One Rainy Saturday in My Kitchen (and a Chicken Soup Worth Sharing)

It's been cold and rainy all weekend, the kind of gray, soggy weather that makes you want to slip into some cozy slippers and and enjoy having nowhere to be. So yesterday, when I found myself with an unusually free day (a rare thing around here), I took full advantage. I stayed home, put on some music, and spent the entire day in my kitchen.

A Promise I Made in September

At the beginning of September, I made a commitment to start meal prepping. Nothing rigid or fancy, just a real plan and some good food ready to go. Here's why.

I want the joy of cooking back

I love to cook. I always have. But somewhere over the last several years, I lost the joy in it. Cooking turned into one more thing to get through at the end of a long day instead of something I looked forward to. I've missed it, and I want to reclaim it.

I want to stop spending so much on takeout

You probably know this one. When life gets busy and there's no plan, you walk in the door after a long day with no idea what to make and no energy to come up with something. So you order takeout, or you reach for one of the same handful of easy (mostly frozen) meals that have been on constant rotation for years. Some of ours have been in the lineup so long they should be paying rent. It adds up fast, it's not doing our bodies any favors, and it's SO boring.

Homemade just tastes better

Homemade food almost always tastes better, and it's usually healthier too. You know exactly what's going into it, you season it the way you like it, and there's something about a meal made with care that feels different when you sit down to eat it.

What I Made

By the end of the day, I'd made shepherd's pie, homemade mac and cheese, a sausage, lentil and kale soup, a honeynut squash and apple soup, chicken soup from scratch, and an apple crisp, because a day like that deserves dessert. That's six dishes. My kitchen looked like it had been twelve.

Some of it went into the freezer for the nights when I need dinner to appear out of nowhere. Some went to friends, because sharing homemade food is one of my favorite ways to show up for the people I love. The rest is portioned out in the fridge, which means this week's dinners are already handled.

That feeling of opening the fridge and knowing dinner is taken care of? That's the joy I've been trying to get back.

The Chicken Soup Worth Sharing

Of everything I made, the chicken soup was the standout. Made from scratch with herbs straight from my garden, simmered slow, and oh my goodness, so good. It reminded me of the chicken and vegetable soup from my FAVORITE restaurant, the New England Soup Factory. When I was pregnant with my son, I ate that soup for a month straight, breakfast, lunch and dinner. This one took me right back, and it was exactly what I needed on a cold, rainy weekend. It was too good to keep to myself, so I'm sharing it with you.

Notes

• The secrets: a cold water start, a gentle simmer, fresh herbs, and plenty of salt plus lemon at the end.
• Start with a good chicken. The whole broth is built from it, so I use pasture raised, organic whenever I can. You'll taste the difference.
• Try a rotisserie chicken. Next time I want to try this with one for even more depth of flavor. Pull the meat off first, simmer the carcass with the aromatics, skip the poaching step, and go easy on the salt since it's already seasoned.
• Stretch your budget. Rotisserie chickens are often sold as a loss leader, so even the organic ones usually cost less than a raw organic chicken.
• Roast for extra depth. Roast the chicken and onions at 425°F for 30 minutes before adding them to the pot.
• It's very forgiving. My broth reduced too much, so I strained it, set it aside, added more water, vegetables, herbs and garlic to the pot, simmered a second batch, and combined the two. This recipe is hard to screw up.
• Noodles on the side. I leave them out of the pot so they don't get mushy, and add them when I reheat what I've stocked in the fridge and freezer.
• Freezer friendly. The broth freezes beautifully for up to 3 months.

You Don't Need a Whole Free Day

My weekends don't usually come with a free day attached, and yours probably don't either. That's okay. Meal prep can be as simple as making a double batch of soup on Sunday and freezing half. Even one or two things ready to go can change how your whole week feels. Start with one recipe you love and let it grow from there.

Maybe start with this soup. Now if you'll excuse me, there's a bowl with my name on it.

From my kitchen to yours,

Katie