Mama & Baby Love's Healing Chicken Soup: Freezer Friendly!

We're supposed to get a blizzard tonight.  Yes.  You read that right!  There's just something about the warning of snow that makes me crave soup.  I made this soup from Mama and Baby Love's ecookbook - you can find yours here!  It's the first ecookbook I've ever purchased and I wasn't disappointed.  All of her recipes are freezer friendly and 95% of her recipes are grain-free, gluten-free, and dairy-free.  Annnnnd it's only $9.99.  Totally worth the splurge in my book!

Try this recipe of hers and you'll be hooked.  Although hers called for making it with a whole chicken, I used some cubed frozen chicken breasts I had on hand.  It was hearty, made the house smell heavenly while cooking all afternoon, and most importantly was scrumptious to eat.  Love. 

Mama and Baby Love that is ;)

Healing Chicken Soup from Mama & Baby Love's eCookbook

(Makes 2 meals)

2 chopped onions

6 carrots, sliced

4 celery stalks (I ended up using 6 because my stalks were small)

2 cups chopped kale, rinsed

2 teaspoon salt (I omitted)

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon basil (I omitted)

1 teaspoon thyme

A couple sprigs of fresh parsley (I omitted)

4 bay leaves

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2 gallon safe freezer bags

(On the day of cooking: (per bag of soup mix) 1 - 2.5 lb whole chicken (inards removed), 4 cups filtered water)

Directions

1) Chop and prepare vegetables. The onion was a medium dice - I ended up having to run to the grocery store and get some because I was out!!  I used about half a head of kale from the grocery store.  I used the other half to make kale chips, and yes, I ate the whole pan before storing a stitch ;)

2) Split vegetables and other ingredients between two gallon safe freezer bags.  Label with directions (Add 4 cups water {my bag says 2 because I wasn't thinking ;)} and whole chicken.  Low 8 - 10 hours or High 4 - 6.)  Freeze.

3) No need to thaw before use.  Dump the contents of the bag straight into the crockpot.  I also used two chicken breasts that I had cubed into 1 inch cubes before freezing since I didn't have a whole chicken on hand.  This worked great!  Add 4 cups liquid.  I used 2 cups water and 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth.  I recently found the organic broths and I was floored at how LITTLE sodium they had in them.  Look in your store for them too!

4) Stir the chicken to the bottom.  Put on the lid and let it cook.  I cooked it on high for 2 hours, then stirred it to break up the cubes of chicken.  Then I turned it on low because I had to go run some errands.  It makes me nervous leaving it on high and leaving the house! ;)  I let it go on low for another 3 hours.  Since these were cubes of chicken breasts I figured it was okay to do less than the time allotted since the original recipe was for a whole chicken.  If you're using a whole chicken, I'd definitely cook it the whole time (4-6 on high or 8-10 on low).

5) The finished product!  Remove the 2 bay leaves before serving. I found you really have to hunt for these bad boys - they blend in with the kale!

 6) Devour.

p.s. It pairs GREAT with a grilled cheese!!  That's how we ate it ;)

The Verdict

This is the perfect soup!  It always makes me so proud to make a chicken soup because, honestly, it takes less time than it does to pop open a can of the salt-laden variety.  Plus the addition of the vegetables makes for an eye-popping (and healthy!) presentation.  This is the first recipe I've seen that adds kale.  I LOVED it... DH wasn't too fond.  I'd suggest chopping it smaller if you have people no so sure about eating the kale.  Mama & Baby Love suggests adding about 2 cups of potato or pasta to the soup if you want to stretch it a little farther.  (It made about 5 medium servings as-is.)  If you're going to use pasta, I'd cook it separately and add it in the last 30 minutes of cooking so it's not too soggy.  This soup would also be great for mixed diet households.  Cook the vegetables and stock (no chicken!) per directions (maybe 2-3 hours on high and 4-6 on low).  Vegetarian options could add in a fortified pasta or a can of rinsed beans while originally cooking.  Add in cooked chicken or other meat of choice upon serving for other non-vegetarian members of the family.  

We hope you enjoy this soup as much as we did!  And stay warm!  February looks like another chilly month!!