#25 Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked chicken
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup noodles (or 1/2 cup rice)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients, except the noodles and chicken, in a stockpot. Bring to boil and reduce heat; simmer for 20 minutes or until carrots are tender. I also added a bay leaf in this part. Add chicken and noodles and cook 7-10 minutes uncovered, or until chicken is heated through and the noodles are cooked.

This was an extremely easy cool weather dinner. I did have to add extra broth but I really wanted a brothy soup.

#24 White Chili

This could be either for the slow cooker or the stove.

Ingredients:

6 skinless chicken thighs (or 2 cups cooked cubed chicken breasts; stovetop method)
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 3/4 chicken broth (or 3 cups chicken broth; stovetop method)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper sauce (I omitted this because I did not have it)
2 cans great northern beans (I used 1 can Great Northern & 1 can white navy beans)
1 can white, whole corn (I used yellow because I could not find white)
3 tablespoons lime juice (2 tablespoons; stovetop method)
2 tablespoons fres chopped cilantro

Directions (slow cooker):

Remove excess fat from chicken. In 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker, mix onion, garlic, broth, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper sauce. Add chicken. Cover; cook on Low heat setting 4 to 5 hours. Remove chicken from slow cooker. Use 2 forks to remove bones and shred chicken into pieces. Discard bones; return chicken to slow cooker. Stir in beans, corn, lime juice and cilantro. Cover; cook on Low heat setting 15 to 20 minutes or until beans and corn are hot.

Directions (stovetop):

Using 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil cook onions and garlic over medium heat until tender. Add remaining ingredients except the cooked chicken. Heat to a boil, lower temperature and simmer for 20 minutes (I simmered for about an hour to thicken it, I guess you could use less chicken broth?) Add chicken and heat through.

Serve topped with green onions (I use chives since I have them fresh), shredded cheese and sour cream if you want to. I also ate mine with tortilla chips.

This was a very easy dinner. I just boiled the chicken while I got everything else prepared and simmered.