Mimi's chicken soup

Chicken, any cut will do. Bone in is best since it gives the most flavor. I usually use 2 bone in chicken breasts, or a combo of one bone in breast and a thigh or leg(s).

Use as much as you like, you can add more or less water if you like it extra soup-y or more stew-y.
My kids love the broth so I add a good amount of water.

2 or 3 carrots, peeled and sliced.
1/4 onion finely diced
1 celery stick washed
a sprig (?) of cilantro
1 or two potatoes peeled and quartered
olive oil
salt
garlic powder
onion powder


Heat about 1 tsp of OO in a large soup pot. Add onion, saute until soft. Add chicken. Cover with water. Allow to simmer until chicken is cooked through. Take chicken out and place on cutting board and let it cool a bit so you can debone it without melting the skin off your fingers. :)
While the chicken is chillin, add your carrots, celery and cilantro to the broth.
One your chicken is deboned, carefully place the pieces back in to pot. Add your salt , and season to taste. Allow to simmer for a while. i usually let it go for about 30 minutes, then add my potato chunks. Simmer until potato is cooked through then give it a taste. Add more seasonings if you so desire.
I fish out the celery stick and cilantro, as my kids dont like too many float-y bits in their soup.
I shred the chicken a bit more, while its still in the pot.
I serve with some white rice.

The twins love dipping spoonfuls of rice in the broth and eventually they end up dumping their bowl of rice in to the soup and eating it that way.
The kid size spoons dont have enough "scoop" so i ended giving them each a TBSP measuring spoon, and that works well.
Its a messy dish, for toddlers anyway...so be prepared for some spills. We usually do bathtime right after this dish which i serve for dinner only. Using a regular sized old towel or a couple of dish towels under their plates and on their laps helps to catch some of the spills too. MoeJoe and Woodrow take care of the rest until I can get to it. :)
Daisy loves the little carrots and potatoes and Sam is a big time broth and rice guy.
Sam says- Sou Sou! When he sees me scooping it intot eh bowls and Diasy chimes in with MMMMmmm! YUMMMmmy!
I wish Liam would get in to the soup too but its just not his thing right now. Hes more of a turkey bacon and veggie muffin for dinner kind of guy, which is just fine with us. :)

Love and light,

A