We have a super busy day today. We have lots of errands to run, and my boys want to attend story time at our local library.  Yesterday I used my slow cooker to make bone broth, which was ready this morning. Today, I’m going to use that bone broth as the base for a simple, nourishing Chicken Vegetable Soup.

To make the soup, I strained the bones out of the broth, and then immediately put the broth right back into the warm slow cooker.

Once the broth was in there, I added leftover shredded chicken to the pot. You see, a few nights ago I roasted a bunch of chicken legs. We ate them for dinner that night, saving the bones of course. Before I started the bone broth, I removed and shredded the remaining chicken from the bones. I then put the bones into the slow cooker to simmer, and put the chicken back into the refrigerator. If I wasn’t planning to make soup the following day, I would have put it into the freezer to use another time.

Next I added my vegetables to the pot. Most of the time I use fresh vegetables, frequently I use leftover vegetables, and when I’m short on time and don’t have enough leftover vegetables, I use frozen vegetables. Today was a frozen vegetable day. With no cleaning or chopping, adding the vegetables went very quickly. I used two different mixes, that between them had carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, onions, and red bell peppers. If I had some on hand, I would have added fresh or frozen greens to the mix. Finally, I added salt, pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. I’ll add freshly crushed garlic soon before we eat.

Now, when we get home, we’ll have delicious, ready-to-eat soup waiting for us. Yum!

Updated to add COUPON: To save 20% on a slow cooker, or anything else from 360 cookware, use coupon code Everyday20.  Also, I replaced the crockpot above with a stainless steel slow cooker after learning about the presence of lead in ceramic crocks.  Lead is definitely something I want to avoid cooking into my meals.