Chicken Soup

Sorry ya'll, but I'm about to get gross.

If you can't handle gross, then stop now.

But, if what I said got you curious,

then read on!!

I had to make chicken soup today

and this is why...

It has been a barf-fest at my house all week!!

Told ya I was gonna be gross :P

My 6 year old started on Sunday.

Got sick 7 or 8 times all day long.

I kept her home from school on Monday and

she was fine.  Sent her to school on Tuesday

and she threw up in her lunchbox!! 

Yuck

So, I had to go get her.  She stayed home

on Wednesday and was fine all day.

Then my 10 year old started getting sick

around 9:00 and it went on till 4am.

He got sick like 17 times.

ALL night long.

Then - the same night - the 6 year old

threw up again!!  UGH

So, I had them both home with me on Thursday.

I sent the little one to school today.

She probably failed all her tests because

she was home doing nothing on the couch

all week.  Oh well.  It's first grade.

So, then, wouldn't you know it,

I got a call to come get the 8 year old today

because she just threw up all over her desk!! 

Unbelievable.

And to make it better - my husband

left the country on Tuesday for 2 weeks. 

But, I'm glad he's not here for this.

You thought this was a cooking blog, right?

Well, I needed to vent a little frustration.

I'm done now.

I wish I had made soup earlier in the week.

But, I wasn't able to get out of the house and 

go to the store to get everything until today.

This is what I started with.

I boiled my 2 little chicken breasts

for about 20 minutes.

Then, took them out and let them 

cool and shredded it up.

I cut up my carrots and celery.

Then I put them in my hot pan with a little

olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.

Then, I added a can of cream of chicken.

Hey - I never claimed to cook everything

healthy and from scratch.  So, I'm sorry if you 

don't like this.  I think it adds good flavor.

Mmmmmm

Just look at that glob of soup.

Then I poured in a box of chicken broth

which was about 4 cups.

I also kept the broth from boiling my 2 

little chicken breasts.  But, it's not very

brothy because chicken breasts taste 

like nothing.  But, I kept in anyway.

I needed 2 more cups of liquid and I 

figured that chicken flavored water was

better than just water.

And, I did this because I had no more

broth in a box!!

But, I did have this.

It's sort of like boullion.

But, not.

It's kinda gooey and thick and weird.

And it has lots of flavor.

I use this if I don't have chicken broth.

I took my shredded chicken 

and added it back into the pot. 

 I mixed it all up and let it simmer

for about 30-40 minutes on low.

Then, I turned off the heat and threw 

in a big hand full of spinach.

All my kids like spinach.

Weird, huh?

So, it's basically done now.

In another pot, I was cooking some orzo.

It's kinda like rice pasta.

I don't like to put it in my soup because

it keeps cooking and then gets mushy.

So, I cook it on the side and then

add it in when I'm ready to eat.

Here's my cooked orzo.  I drizzled a 

little olive oil on it to keep it from sticking

together in one huge clump.

I like to add stuff to my soup.

So, for my bowl - I started with some orzo.

Then, added the soup.

And threw in a few jalepenos

because I like it spicy!!

If my avocados were ripe, I would 

have added some of that too.

For my kids - I might just serve the soup.

They may or may not want the orzo.

Some crusty bread or crackers would be good too.

So, if I get sick (I'm NOT gonna get sick),

but if I do - this will be ready for me :)

Chicken Soup

2-3 small chicken breasts or

about 1 1/2 cups shredded chicken

6 cups chicken broth

1 can cream of chicken soup

carrots

celery

1 clove garlic - chopped

salt and pepper

orzo or another small pasta (optional)

spinach (optional)

Boil chicken until for about 20 minutes or until done.  Cool and shred.  Cut up a few carrots and celery.  Heat up a little olive oil in a pot and add the carrots and celery and garlic.  Add salt and pepper.  Turn heat to low.  Add can of soup and slowly add the broth.  Put the shredded chicken back into the pot.  Turn the heat up and simmer for about 30 minutes until vegetables are soft.  Turn the heat off and add a big hand full of spinach. Make pasta in another pot and add to soup bowl just before serving.