The best way to make chicken soup, I found, is to start the day before. We usually eat chicken at some point in the week, and the cheapest way to buy it is whole...I roast it and cut off the meat we will eat for dinner, sometimes save a little white meat for a chicken salad lunch, and then the rest of the chicken goes into a big pot of water. I boil it for about 2 hours and then dump the whole thing (slowly) into a strainer set over a very large bowl. The next part gets you the meat. Go through the mess of chicken in the strainer, looking for chunks of meat. It should slide right off the bone at this point. I go for both dark and white meat. Put the meat back into the bowl of liquid drained off and cover it. Chill in the refigerator overnight. At this point, I can usually strain the fat right off the top. Depending on the fat in the chicken, the liquid may be creamy and thick, so add enough water to make it more like soup again. Back onto the stove it goes, and set it to boiling. Start adding veggies here. The rule is to only add what is in season or you have on hand in the freezer. So, your summer soup will be different from fall. Tonight we are having chicken, carrots, (frozen) green beans, kale, golden potatoes, baby bella mushrooms and a little chopped celery. Onions and garlic are always in our soups! I added a few egg noodles for thickness, since the girls aren't big soup fans.
Don't forget a side of healthy bread and real butter (no hydrogenated fats for us!)...I made two loaves of honey oatmeal bread today. Mmmmmmmmm.......
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