Chicken Noodle Soup

It's been way too long since my last post. I've made plenty of yummy meals thinking "I need to blog this!" But I'm a procrastinator and I can't remember most of what I wanted to post. So I was determined to post this since we all loved it! And since my resident vegetarian has been MIA this week I could devote all my attention to a yummy meat filled meal! :)

This was adapted from a recipe in my Betty Crocker cookbook (I love that cookbook!)

Total prep/cook time: appx 1 hr 30 mins

3-3 1/2 lbs cut up chicken (I had 3 1/2 lbs of fresh bone-in breasts so I used those)
6 cups cold water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 chopped stalk celery
2 chopped medium carrots
1 chopped small onion (I roughly chopped it)
2 sprigs of thyme
1 tbs chicken bouillion granules
4 cloves of garlic-smashed but not crushed
1 cup of chopped asparagus
1-1 1/2 cup of egg noodles
1 cup boxed chicken stock (optional)

Start by making the chicken and broth. Now, really you're supposed to make the broth, discard the veggies, cut new veggies and make the soup. But I thought that was a waste of veggies and time. Remove excess fat from chicken, place chicken (giblets-except liver, and neck if you're using a whole cut up chicken) in a 4 quart pot. add remaining ingredients except noodles and asparagus and heat to boiling. Skim any foam from the broth and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for about 45 mins or until chicken is fully cooked (use a meat thermometer or check if juices run clear). Remove chicken from the broth and debone. Using only breasts really helped this process go quickly. You might want to let the chicken cool...my poor fingers. waiting for the chicken to cool is a good time to skim the fat from the broth. Cube chicken then add back to the pot. Add the noodles and asparagus and heat to boiling then reduce the heat and allow to simmer uncovered for 7-10 minutes or when noodles are soft. Serve with bread or crackers (my daughter loved that I added goldfish crackers to swim in her soup).

Note: Now, when I made this I had a box of chicken stock in my fridge and I didn't feel like I had enough "juice" (as my daughter would say) once I added the noodles. So I added probably a cup of stock. Then today when we reheated it I added another cup of stock. It was chock full of chicken and noodles and so yummy and really didn't take much effort! Next time I might add shredded cabbage and/or squash just to play around with it a little. I hope you enjoy this recipe!!