If you kept your chicken scraps from cutting up your chicken, or you saved a chicken carcass from a roasted chicken, you have another meal! Chicken bones make for great soup. In next to no prep time, you could be on your way to using up the rest of that beautiful chicken. Don't know how? Think it is too hard? Take a look!
Take your chicken bones and plunk them in a big pot. Grab some vegetables like carrots, celery, potatoes, onions, or anything that strikes your fancy. In my house, I always have those veggies on hand. Peel and cut them into small pieces. Throw them in the pot. Add about 8 cups of water (or half water and half chicken stock), 4 tsp of chicken soup powder if you didn't use stock. Add a bit of salt and pepper, and turn on that stove top. In about an hour or so, or when you see that the meat is falling off the bones, fish those bones out. When cool enough to touch, remove all of the meat you can get off of the bones and add them back to the pot. Taste and adjust flavours as you'd like.
Guess what? Your soup is done! Making soup out of bones helps to stretch a buck. The whole pot can feed 4 people for less than $5! Where can you feed a family of 4 for that? If you want to add rice, barley or pasta, cook it separately and add at the time of serving. You don't want them to sop up all of the yummy soup if it is sitting in your fridge for lunch. Nothing wrong with that, but it changes the texture of the pasta/grain. If you're like me, and texture is a deal breaker, adding them precooked makes for happy eating.
So save those nickels (since the penny is going bye-bye), and make your own soup. You get to control the fat and sodium, and can make it your own by experimenting with different veggies and spices/aromatics. Soup is a healthy, inexpensive, and easy way to feed your loved ones whether you're on a budget or not. A handy tip! Most soups freeze well for future consumption. Great for make-ahead lunches or suppers.
Remember: Soup is good for the soul.
Lisa
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