Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Chicken And Wild Rice Soup

     Happy New Year!!!

     Well another year is behind us and we are looking at a new year. Time to reevaluate our life and try and make some changes that are for the better. Some of us want to make changes to exercise more, or to just exercise period. Some of us want to save more money and spend less, simplifying our lives. And then some of us want to eat better. So many resolutions. Hopefully some of the things we want to change will become a reality.

     I really want to eat better and save some money so I can go on a trip somewhere. Not that I haven't done these things before, but I just want to make a point of really watching what I eat and making sure I put money aside every paycheck so I can afford to go on a nice trip this year. 

     As far as exercise goes, I'm going to make sure that I go to the gym 3 times a week and really work out. No more wimpy exercising. I'm going to make sure I work out for at least 30 minutes when I do go to the gym. Plus I'm going to make sure I do yoga once a week. It's so easy to get out of the habit of regular exercise.

    So to start my better eating I've made a Chicken and Wild Rice soup recipe that I think you're going to love. It is made in the crockpot, which makes it super easy. I wasn't so sure how the wild rice would cook, but it was very easy. It doesn't take much to whip this soup up and my family liked it better than my usual wild rice soup.

So here's to a New Year! Hope you all have a wonderful 2014!

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

8 C of chicken broth

1 C uncooked wild rice

1 T olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 rods of celery, sliced

2 carrots, shredded

1/2 t pepper

2 C cooked, diced chicken

1 stick of butter, melted

1/2 C flour

2 C half and half

2 t parsley 

Siracha sauce, if desired

Add chicken broth and rice to crockpot and turn on high. In a frying pan add olive oil and heat on medium heat. Add onion, celery and carrots and saute until cooked. Add the pepper to the vegetables.  Add to the rice and broth mixture. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.

Cook the chicken. ( I took 3 chicken breasts and boiled them until done. About 20-30 minutes). Cut chicken up into bite size pieces and put in the refrigerator for later.

In a small sauce pan melt butter. Add the flour and stir completely in. Then slowly add the half and half, mixing well. Add this to the crockpot mixture along with the chicken and the parsley. Mix well.

Let soup cook for another 20-30 minutes and serve.

Add Siracha sauce to individual bowls if desired.

Adapted from Simply This and that

  

Wild Rice Soup

It has been extremely cold these past few days. The temperature is in the single digits. Throw in the wind and you have a wind chill of minus zero. I woke up the other morning to -13 degrees. I can't imagine what the chill was that morning.

It has been so cold that I haven't taken the dogs for a walk in days. I'm afraid it's too cold for them. I've just been taking them out in the backyard for a short time and my Sheltie is not very happy about it. She Loves her walks! I can't wait til we can go again too. There is something to be said for walking the stress of the day away and it's a great way to start the day.

Since the weather has been so cold and miserable. We've just been shut up in the house trying to keep warm. Of course we've had a fire in the wood stove like every night since Thursday. I don't know what I would do if we didn't have that stove.

I also made some Wild Rice Soup the other night. There's nothing better than soup on a cold night. This soup is so good that you'll want to just keep on eating and eating and eating. 

Now this recipe originally was from the paper, but I've changed it over the years to suit me. It is really easy to make and truthfully I don't think it can be messed up it's that easy. If you have leftovers the liquid will get absorbed, but all you have to do is add some more chicken broth and some milk and you've got soup again.

The recipe calls for half n half, but sometimes I just use milk. It turns out just as good.

Wild Rice Soup

Wild Rice Soup
1 Cup raw wild rice
3 T butter
1  medium onion, chopped
8oz fresh mushrooms, sliced thickly
1/2 C flour
1-32 oz box of chicken broth
1 1/2 C diced cooked chicken, optional
1 C half n half
1 t worcestershire sauce
hot pepper sauce to taste ( I use Sriracha sauce)
salt and pepper to taste

Wash and drain the rice. Put in a saucepan with 5 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Simmer about 45 minutes or until most of it has "popped". Drain well.
Cooke the chicken in boiling water until done. Set aside to cool. When cool cut into bite size pieces.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onions and saute them over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally, until they become translucent. Add the mushrooms and saute, stirring occasionally until they yield their liquid and it's almost all cooked off.
 Add the flour, stir it into the onions and mushrooms and cook, stirring about 1 minute to heat the flour. Stir in the broth, making sure each addition of liquid is absorbed before more is added. Add the rice and chicken and heat through. Add the half n half, worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce, salt and pepper and heat through.

Slow Cooker Potato & Ham Soup

Potato Ham Soup

     Everyone likes easy right? Well this recipe is super easy. My husband happen to make this soup a few weeks ago. He of course found the recipe in Simple and Delicious magazine. It was so good that I just had to share it with everyone. This recipe is basically a 2 step process. Can't much easier than that. In fact this recipe is just as easy as the recipe I posted for Wild rice soup in the crock pot. 

     This soup is so good it tastes like it took a ton of work to make, but it really doesn't. It also only takes 7 ingredients to make. Most everything I already had at home to make this. The recipe did call for deli ham, but we had left over ham, so that's what was used. It also called for a package of frozen shredded hash browns, thawed. Now my husband went and bought some, but I would have just peeled and shredded some potatoes using my saladshooter.

      It smelled so good and tasted even better. The day he made this and I came home from work and the wonderful smell just hypnotized me. I immediately walked over to the crock pot to check it out. He served this soup up with a some fresh french bread (courtesy of the bakery) and it was a wonderful meal.

     This recipe is a keeper for sure!

Slow Cooker Potato & Ham Soup
1carton (32 oz) chicken broth
1 pkg. (30 oz) frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/4t pepper
4 oz cream cheese, softened and cubed
1 C cubed deli ham
1 can (5 oz) evaporated milk
sour cream and chopped green onions, optional

1. In a 4 or 5 quart slow cooker, combine broth, potatoes, onion and pepper. Cook, covered, on low 6-8 hours.
2. Mash potatoes to desired consistency. Whisk in cream cheese until melted. Stir in ham and evaporated milk. Cook, covered, 15-20 minutes longer or until heated through. Serve soup with sour cream and green onions if desired.

Recipe from Taste of Home Simple and Delicious