I adore soups, stews and chili. Eating out of bowl gives me a strange sense of joy. Fall rolls into Texas later than what I am used to being from the North, and as soon as the temperature drops under 78 degrees the slow cooker is brought out. On top of the ease and comfort of my bowl full of food, I also enjoy the savings that soup season brings.
Last night I made a wild rice chicken soup that must be shared!
A splash of olive oil
1 large onion, diced
4 minced cloves of garlic
4 stalks of chopped celery
2 large diced carrots (or approximately 20 baby carrots - what I had on hand)
3 raw chicken legs (or one cup of diced chicken or turkey)
1 cup wild rice
1 teaspoon pepper
48 ounces of chicken broth (homemade or boxed/canned)
1 teaspoon basil leaves
1 teaspoon tarragon
1 teaspoon parsley
salt to taste
1. Put oil, onions and garlic in a skillet. Cook on medium heat until onions are transparent. Make sure to keep on a lower heat so that the garlic and onions don't burn. (Takes about 5-6 minutes)
2. Put all other ingredients in your slow cooker while the onions and garlic are simmering.
3. Add onions and garlic to slow cooker and turn on low for 6-8 hours or until your carrots are tender and your rice is cooked.
4. Pull out chicken and shred - if it didn't already fall apart in the soup. My chicken legs were very soft, but I did have to shred them.
5. Put chicken back in soup, stir, serve and enjoy!
Note: Save the chicken skin and bones no one ate off of! Break or cut the bones into pieces, and place them in a container in your fridge to cool. Once fully cooled, I add bones to a baggie in my freezer (marked and used within the month) to make chicken broth. Which I will tell you how to do in tomorrow's post.
COST:
3 chicken legs (Rosie's Organic/Free-Range Chicken @ Sprouts. Legs are $1.99/lb) - $1.49
Organic Onion: $.30
Organic Celery: $.50
Organic Baby Carrots: $.50
Organic Wild Rice (Gluten-Free Sale @ Sprouts): $.75
Homemade broth (unsure how to figure cost because I use bones):
Organic Spices (Order Bulk with friends): $.15
Total: $3.69 (And this is why I love soup season)
I *adore* your blog. I make everything from scratch, too, because we have exactly $0 to eat out. Sometimes I do cheat and make chicken nuggets from a bag -- YIKES! -- when I don't feel like cooking and dinner refuses to magically appear on my table. I think they're healthy? At that point I really just want to lie on the couch and eat cereal from the box, so it's better than that. I also try to not plan or buy anything for Friday nights as it forces us to eat whatever is in the fridge. Tonight we're having open-faced BBQ chicken sandwiches with cheddar cheese and a salad. Total cost: $0. I'm making the sweet potato crock pot burritos this week. Looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rachel! I appreciate you leaving an encouraging comment. Our leftover day is usually Sunday lunch, and I love it!!! Let me know how you like the crockpot burritos. They're usually a big hit - especially with kids. :)
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