Chicken Noodle Soup

Recently, I realized homemade chicken noodle soup is suprisingly easy to make.  Last month being sick and really wanting chicken noodle soup, but having a slight aversion to the kind in the can, as in it induces a gag reflex in me, I decided to make my own. Whether it's the mushy  noodles or the mushy vegetables that induce the churning of my stomach, or the idea of canned meat (yeah who ever decided that canned meat was a good idea no, no I don't think so), it is now my great pleasure today to present to you the delicious, tolerable, delectable, no more mushy noodles or canned meat, chicken noodle soup, and yes that is its full title. Oh and please forgive me for the sub-par photos this week, next week will be better I promise, eh who am I kidding, next week I will attempt to do better. Yeah, I can keep that promise.

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups chicken broth low sodium (=24 oz.)

2 cups egg noodles (16oz.)

1 cup water

½ large yellow onion chopped (= 1cup)

1 cup chopped carrots (=8oz.)

½ cup chopped celery (about 1-2 stalks)

1 TBS minced garlic (3-4 cloves)

1 large chicken breast (enough to = 1 cup chopped up) [P.S. you can use pre cooked chicken too]

About a tsp. of butter or margarine

Salt and pepper to taste

*Ingredient amounts are always adjustable (I usually add a cup of chopped celery but if you’re not a big fan of celery like some people I know, those who shall not be named [roommates], you can always cut it down to ½ a cup as in here, or add a little bit more if ya love the stuff. The same goes for the garlic, carrots, and onions.)

DIRECTIONS:

 First thing you want to do chop up the carrots into bite size pieces. I like to use baby carrots because you only really have to cut them in direction; however, they do sometimes tend to shoot across the room when cutting so be wary of that.

Next dice up onions and....

Dice up the celery.  To get a good size for the celery I just chop off the top and the bottom, cut it into fourths the long way, and then just chop the whole thing up.

Toss chopped carrots into pot and pour in just enough broth to cover the tops completely. Bring to a boil and then simmer uncovered for 10-15 min. or until tender when stabbed with a fork.  [Just keep in mind we are only adding to this pot so the carrots will continue to cook as we add the other ingredients.] When done take off heat and set aside.

Next melt some butter in a saute pan and toss in the celery with a little salt and pepper, after about 2-3 min toss in the onions wait another 2-3 min until the onions become slightly opaque, and throw in the minced garlic. Take the sauteed mixture off the heat and set aside.

Next grab a new pot fill with water and bring to a boil.  Then once boiling put in the chicken breast, it should cook in about 20 min [keeping it at a low boil] depending on the size, and if you grab it with a pair of tongs it should seem pretty firm. If you're worried about the middle taking longer to cook than the outer skinnier parts you can always cut it up into somewhat equal sizes and put it back into the pot.

After about 10-15 min check your chicken by cutting into the thickest part if there is no pink whatsoever it should be done, which is not always likely at this point, cut up the rest of the chicken and also make sure there are no pink spots.

While the chicken is cooking take back the pot with the partially cooked carrots, and pour in the rest of the chicken broth and the 1 cup of water.  Toss in the egg noodles bring to a roaring boil then turn it down to a slight boil and cook noodles for about 6-8 min stirring occasionally or until a slightly al dente [slightly under cooked]  texture is reached. 

yes I hate florescent lights too

Once the chicken is cooked and cut up and the noodles are al dente throw the cooked chicken and sauteed celery, onions, and garlic, into the pot simmer for about 5 min salt and pepper to taste, serve, then eat!

One of the roomies eating some soup

everything in short...

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups chicken broth low sodium (24 oz.)

2 cups egg noodles

1 cup water

½ large yellow onion chopped (= 1cup)

1 cup chopped carrots (=8oz.)

½ cup chopped celery (about 1-2 stalks)

1 TBS minced garlic (3-4 cloves)

1 large chicken breast (enough to = cup chopped up)

About a tsp. of butter or margarine

Salt and pepper to taste

*Ingredient amounts are always adjustable (I usually add a cup of chopped celery but if you’re not a big fan of celery like some people I know, those who shall not be named [roommates], you can always cut it down to ½ a cup as in here, or add a little bit more if ya love the stuff. The same goes for the garlic, carrots, and onions.)

DIRECTIONS:

First thing you want to do chop up the carrots into bite size pieces, chop up the onions and the celery.

Next toss chopped carrots into pot and pour in just enough broth to cover the tops completely. Bring to a boil and then simmer uncovered for 10-15 min. or until tender when stabbed with a fork.  [Just keep in mind we are only adding to this pot so the carrots will continue to cook as we add the other ingredients.] 

Melt some butter in a sauté pan and toss in the celery, after about 2-3 min toss in the onions wait another 2-3 min until the onions become slightly opaque, and throw in the minced garlic. Take the sautéed mixture off the heat and set aside.

Next grab a new pot and fill with water, bring to a boil and then put in the chicken breast. It should cook in about 20 min depending on the size and if you grab it with a pair of tongs it should seem pretty firm when done. If you're worried about the middle taking longer to cook than the outer skinnier parts you can always cut it up into somewhat equal sizes and put it back into the pot. After about 10 min check your chicken by cutting into the thickest part if there is no pink whatsoever it should be done, cut up the rest of the chicken and also make sure there are no pink spots.

While the chicken is cooking take back the pot with the partially cooked carrots, and pour in the rest of the chicken broth and the 1 cup of water.  Toss in the egg noodles bring to a roaring boil then turn it down to a slight boil and cook noodles for about 6-8 min stirring occasionally or until slightly al dente.

Once the chicken is cooked and cut up and the noodles are done throw the cooked chicken and sauteed celery, onions, and garlic, into the pot simmer for about 5 min salt and pepper to taste, serve, then eat!