A Little Chicken Soup to Sooth the Soul

So this Christmas break has been nice but unfortunately, my boys have all been sick during different parts of their vacation. Yesterday, Zach woke up feeling bad . . . bad enough that he didn't want to go to church.  Zach loves church so I knew he was really sick when he opted to stay in bed instead of going to church with me.

I took him to the clinic this morning, and found out that he has an ear infection and an upper respiratory cold.  

He feels really bad.  And he asked for some Chicken Noodle Soup.  He was talking about the kind in the can, but I decided to make him some homemade chicken soup.  

Whenever we have fellowship time at Calvary Baptist that involves bringing soup, everyone counts on Angie to bring her Cheesy Chicken Soup.  It's a favorite of everyone's at Calvary.  I love to make it too, but it has potatoes in it.  My boys are not big fans of potatoes so I modify it a bit.

Here's my Cheesy Chicken and Bowtie Soup:

First, you need to cook some chicken with seasonings.  I season my chicken with salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.  I used a package of chicken tenderloins, approximately 1 pound.  Once it's cooked, chop the chicken up or shred it.  

While the chicken is cooking, chop up 2 celery sticks (or 1/2 cup), 1 large carrot (or 1/2 cup), 1 small onion (or 1/2 cup), and slice up a bundle of green onions (or 1/2 cup).

In a large soup pot, cook the carrots, celery, and onion in one cup of chicken broth until the vegetables are tender.

Saute the sliced green onions in butter.  I used 2 tablespoons of real butter.  Once the green onions are tender, pour them into the pot with the other vegetables.  Add 4 cups of chicken broth, the chopped up chicken, and a 15 oz. jar of Cheez Whiz.  Yep, Cheez Whiz.  Let the soup mixture simmer on low while the Cheez Whiz slowly melts into the soup.

At this point, Angie adds boiled, cubed potatoes, but I substitute bowtie pasta (per Zach's request) or egg noodles.  I cook the pasta according to the package instructions and then add it to the soup.  After I added the pasta, I added more chicken broth to make the soup the right consistency.  The pasta tends to absorb some of the broth so more is needed.

I wish my picture was better.

Cheesy Chicken and Bowtie Soup

 2 (32 oz.) box of Chicken Broth

1/2 cup of chopped celery (appr. 2 celery stalks)

1/2 cup of chopped carrots (appr. 1 large carrot)

1/2 cup of chopped onion (appr. 1 small onion)

1/2 cup of green onion, sliced (appr. 6 or 7 green onions)

2 tbsp butter

1 pound chicken tenderloins, cooked and chopped

1 (15 oz.) Cheez Whiz

1 package (12 oz.) of bowtie pasta, cooked and drained 

Cook the carrots, celery, and onion in 1 cup of chicken broth until the vegetables are tender.  Saute the sliced green onions in the butter.  Add the green onions to the cooked vegetable mixture.  Add 4 cups of chicken broth, the cooked, chopped chicken, and Cheez Whiz.  Let the soup mixture simmer while the Cheez Whiz slowly melts into the soup.  Add the cooked and drained bowtie pasta to the soup mixture.  Add chicken broth to the soup mixture as needed to get the right consistency for the soup after adding the pasta.  Salt and pepper soup to taste.

Serve in a bowl to any child that's suffering from an ear infection for instant relief . . . . It's guaranteed to make your child feel much better.  

Especially if your child is like my Zach.  :)

I hope you give this special soup a try and when you do, I hope you think of 

                        the Ferrell boys and me!