Homemade Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

6 quarts of water
2 chicken carcasses
2 large onions, divided
4 cups carrots, divided
1 bunch of celery, divided
1 Tbsp. ground Thyme (may use less to taste)
1 Tbsp dried Oregano (to taste)
2 Tbsp. salt (may use less to taste)
2 boxes of Uncle Ben's Long Grain Wild Rice (prepared as directed)

You can add any veggies you like or use noodles instead of rice. Just cook the noodles separately before adding to the soup or they will get too starchy.

Take carcass of chicken and cover it with water in large 8 qt. pot. Add one onion, cut into quarters, 2 cups of baby carrots and about 3 stalks of celery (cut into large chunks) and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 2 hours. Drain broth into large bowl. Discard all the veggies. Set carcass aside to cool. Take as much chicken from the carcass as possible. Add canned chicken (or fresh chicken breasts that have been cooked and diced), one large onion, two cups of carrots and 2 cups of celery into bite size pieces. Put everything back into the pot and bring to a boil again. Add salt and a little pepper. Simmer for another hour. Add Thyme and oregano during the last few minutes of simmering. Put broth in refrigerator for several hours. Skim fat. Prepare wild rice according to package directions in a separate pan. Heat broth while rice is cooking. Add rice to broth Serve.

Serving Size: Makes 20 servings of about one cup each

Number of Servings: 20

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user CHRISKENANDKIDS.