Soup of the week

This week we had some friends from church over for FHE and dinner. They are very sweet and brought TONS of food even though we told them they didn't need to. So, we had a whole lot of rice left over. I looked online for recipes that included cooked rice and thought about making a rice pudding or something but then found a soup that looked tasty and easy (which came in handy on a night when I had zero time to cook). So here it is:

Italian Chicken and Rice Soup
Difficulty: Easier than Easy!
Time: 30 mins
Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 (49.5 oz) can chicken broth
• 1 (26 oz) jar meatless spaghetti sauce
• 1 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 3 cups cooked rice
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Directions

1. In a soup kettle or Dutch oven, combine the broth, spaghetti sauce, chicken, parsley and thyme. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Stir in rice and sugar. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until heated through.

Variations: I did vegetable bullion, turned broth, instead of a can of chicken broth. I used dried parsley and about a 1tsp of thyme instead of 1/2. I also added onions, garlic, mushrooms and zuchinni. I think this is a really good base recipe and you could put any veggies in that you wanted. I just happened to have those things in my fridge so they got put in the pot. Oh, and I left out the sugar. I does not need it.

Results: Super yum! I already had the cooked rice and cubed chicken which made it SO fast to make, and the leftovers were even more delicious. There was a bit too much rice so I'll cut it down to 2 1/2 cups next time. Also, since it covered pretty much all of the food groups, it was an entire meal in a bowl. Nothing needed on the side.