Make it Work Wednesday

Oh, Pintrest. I'm sure you don't mean to, but you make me feel unworthy.

Part of it is my own fault. I am certainly not the next Martha Stewart. I am somewhat creative, but I lack some serious skills. Important things like cutting straight and how to improvise when all is not going according to directions.

For example, a friend of mine posted this link to a delicious looking chicken and rice soup recipe on her Facebook page.

Easy Crock Pot Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup

Print recipe

Serves	8
Prep time	10 minutes
Cook time	8 hours
Total time	8 hours, 10 minutes
Meal type	Lunch, Main Dish, Soup, Starter
Misc	Child Friendly, Pre-preparable, Serve Hot

Ingredients

• 6 cups chicken stock
• 2 chicken breasts (boneless skinless)
   
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 stalks celery (chopped)
   
• 1 medium onion (chopped)
• 2 carrots (chopped)
• salt (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 3/4 cups long grain rice (NOT quick cooking rice)
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• 10oz corn

 

Make Pork Biscuits for Game Day

 

Directions

Step 1

Add everything to the crock pot except the rice, corn, flour and milk. Cover and cook for 8 hours. The chicken will cook in the broth and add more flavor to the soup. Halfway through cooking add the rice (or you can stir in already cooked rice at the end).

Step 2

About 30 minutes prior to serving, shred the chicken. In a small container with a lid shake together flour and milk really well and stir into soup. Add Corn. Let cook for 30 minutes more to allow the soup to thicken.

Read more at http://backforsecondsblog.com/2012/11/easy-crock-pot-creamy-chicken-and-rice-soup/#F8PQkKC9QAdeWL78.99


Seriously, doesn't that look like the perfect thing for a chilly fall day? I LOVE soup. I especially love healthy soups.

So last week I made this with some adjustments.

I don't do bay leaves, they gross me out. Yes, I know that's weird. I've made my peace with it.

I subbed a veggie mix (carrots, peas, green beans, and corn) for the 10 oz of corn. I also tossed in 1 cup of long grain brown rice (the kind that should be boiled on a stovetop for 45 minutes. Oops) and used onion powder instead of actual onions. I was also out of celery so I omitted that altogether.

It looked great until the rice didn't cook. And didn't cook. And didn't cook.

Total cook time ended up being off and on a couple days. I had to turn my crockpot up to "melt steel" to get the rice to finish cooking and at that point the chicken and veggies were pretty much mush.

It had a great flavor, though.

So I tried again this week, adding less rice to the chicken broth and celery first and letting it cook for 3-4 hours first. Then I added the chicken and spices for another couple hours and then I added the veggies. I also omitted the flour and milk because I'm not a huge fan of any cream of _____ soups. Theoretically, this still should have worked beautifully.

In reality, the crock pot was on for over 24 hours before the rice was done and the rice still soaked up almost all the liquid.

This pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter:


Again, the flavor was incredible. The veggies and chicken weren't cooked to mush, but it was closer than I would have liked.

So, F I N E. I will cook the rice separately, even though to me that takes away the charm and ease of using the crock pot to make it in the first place.

::grumble::

And yes, I know it's operator error.

Sigh.