Friday, October 4, 2013

Tina Radcliffe’s Life is Chaos- Chicken Soup


A big thank you to Tina Radcliffe for her post today! Here's Tina...

Tina Radcliffe’s Life is Chaos- Chicken Soup


I’ve got a few balls juggling right now. Evidence my desk today. (I’m not proud of myself!!)



So I’m going to cut a few corners to make a meal that’s fast and will last through tomorrow.



One package of carrots peeled and sliced the way you like them.

One whole package celery, sliced and diced, and with the leaves on.

One or two onions chopped into big chunks

One or two garlic cloves smashed and chopped.

Feel free to toss in any refrigerator leftovers. We had some chopped green chiles left over from taco night and I tossed them in.

Knorr Chicken Stock (has no MSG) use all four packages

Grab a soup pot and fill it three quarters full with water.

Let this simmer on medium about two hours until the carrots are starting to soften.

Then add the chicken. YES! A rotisserie chicken. Any flavor but lemon.  Just toss that bird in.



In about an hour or until the meat is starting to fall off the bone, you can take the bird out and debone. Put the meat back in the soup. Salt and pepper the soup to taste at any time you take a break from writing or reading.



Add rice. Uncle Ben AMAZING Instant Rice Pouches.

Let it simmer on low for about an hour, or longer if you aren’t eating right away. I don’t put the lid on it at any time during the process.

Ready to eat with a nice loaf of bread (I’d eat the whole loaf for sure) or if dieting like me, sea salt breadsticks which are low cal.



Enjoy!



Tina Radcliffe writes inspirational romance for Love Inspired and romantic comedy as Tina Russo.

Her latest release is Love In Bloom: A collection of seventeen poignant and romantic short stories guaranteed to make you smile, laugh and remember your first love. (and yes, it's only 99 cents.)

You can find her at www.tinarusso.com or www.tinaradcliffe.com

31 comments:

  1. Oh, I NEED this! I have everything but the chicken! (I have a live one, but that would take a lot longer.) Definitely doing this for the weekend. I have a kids' book club meeting here tomorrow, visitors this weekend, and a deadline looming!

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  2. Tina's my name. Cheating cooking is my game.

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  3. I love the idea of throwing the chicken in. I've done that before with the leftover chicken, but the whole rotisserie??? How fun is that!

    What a great combo idea. Love it, teenster. One cheating thing I do with soup is I divide it into two pots when it's done. I add the rice/pasta to one and refrigerate the other for a night or two until I need instant dinner then I bring it back to a boil and add the pasta or rice fresh. That way it doesn't get gummy. Some folks love the second day pasta/rice but I don't so this way I get the soup the way I love it both days. My little kids LOVE second-day noodles. I think it's because they're slippery! :) So are the kids, LOL! Thank you for this, I'm trying it this weekend. Although once you turned me on to Bear Creek soups, I make one weekly. Cheating and loving it!

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  4. All this talk of throwing chickens in the pot is ruffling my feathers. :-)

    One of the good things about living alone is that you can use cheat cooking all the time. When I make a batch of soup I usually just live on if for days until it's gone. Nothing to meal preparation after work and it is extremely economical!!! But I make mine with legumes, not chicken. :-)

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  5. Well Ruthy, throwing the rice in precooked eliminates the gummy. I don't throw my noodles in when I am so forward as to actually boil noodles. I cook them separately and add them to the bowl. Like you I don't want my noodles any way but PERFECT.

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    1. See, I've never used that rice. I'll try it! That's my only snafu with soup/pasta/rice is gummy stuff later. But I'm ready to be educated!

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  6. That pot will last Friday, Saturday and Sunday which is good with me!!! Wonder if I could add Tofu instead, Kav?

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    1. Or beans??? Or just load up on veggie things? There is no such thing as too many veggies!

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  7. I love soup season. I notice there is less waste of fresh veggies because I throw them in the pot! And yes, soup is the meal for days on end.

    As the allergy free GAL here, I make my own stock and freeze it. Such a luxury to just put it in the pot and add ingredients.

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  8. Okay absolutely delicious but of course, you are NOT dealing with a master until now.
    I can simplify this for you all.
    FIRST, baby carrots. Just rip the bag open and dump.
    Second to chop that celery. Leave the whole stalk whole, cut the top dried bits off and then just start chopping in 1/2 chops. cut down until you've got enough. In fact chop up the whole stalk adn throw what you want in the soup and the rest in a freezer bag for next time. Celery is stupid and doesn't keep in the fridge long.
    Third, canned chicken instead of boning one. I hate boning chicken. Tina's will have a delicious flavor but I'm willing to sacrifice that for....open can dump.
    I do love fresh garlic. That's the one place I'd go along, when all my instincts say garlic powder. Plus there's something immensely satisfying about slamming the side of my fist into a knife and just smashing a whole clove of garlic.
    I'm not proud of that.
    Plus I've heard touching fresh garlic is mood altering and it does cheer me up somehow. I don't know if it is a true reaction to the garlic or if I just THINK it makes me feel better but...............................................if you think you are happier....then you think you are happier right???? CAN THIS BE DENIED?????????

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    1. Will be putting the mood altering garlic to the test! ;)

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    2. I hear you on the can of chicken... and I do have three cans in the cupboard for emergencies. Emergencies like... supper!!!!

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  9. I just put my chicken breast/pineapple barbeque on for dinner. With the crock pot set on HIGH. I'm ready for dinner AND supper now. Feeling extremely Suzy Homemaker-ish and ready to WRITE!

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  10. Well I am on a budget so bought the big carrots. EWWWWW canned chicken. Even I cannot do that. EWWWWWWW.

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    1. Ruthy spews and laughs because with good chicken base, no one will know as long as the can is hidden. Really. Truly.

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  11. This looks so tasty!! Can't wait to try it.

    Mary, I'm glad you won't be serving raw meat for this meal!! :)

    Man, I'm craving chicken soup.

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    1. (Scribbling down stuff to have on hand for soup....)

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  12. YUM! Tina, you are the queen of quick meals. I love this! Aren't rotisserie chickens the most wonderful thing?

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  13. They are heaven, Missy. I had a dollar off coupon too. hehehe

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  14. Okay that should have read MINDY. I am still caffeine deprived.

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  15. I make something similar... this is how I roll:

    Roast chicken over root veggies in oven. Save some chicken and about half of veggies. Serve roasted chicken and veggies for dinner #1. Throw chicken carcass in stock pot or crock pot with rough-chopped onion/carrot/potato for 2 days, make stock. Take half the stock, bring to boil with pasta (or rice) then throw in leftover chicken and veggies to warm through. Meal #2.

    And seriously, Tina, quit trying to pass off my desk as your own. Wait. There's a Starbucks cup. So that isn't my desk. How weird that they look almost exactly alike!

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    1. Hey, that's how I do it!!!! KRISTIN!!!!! (makes sign language sign for "twins") We're the same!!!! You poor, poor thing!

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  16. Tina, my desk rivals yours. Throw in an empty box or two, clippers from the last attempt at weed eradication, and bills that need to be paid....oh man, I HAVE to clean off my desk!!!

    And canned chicken is great (now stop "ewwing"). You eat canned tuna, right? Just buy the white chunk chicken. It's great for soups and casseroles. I keep it on hand for emergencies.

    Like today. The lights have been blinking and we expect to lose our power at any time, so supper will be cooking on top of the wood stove. Pot roast today, but if the power goes out before I get the meat out of the fridge, I'll use canned chicken and veggies to make soup :)

    Now to get to my editing before said power takes a dive....

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  17. I love, love, LOVE soup! When I had surgery a few years back, a church group wanted to provide meals for us. Someone had asked our daughter what I liked to eat and when she mentioned soup, we ended up with a supply of different soups that kept us fed for a month! It was wonderful!

    I make soup a lot and, like Mary, I sometimes use my crock pot -- throw everything in the pot at the start of the day, settle in for a writing marathon, and at the end of the day supper has made itself. I've never thought to add a rotisserie chicken but it makes my mouth water thinking of the flavour that would add! Thanks for the tip!!! And your particular recipe sounds scrumptious so I'm going to try it. :)

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  18. Jan! Snow?? So sorry!!

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  19. I'm a soup girl, too, Carol!!

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  20. It is COLD here this morning, so we are ready for soup. This sounds YUMMY....and easy. Love that you add GREEN CHILE!

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  21. Sherida! My husband adds salsa to his.

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  22. My sister swears by soup made with a rotisserie chicken like this as a base. She says the flavor is fantastic. I've never done it. I don't have a good rotisserie chicken source nearby.

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  23. I'm very sorry for you, Mary. If you will send me a self addressed stamped envelope, I will send you a rotisserie chicken. What flavor do you want?

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