Guest Author - Melanie Hachey

I don't like to cook so I like to meals that are made all in one pot, like chicken soup or chili. One pot meals are great for summer, too, because they're made in large portions and can be frozen for an easy meal later on.

Chicken soup recipe

First step: Roast a chicken. I stuff mine with celery and onion and put some salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary and oregano on it. I baste it every 30 minutes until it looks done (the legs should be falling away from the rest of the body and it should be a nice brown roasty colour).

Step two: Make broth. Put the bones in a pot, cover with water, throw in a quartered onion, some fresh ginger (I use about a table spoon-sized amount - I chop a chunk off of the ginger, peel it, chop it into largish pieces and toss it in), two cloves of garlic (cut into chunks), some celery (two stalks should do it), some thyme, some pepper, whatever other spices float your boat and bring it to a boil. As soon as it boils, turn it down to low and let it simmer for a few hours.

Step 3: Strain the broth - get all those bones and chunks of stuff out of there.

Step 4: Chop a bunch of vegetables. I use carrots, celery, onions and potatoes. Chop them up into chunky pieces. For a one chicken soup, use 3 carrots, 4 medium potatoes, 5 small stalks of celery and 3 onions. For bigger soups, made with two chickens, or a turkey, use more.

Step 5: Throw all the vegetables in the pot. Add chunky pieces of chicken. Bring it to a boil.

Step 6: Add rice. I use Jasmine rice. For a small soup, use 1/2 a cup. For a bigger soup, use 1 cup.

Step 7: Once it boils, turn it down to low and let simmer until veggies are cooked, about half an hour.


What goes better with soup than fresh baked biscuits?

Mom's Biscuit Recipe

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

2 cups flour
4 Tbs shortening (I never have shortening around so I use margarine instead, it works almost as well)
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Cut in the shortening (stir with a butter knife, using cutting motions to mix)
Make a well in the middle of the mixture and pour in the milk.
Stir with the butter knife until doughy.
Kneed the dough 20-25 times (this will make the biscuits fluffy).
Dust a flat surface (use your kitchen counter) well with flour.
Roll out the dough on the counter.
Cut the biscuits using a wine glass (push the rim of the glass down through the dough to cut a round biscuit).
Place biscuits on a well-oiled cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes, until golden.

These are also great for strawberry shortcake. Mash your strawberries with some sugar. Whip some real cream. Cut your biscuit in half. Put the bottom half in a bowl and heap on the strawberries, add the top half of the biscuit, and heap on more strawberries. Top with whipped cream and a whole strawberry. Yummy!

Enjoy!