simple yet hearty chicken and rice soup

Abby here.. Before we get started I say congrats to Claire M. for being the winner of this weeks giveaway!  The drawing needed to be super official so I greeted my 3 year old with a bowl of numbers this morning (one for each commenter) and let him do the honor.  He drew number 6 so I counted down and you were the 6th person to comment!  Please shoot me an email at omamasblog@gmail.com with your mailing address, and I’ll get your giftcard to ya!  **Fun fact about Claire… she is a fantastic woman (with a fantastic family) that I had the privilege of traveling overseas with a few times several years back.  She runs a Christian sports ministry that does great things in the U.S and world wide.  You can learn more about CTSC here!**

And now back to supper…

To be honest, in the summertime, making soup never crosses my mind.  Give me a burger and a caprese salad and I’m set.  But then the snow comes, and all of a sudden the idea of curling up by the fire with a hot bowl of soup sounds about near perfect.

Which leads me to today’s soup, but before we get started can I just say that the KEY to great tasting soups is homemade broth.  I can’t stress that enough, because it drastically improves the taste and the health benefits!

So I could (and usually do) eat this soup with no rice, but my hubby likes the heartiness of the rice so we always make some on the side.

Here’s what I used:

• 8 organic bone-in chicken thighs (I used what I had, but any cut of chicken would work)
• 2 quarts of chicken bone broth
• 3-4 large carrots
• 1 stalk of celery
• large bunch of flat-leaf parsley
• lemons
• purified water
• salt and pepper
• brown rice (cook according to package)
• large soup pot

Here’s what I did:
First, place uncooked chicken in pot and cover with water.  I added about a teaspoon of salt and pepper.  Bring this to a boil and then simmer uncovered until chicken is cooked.  For me, this was about an hour.  While the chicken is cooking, spoon out and white foam that has floated to the top.

Once chicken is cooked through, remove from water and take all the meat off the bones.  I set the fat and bones aside for my next batch of bone broth.  Do not dump the water, because it is full of flavor and will be used in our soup!  Take the chicken and add it back into the soup pot.

Also add in roughly chopped celery and carrots.  Personally, I don’t think you can add too many and I used about 3 cups of each.

Add 2 quarts homemade chicken broth and 1 quart purified water.

Bring to a boil and them simmer with a partial lid cover for about an hour or until carrots are tender.  While the soup is simmering, don’t forget to make your rice!

Once everything is done, place a scoop of rice in a bowl and then ladle in the soup.  Top with LOTS of parsley and LOTS of lemon!! Please, please, please don’t skip this step!   It is of utmost importance to give you the ultimate chicken soup experience!!