Easter Decorating And A Chicken Soup Recipe!

Easter decorating can be as simple as buying a wreath and adding personal touches to it or setting up a 3 piece vignette.

A couple years ago, I found the prettiest grapevine wreath at JoAnns Fabric and Craft store.  

A few pastel colored eggs were arranged in strategic places on the wreaths…however, I decided I wanted lots and lots of eggs on the wreath.  Soooo, I grabbed up more styrafoam eggs at the craft store. This desire for more eggs is probably a throw back from my childhood days when (being the eldest), I assisted my two little sisters in our annual back yard Easter Egg Hunt in making sure their little baskets were full of eggs. Even then, I had more fun watching them squeal with delight when I pointed out the nooks and crannies of hidden eggs waiting for their little fingers.  Years later, that same excitement returned as I watched my children and grandchildren scurry around for hidden eggs!  I guess I will always be a kid at heart….and I do love to decorate.

Perhaps you think you have to do a lot to decorate, and you are too busy preparing food, etc to worry about a Easter vignette or decorating your mantle….however, I can show you a 5 minute decorating tip for your Easter table or any table in your home.  

You will need 3 items only.  A clear cylinder vase, a branch of spring flowers….(I used faux cherry blossoms, but you could use forsythia, apple blossoms or just about any you have on hand)….and lastly, faux eggs of all sizes and colors.

If you don’t have faux eggs, use real ones (blow out the egg parts) and dye the shells.

Here is how you put it together.  

• Put the eggs in the vase.
• Add the stems of flowers and allow the eggs to hold the branches in place.  

Now, how easy was that?  

Another quick tip I have is to put my vase in front of a mirror. The illusion is more flower branches. 

So now that the decorating is done….this gives you more time to make the Chunked Chicken Vegetable Soup….not that you need a lot of time to make it…. because again, it is super simple.  

I like to make a big pot of soup and freeze the left overs for that time when I am too busy to make soup.

I used frozen chicken thighs from my freezer and while they were cooking in water and chicken broth….I roughly chopped (I mean ROUGHLY chopped) potatoes, carrots, celery (tops included), onion, yellow squash, zucchini, cilantro and whatever I had in my fridge. (the only exception is tomatoes….no red based broth for my soup….not this time) 

I didn’t feel much like standing and uniformly chopping veggies…so I chunked them.  Yep, that is right! and then I tossed them in the pot and let them cook slowly until tender. 

This soup is so good when you are feeling a bit under the weather…or any time actually.  

See,  Mama did know best!  Chunked Chicken Vegetable Soup! It cures everything.

The printable recipe is below.

Have a great and blessed day!

Chunked Chicken Vegetable Soup

2016-03-09 10:56:04

Chunk the veggies and toss into chicken broth. Nothing could be easier. This is also a good way to use up any extra veggies you have lurking in your fridge.

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Ingredients

1. 4 chicken thighs or breasts
2. 1 large onion chunked (....in other words not finely chopped)
3. 3 carrots, chunked
4. 2 celery stalks, chunked
5. 1 small zuchinni, chunked
6. 1 small yellow squash, chunked
7. 1 small red bell pepper, chunked
8. 1/2-1 cup of roughly chopped cilantro
9. 1 cup chicken broth (if needed)
10. salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Cook the chicken in heavy pot of water to cover until tender.
2. Add in the chunked veggies and let cook for about 10 minutes before removing the chicken. (this allows the chicken flavor to permeate the veggies)
3. Remove the chicken and let cool a bit before de-boning.
4. Cut the chicken into large chunks (or small if you prefer) and add back into the pot along with the chopped cilantro
5. Season with salt and pepper

Notes

1. I have a little tip that I have always found works. Do not use boneless chicken as the bone gives your soup more flavor. After, I de-bone my chicken....I re add the large bones back into the pot to simmer a bit before serving. (I then remove the bones before serving, don't want anyone having bones in their soup)
2. Use whatever veggies you have on hand....make this soup any variation you like. (the only veggie I do not use is tomato as I want a nice clear chicken broth for my liquid)

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