Lemon Chicken, Kale and Orzo Soup

Last month we spent a weekend puppy-sitting our beautiful, energetic, five month old German Shorthair GRANDDOG!  He is the sweetest and friendliest dog ever - BUT he has endless energy too.  It took 3 adults to care for this one furry, 50 pound bundle of liveliness for a weekend.  (And it almost killed us.) 😂 He brought a vitality and intensity level to our house that we haven't seen from our 12 year old Weimaraner in quite a while.  

I consider myself an active person and I thought that I was prepared to handle the stamina and endurance of a 5 month old puppy.   hahahaha   Boy was I wrong.  This spunky fireball gave me a run for my money.  We walked and ran and swam and played fetch and arranged playdates for this lively pooch from before sunrise to well after sunset.  And our strategy to wear this canine out actually worked too - for both of us.  We all crashed before 10:00 every night from complete exhaustion.  🤣 (The best kind of tired though.)  

It had been 12 years since we've had a puppy in the house and I was clearly a little out of practice because within the first two minutes that I was alone with these two pups, things got away from me.  While I was getting our senior dog leashed and ready to go for a walk, this curious puppy ran through the upstairs with the end of the toilet paper roll. 😬🧻

It was a weekend full of fun and adventure for sure.  This cute canine went for his first swim while he was here and had his first face to face meeting with a cow and a donkey.  Even though he drained us of energy, we absolutely loved having this mischievous puppy here for a few days. 

I don't think that our grand dog is unusual.  I have a feeling that all 5 month old puppies demand constant attention.  CONSTANT!  We managed to keep this little pup from eating things that he shouldn't but not much else got accomplished during our puppy-sitting weekend.  Thank goodness I had some meals in the freezer that I could pull out and heat up while I distracted the snoopy pup with an empty water bottle.    Lemon, Chicken, Kale and Orzo Soup is a great meal to keep in the freezer for extra busy days.  Oh, and it's delicious too.  

Lemon Chicken, Kale and Orzo Soup
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 pound boneless, chicken breast, cut into 1" pieces
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper
2 onions, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup orzo pasta
4 cups kale, chopped
1 lemon, zested and juiced

Heat 1T. oil in Dutch oven.  Add chicken, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper.  Cook until browned.  Transfer to a plate.

Heat 1 T. oil in Dutch oven.  Add onion, carrots and celery and cook until browned.  

Add garlic and bay leaf and cook 30 seconds. 

Add broth and bring to a boil.  

Add orzo and cook 5 minutes on low. 

Add kale and chicken and cook 5-8 minutes.  

Remove bay leaf.  Stir in lemon juice, lemon zest and season with salt and pepper as needed.  

We loved spending the weekend with this cuddly GSP with endless energy and no sense of personal space. 

I recognize that a recap of my dog-sitting experience has little to nothing to do with a Chicken Soup recipe but then again, this blog is called My Story in Recipes.  I've yet to decide which is more interesting to read, the stories or the recipes.  

​Ciao!

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