Chicken Guesswhat

As previously mentioned, family recipes are the most special to me. These are the ones that are passed down from generation to generation. These are the ones that people remember from childhood. Chicken Guesswhat is one of those. It's my Grandma's creation. I ate this many many times as a kid. My kids have eaten this many times. I love this recipe! It's simple and doesn't take a whole lot of time (assuming that you have chicken stock and chicken on hand). If starting from scratch, it takes a little more time. I will post as if starting from scratch. It also freezes well if you leave out the potatoes. If you have frozen chicken and stock (which is a must in my kitchen), just skip to the soup part.

I have found with my kids that it works pretty well. For those who don't care for the veggies, they pick around and eat what they like (peas and carrots being avoided at all costs). If you're lucky, since the veggies basically taste like chicken, the kids will try the veggies. For a little one, it would probably pulverize in the food processor or blender pretty well for homemade baby food, although I have never tried it.

This is an "anything goes" recipe. If you don't care for a particular veggie, leave it out. If you really like it, add more. That is why I am not going to put amounts on much. It also works well with holiday turkey leftovers. Just use the carcass from the deboned turkey in place of the whole chicken and put your turkey meat in the soup at the end.

So, without further delay, I give you Chicken Guesswhat.

Chicken Guesswhat

Preparing chicken and stock:
1 whole chicken
1 onion (quartered)
1 stalk celery (in a few pieces)
1 carrot (in a few pieces)
1-2 cloves garlic (whole is fine)
pepper corns
parsley
pinch of salt
water to cover

Throw everything in pot and bring up to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and let it go at least until the chicken is cooked. Longer is fine.

After chicken is cooked, transfer to bowl. Strain stock into a pitcher or plastic container of some sort. Refrigerate. Skim the fat off the top once it's congealed.

To prepare soup:

Canola oil
Onion (chopped)
Celery (chopped)
Garlic (chopped)
Chicken stock (6-8 cups works well)
Carrots (sliced)
Potatoes (diced)
1 envelope chicken flavor noodles & sauce
peas (canned or frozen) or a can of peas and carrots
cooked chicken (start w/ dark meat)

Saute onion, celery, and garlic in oil until soft. Add stock and bring to boil. Add carrots and potatoes (if using fresh). Cook until nearly done. Add noodles & sauce and cook until the noodles are nearly done. Add in peas (and frozen carrots if you choose to use those instead of fresh) and bring back to boil. Add in cooked chicken. Taste test to double check seasoning and adjust as necessary with boullion, salt, or pepper.