Simple and Delicious Chicken Stew

There has been a serious lag in my blogging!  I have been dealing with some serious sleep deprivation as my 14-month old has been waking up at 4am with shrill screams.  It has been a rough 8 months trying to get Charles to sleep as well as his older sister, but I think that we are finally making progress.  I won’t hold my breath for the longevity of his sleeping but for now I’ve got him to slumber until 7am….that’s a major win for me! Due to my lack of sleep there has been many meals that are pretty ghetto and definitely not blog worthy…plain chicken on plate with steamed carrots…and I have become the proud owner of some store-bought chicken pot pies, soups and Life Choices Fish sticks (amazing product available at Whole Foods – I was recently introduced to the product by my older sister who knows a thing or two about eating healthy but needing some emergency items in the freezer for a quick dinner or lunch). This stew is something I make literally once a week.  Its hearty and so delicious and nutritious for both kids and mom + dad.  I usually make this on a Saturday morning so we have lunch or dinners for both nights (and more for drop-in play date guests!).  This recipe is super easy but you do need a couple of hours to let it simmer on the stove.  Even when I’m exhausted I normally have the energy to make this (mainly because I make enough so that we can solely eat chicken stew all weekend!). What you will need: 5 Carrots 2 stalks of celery 1 medium Vadalia onion 1 medium leek 2 sprigs of thyme 1 sprig of oregano 1 bay leaf 2 large cloves of garlic 7 cups of chicken stock 2 chicken legs 2 bone-in chicken breasts 1 cup peas (frozen or fresh) — optional 2 Tablespoons olive oil 3 pinches of sea salt pepper   Let’s start chopping.

I made note of timing when I made this yesterday.  The chopping took me appx. 15 minutes.  Get out a big cutting board so you have lots of room to chop.  Once you are finished chopping one vegetable, put the finished product in a bowl and move on to the next.  All the bowls will be lined up and ready to put into pot, making the actual cooking part easy breezy! 1.  Dice up your onion, garlic and leek and set aside in a bowl

2.  Dice up your celery, carrots and set aside in another bowl

3.  Loosely chop up the oregano and set aside

4.  Take a big pot or dutch oven and warm over medium heat.  Add in 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. 5.  Take your bowl of diced onions, leeks and garlic and add to the pot.  Stir and sauté for appx. 5 minutes.

6.  Add the carrots and celery to the pot.  Let soften for appx. 10 minutes.  Stir frequently.  After 5 minutes add in the chopped oregano, sprigs of thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper.

7.  Take 7 cups of chicken stock.  I happened to make a roast chicken two nights ago and made stock out the bones – it added to the flavour of the stew immensely.  Although store bought chicken stock is handy to have in the cupboard – the flavour from homemade is far superior! 8.  Bring the stock to a boil.  Once boiling, add in your raw chicken legs and breasts.  Reduce to a low simmer.  Cover.  Let simmer for 2 to 3 hours.

9.  After simmering on the stove for a couple of hours get out a large cutting board (with grooves on the side to catch juices).  Take out your 4 pieces of chicken and put onto the cutting board.  The chicken will be really flakey so get all the pieces out.  Take all the meat off of the bones and chop it all up.  Set aside.

10.  Take half the soup left in the pot and add to a blender (or Vitamix if you have!).  Blend up and add back to the pot.

11.  Add the chopped up chicken meat to the pot.  If desired, add some more sea salt and pepper to taste. 12.  Let everything simmer for another 30 minutes.  In the last 10 minutes I like to add 1 cup of frozen organic peas.  I did not do that for these pictures because my daughter Olivia has a serious aversion to peas.  She will eat sour Kefir and Sardines but won’t touch peas…typical.

13.  Serve.  I had soaked some brown rice with Kombu the night before, so I cooked it up and added it to the bottom of Olivia’s bowl.  I also made Olivia a separate bowl of grated cheddar cheese for her to add to the stew herself. For Charles, I took the stew and added it to a vegetable mush I had made him (He’s 14-months old) – added it to Vitamix and blended it up for his lunch.

Enjoy!