Crockpot Chicken Soup

This was one of my first successful creations after moving away from home, and the inspiration for the title of this blog. No planning was put into the alterations: I had found the original on a frugal recipes site, and followed it to the letter...only to find that I HATED it! However, being too poor at the time to even consider just throwing it out, I did the only thing that seemed reasonable: panicked. Once that was finished, I grabbed a bunch of spices out of the cupboard, started smelling them, and threw in anything that seemed like it might help.

Surprisingly, instead of ruining it even further, it actually turned out tasting pretty good, so I wrote down everything that had gone into it. After consulting family members. I tried again with a few more suggestions, and wrote down actual amounts. After a little more experimentation, this is the recipe that resulted:


Crockpot Chicken Soup

This is a great recipe for people who love leftovers, or are serving at least three to four people. I come from a family of big eaters, and I've yet to see this finished off in one meal!

Altered Recipe
Reason for altering: Original was very, very watery and bland.
Starred ingredients were not found in original recipe

Ingredients:
1 whole fryer chicken (giblets removed, of course!)
1 bag carrots, cut into bite sized pieces
1 bunch celery, cut into bite sized pieces
1 onion (white and yellow both work well), cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup rice or barley
1 can chicken broth
*1-2 bay leaves
*1-2 tsp red pepper flakes
*2-3 chicken buillon cubes (I personally prefer Knorr's, but I'm sure other brands will work just fine)
*2-4 tsp each of basil, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
enough water to cover everything
salt, pepper, garlic salt and/or powder *(or, even better, fresh chopped garlic!), *onion powder, *lemongrass, *cilantro to taste (all optional, of course, but chances are you're going to want at least some of them!)

*Note: unless you have a HUGE crockpot, you probably won't be able to fit all veggies listed in-- I usually end up using only 3-4 carrots and 1-2 sticks celery. However, I recommend not making any compromises regarding the onion. ;-) Also, with the added bouillon, salt *probably* won't be necessary, but it all depends on your taste.

Instructions:
1. Put whole chicken, herbs and spices, broth, and one cube bouillon in crock pot. Cook on high for 3 hours.
2. Remove chicken. Remove skin, and seperate meat from bone. Put meat back in crockpot. (Be careful--VERY hot!)
3. Add vegetables and rice/barley.
4. add enough water to cover, (If yours turns out the way mine does, this will probably fill the crockpot to the brim!), add additional bouillon cube(s).
5. Cook for one more hour.
6. Taste. If necessary, add more herbs, bouillon, and/or seasoning.
7. Cook for one more hour. Have to make sure those flavors blend. ;-)
8. Enjoy!


The Quick and Dirty Version:

My mother and I whipped this up when we were craving the above, but had neither five hours to cook nor access to a crockpot. It's not quite as good, in my opinion, but it will do in a pinch
Ingredients
1 pre-cooked rotisserie chicken (available at most major grocery stores)
1 small bag pre-chopped carrots
1/2 celery stick (could have used more, but Mom despises the stuff)
1 onion
1/2 cup rice/barley
1-2 cubes chicken bouillon
Same herbs and spices as before, with amounts modified to be roughly proportional to the previous recipe

1. Remove skin and bones from chicken; place meat in appropriate cookware (the best we had at the time was a sauce pan).
2. Add veggies, rice/barley, bouillon, herbs and spices; cover with water
3. Cook over stove until soup is hot and flavors are blended
4. Again, enjoy!