give me a measurement?!  However, we love pepper, don't use a lot of salt.  We have mini salt and pepper grinders - I like 4 grinds of pepper and 2 grinds of salt.  This soup doesn't need much seasoning because it uses the seasoning packet that comes with the rice.)

Peeled, washed and sliced

Everyone in the pool.

2.  Add the chicken broth and everything that comes in the rice box (rice and seasoning).  Give the entire mixture a good stir.  Cook over medium high heat until boiling. 

I love these big containers of broth.  If you don't use it all, you can save it in the fridge.

Rice and seasoning.

3.  Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until most of broth has been absorbed into the rice and vegetables, about 20 minutes.  Vegetables should be tender but not mushy (except the onions, which should be almost translucent).  


4.  Add water, bouillon cubes and chicken.  If you like a really thick soup, 4 cups should be plenty of water.  If you like your soup a little more brothy, you may need to add more.  We like this soup to be nice and thick, almost like a stew.  Return to a boil (over medium high heat) one more time, then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes more.  This will make sure all of the flavors are integrated in the soup.  Cool slightly and enjoy!

With the chicken and extra water.

As an extra Sunday treat, I made some Grands biscuits to go along with the soup.  To me, there is nothing better than bread and soup (or biscuits and soup), especially on a cold night.    Even if you aren't a seasoned chef (which trust me, I am not), this soup is so good and easy that you'll make it again and again (and your friends and family will ask for it again and again).  Next post I'll tell you about my "Husband's Rating Scale" - for now, just know that Dan gives this one a 5 (out of 5), which is hard to achieve.


Looks good, right?

When I split the leftovers into tupperware for this week's lunches, I got 6 additional servings (for a total of 8 servings).  


Until next time,