How to make Chicken Soup

On these cool winter days, what would be more heart warming than a bowl of chicken soup?
I tend to cook bacon hock soup in the winter and since I had already made one of those this winter it was time for a change. Delicious and healthy...what more could be better?!

Ingredient:
3 litres of water
1kg of whole chicken legs (thigh and leg). Skin removed.
1 packet of chicken soup mix or other soup mix (barley, lentils grains etc)
1 chicken stock cube or pot ( I used "Continental")
1 onion (diced small)
5 cloves of garlic crushed and chopped
2 large carrots (diced small)
5 stalks of celery with some of the leaves chopped thin
1 zucchini (courgette)
herbs (Parsley, thyme)
salt and pepper

In a large stock pot, place water, chicken peices, stock and soup mix up to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the Onion, garlic,salt and pepper and continue to simmer for a further 20 minutes. Next add the celery and carrot. Simmer for a further 20minutes. By now the chicken should be about to fall off the bone. Carefully remove the chicken pieces on to a plate or board and start to remove meat off the bone. Careful to remove all the little sharp pieces of bone. Shred or chop the chicken into small pieces and place back into the pot along with the zucchini and herbs. Bring back up to a gentle simmer for 10-20 minutes until all vegetables are tender. Adjust seasoning according to taste. 

Serve with crusty bread and enjoy.

Place left overs in containers of single serves ready to pull out of the freezer for a yummy lunch on the go.

Notes: 

• Using the thigh/leg cut of meat ensures it remains deliciously moist and adding the vegetables in this kind of order  ensures all of the goodness is not boiled out of it. 
• The cooking liquid can be adjusted to how you like it. Add more water if you prefer a thinner broth. 
• This soup is a great low Carb meal too.