Chicken Noodle Soup!

I'm sure everyone has a their own recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup and here is mine. This is how my Mother makes it and I saw no need to change it so I make it the same way. This is one of those recipes that there really isn't any measurements for the ingredients. You just sort of throw it in the pot as you go for the size of your family. I must think I'm feeding the Osmond's because I always seem to make a huge batch. That's okay, we always seem to eat it all...even if I have to share it with the neighbors.

Here are the participants: chicken, chicken broth, chicken bouillon, egg noodles, potatoes, carrots, parsley, black pepper and just imagine there is a can of green beans there. I forgot them until all the pictures were taken and the cooking was done.

First, put a big stock pot on the stove of water and get it boiling.
Once it's boiling, put your chicken in the hot bath. I use two boneless, skinless chicken breasts from Market Day. I also throw some other chicken in later but we'll get to that. You can turn down the heat once it starts to boil again.
While the chicken is cooking, I peel and dice the potatoes and slice the carrots. I use baby carrots because that's all I ever have in the refrigerator but you use what you like.
The chicken in the hot bath is probably done by now. Take it out, cool it and shred or dice it into bite sized pieces and set aside. Here's the other chicken I was talking about. I pulled this from my freezer. We love those rotisserie chickens from Sam's Club and the grocery store but there is always chicken left over. I clean the chicken off of the bones and use my "Seal a Meal" a.k.a. my "suck & seal" to save them for later use. I use the chicken for soup, pot pie, casseroles and anything else I need. The seasonings add such a special flavor to soup and pot pie, I like using it for them best.
I strain the chicken water and discard some of it. The chicken breasts don't really add a lot of flavor so that's where the broth comes in. I add it to the pot to get the desired liquid level in my pot. This is where I also add some chicken bouillon cubes. This is sort of a taste and see kind of thing. Be careful you don't add too many. You can always add more at the very end if you feel it needs it. Now you can add the potatoes and carrots to the broth. Cook these until they are a little al dente. They will cook more by the end of the recipe. You don't want them to be mush by the end.
Now it's time to add the chicken back into the pot.

And a hand full of parsley, some black pepper to taste and a can of drained green beans.
Bring the pot back to a boil.
Next it's the egg noodles turn to jump into the pot. I add about 3 cups of big egg noodles to my pot because we like a lot of noodles. After I add the noodles, I turn the pot off and cover it with a lid. Let it sit until the noodles are done.. The noodles will cook perfectly and the soup will not be boiling hot for dinner.
Yum! Doesn't that look good. Just imagine the green beans are in there! I know potatoes aren't usually in chicken noodle soup but we like it....especially Curtis. They break down a little and make the broth a little thicker. Also, as with most soups, it's better the second day!

As I stated earlier, this recipe is hard to write out since it all depends on how much you want to make or what you have on hand. I'm speaking of the chicken since I use both raw and cooked. You can also cook whole pieces and use that. My advice would be to use the above instructions as a guide when making your soup. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Cindi's Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

Chicken

Chicken Broth

Chicken Bouillon cubes

Potatoes, peeled and diced

Carrots, sliced

Can Green Beans, drained

Dried Parsley

Black Pepper

Egg Noodles

Directions:

~Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add chicken and cook chicken until it's done. Remove from water to drain. When cooled, shred or dice and set aside.

~Strain water and discard part of it. Add chicken broth and bouillon cubes as needed.

~Cook potatoes and carrots until almost done.

~Add chicken back to pot.

~Add parsley, black pepper to taste and green beans.

~Bring pot back to boil and add egg noodles. Turn the heat off and cover until the egg noodles are done.

Thanks for visiting my kitchen!