How Many Ways Can We Make Chicken Soup?

I generally enjoy the chicken soup that I make, but I don't use a recipe and it's seldom the same. I usually make far more than I can eat in one sitting, so I make it to refrigerate and heat up over the next few days. I like pasta in my chicken soup but I don't like reheated pasta so much, especially when it starts falling apart, so I often cook the pasta separately so that it's fresh.

Typically, I think people will use the cheapest cuts of chicken for soup, or even left-over cuts of chicken, but I don't like that so much. Normally, I will use chicken breasts, cut up into pieces before boiling them. I don't care for the gross white stuff that floats on top of the water after boiling the chicken breasts, so I will bring the water to a boil just enough to partially cook the chicken, then I will discard that water and add more, sometimes along with a chicken broth or base, bringing it to a boil, then turning it down to a lower temperature. Sometimes I'll mix Italian sausage to the mix, but not typically.

I don't use the same ingredients all the time, but I like to add some quinoa, and sometimes a small amount of brown rice. I might add a finely chopped jalapeño pepper and some red peppers. Sometimes I'll chop an onion into the mix, but other times I'll use a few very small whole onions that will fall apart during the process anyhow. I'll throw some vegetables in there, generally corn, and maybe a small amount of peas. If I use green beans, I will wait to add them later so that they're not too soft. I will most always add some carrots. If my wife is going to have some, I'll include some celery but I don't personally believe that celery adds anything useful so if it's just for me, I don't bother with the celery.

Then I'll turn it down to low or simmer, depending on whether I plan on being around to stir it often or if there is a danger of my forgetting about it for a while. While it's simmering, I'll add some thyme and anything else that might look interesting from the spice rack, including a bay leaf, since that's expected. Oh, salt and pepper is a given, of course. Everything needs salt and pepper.

Then I'll wait for however long it takes, sampling a cup of it every now and then. Before I am ready to eat a larger bowl of it, or to serve it, I'll boil some pasta, drain the pasta, and add the soup to the pasta. Sometimes, I'll cook the pasta with it, but then I don't like it very much after the second reheating.