Chicken Noodle Soup

Now that I have my pot of broth bubbling on the stove, I thought it would be a good time to take a break!  Today I am making homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, boy is it good, but more importantly, it is so easy to make! 

A few years ago while my husband was deployed, I stayed with his parents temporarily awaiting his two-week leave.  My mother-in-law does not like going grocery shopping, so I offered.  She handed me her list, which I took, then headed to the store.  When I got there and started looking on the list one of the things she wanted was, "Cheetah Chicken" (or so I thought that is what it said).  Have you ever heard of that?? Yeah, me neither.  So I quickly called her to ask what it was and she told me she wanted "Cheater Chicken".  Any clue yet what that is?  I had to ask more questions but eventually learned that Cheater Chicken means the already cooked chickens that you can get in the deli department at most grocery stores.

Ok, now to cut to the chase: how to make Easy Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup.

What you will need:
- 1 Cheater Chicken
- 1 Head of Celery
- 1 bag of Carrots
- 2 Yellow Onions
- 5 Garlic Cloves
- 1 bag of Egg Noodles
- Salt
- Pepper
- Basil
- Chicken Broth (just in case)

To start, you will need to remove all the chicken from the carcass. As you are doing this, add the bones, skin, and remaining carcass to a large pot.  Next, quarter your onion, throw that in with the carcass.  I like to take about 4 large carrots and 4 stalks of celery, wash, then cut into thirds, and add that to your pot.  Grab your garlic cloves, remove the shell, and add them whole to the pot.  Now add water (when considering how much water to add, consider how much broth you like to have and remember you can't have too much because you don't have to use it all).

Grab your salt, pepper, and basil and add to taste.  I like to add a solid 5-6 shakes of salt and pepper, then about 2 shakes of the basil.  Honestly, you are eye-balling it, but remember you can always add more later.

Bring the water to a boil, and let simmer for an hour or two.  The longer you let simmer, the more flavor you will get out of the carcass.

At this point, you will want to dice an onion, 4 large celery stalks, and 4 large carrots (add more if you want).  Add those to another pot with a little of your homemade chicken broth.  Let your vegetables cook at least 5 minutes so they can soften.

Now it is time to add the remaining broth.  I like to get a ladle and strainer when doing this step.  Add the strainer to your pot, and start ladling your broth through the strainer.

When finished, grab your chicken meat and add that to your soup.  I like to shred it by hand, but you can cube the meat if you want too.

I like to let the soup simmer on low for about 20 minutes before adding my egg noodles.  Add the egg noodles to your soup (as many or little as you want) and let those simmer on low for an additional 10 minutes.

Let cool for at least 10 minutes - this soup is hot!  Do a taste test before serving to see if your soup needs more salt/pepper/basil, then enjoy!

Image Source: The Campus Companion

See, I told you it was easy!