Snow Day Soup

Today was my very first snow day of my teaching career and I have to say, I LOVED IT! I woke up, jumped in the shower and continued with my regular morning routine until 15 minutes before I left.  I decided to log on the computer and BAM! I saw it - School Closures! BOOYA!  Today was spent relaxing, cooking, marking, cleaning and playing in the snow. A perfect day. 

A few days ago I picked up at cooked chicken from Costco for dinner ($6.99!).  We had it that night for dinner and the following day for lunch.  I grew up on delicious homemade chicken stock based soups so I decided to try it out for myself.  My husband who usually claims that "soup is a drink", said it was very good for dinner! 

Chicken Stock

bones from one whole chicken

8-12 cups of water (depending on how big the pot is)

2 celery stocks, chopped

1 carrot, cut into large sections

2 onions, chopped

2 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp oregano

1 tsp thyme

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp peppercorns

Simmer all ingredients for 3 hours. Remove and pour through a colander.  The enables some of the onion chunks and spices to fall through.  I had a lot of meat still left on the bones when they when in the pot (that's what she said), so I picked hunks out and put it into the stock.  Discard remains. Put stock in fridge for 6 hours until fat hardens on the top.  Discard fat.

Soup

Chicken stock

1 carrot, sliced

1 c corn

1/2 c frozen peas

1 celery stock, chopped

1/2 tsp oregano

2 cups raw pasta (use beans as a substitute)

salt & pepper to taste

Put everything together in the same pot you made the stock in and simmer for 20 minutes or until pasta is al dente. Serve!