Chicken Soup Two Ways: The hippie from scratch way and the lazy way

So I'm home under the weather today, and have busted out the frozen chicken soup.  I actually have two bins in my freezer, one made using a whole chicken carcass (mmmm chicken) and one using regular old chicken breasts and stock bought at the store.

*Doing it the hippie way (with apologies to my parental units)*:

Roast a chicken (I'll post this recipe someday), eat the meal, and when you're done with that, use your hands to remove all the extra meat. Once you've cut off what you can in whole chunks, I just use my hands to do the rest. While doing this,  take the skin off too. That's important.  cut the leftover, skinless meat and set aside in a bin/bowl/whatever you have handy. Cover and put in fridge.

Even if you've already herbed up your bird in its previous incarnation as a nice roast chicken, set aside for the stock/broth:

fresh if you can, especially the parsley
about 1/2 cup parsley chopped (set aside about 1/8th to put on top when soup is done)
a couple of sprigs of thyme
basil, chopped
salt
pepper
majoram  or oregano (majoram is milder and some day I'll learn to spell it right).

Put together something like this. Put the chicken  and herbs,  salt, pepper plus one stalk of chopped celery in the basket and cover with water. (most of it, don't overdo it if it's too close to the rim)   cover and simmer for a couple of hours.  While your kitchen is in its state of cooking, chop up:
two celery stalks
one mediumish onion,
one wicked large carrot or about a cup of small peeled carrots that you can get in the store,
about 1/2 a cup of pasta or rice (I like to use bows or wild rice. don't use both. Starch city)
one small potato, sometimes I go wacky and use a sweet potato.

set aside. Clean up the mess. Go about your business while the bones stew away.  After a couple of hours, check on the stock. it should taste good, possibly require another dash of salt and pepper. Remove the chicken and dispose of the bones.

Let the stock cool in the fridge for another hour, or, stick it in the freezer and check on it in about 20 minutes. The fat will rise to the top. skim it off and put the pot back on the stove. (don't forget to wipe off the bottom!)

put your chicken, pasta and rice, and veggies into the soup and cook for about 40 minutes.  If it looks like chicken stew Don't Be Afraid! That's good too! Or add more water. Yum.

*The Lazy Way*

2 boxes of chicken stock or broth at the supermarket
2 chicken breasts, bone in or bone out (bone in gives you more flavor)
two celery stalks

one mediumish onion,
one wicked large carrot or about a cup of small peeled carrots that you can get in the store,
about 1/2 a cup of pasta or rice
one small potato
2 tbsp olive oil

fresh if you can, especially the parsley
about 1/2 cup parsley chopped
a couple of sprigs of thyme
basil, chopped
salt
pepper
majoram  or oregano

sautee  the  chicken in the bottom of your pan (without the basket) in the oil on medium to low heat with the onion and all but about 1/8th of the chopped parsley for about 15 minutes. Don't worry if the chicken isn't 100 percent cooked through, it will also cook in the soup.

remove the chicken and let cool.

pour the stock into the (not rinsed) pot that you sauteed the chicken in and put it back on the stove, again medium to low heat.  chop up your veggies, set aside.

Your chicken should be cool enough to peel the skin off and cut the meat off the breastbones. Chuck the breast bones and cut the chicken into chunks.

Put the chicken, pasta or rice, and the veggies into the soup and cover on low to medium heat.

Go about your business and come back in 20-30 minutes. Serve with Parsley.

*The REALLY Lazy way*
Use cooked chicken breast, chop it up and skip the sautee.