Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup 'n' a Laugh

OK - I lied...'Laugh' is first!  *-*

This is going to be a slower blogging week for me...posting AND reading.  I am going to be at my daughter's enjoying and spoiling our new grandson, Samuel Gregory Taylor, born March 3rd.  And his big sisters too. And doing lots of cooking. 

Gonna be IN MY ELEMENT for sure! 

I have a few ready posts, but because the pace of my busy life picks up when I return home, I'm wanting to save them for later....hope you'll stay with me til I get back into the blogging swing next week.

BUT FIRST....I must share a very funny story about our daughter Deb's oldest daughter, Claira.  She is truly our Shirley Temple - even her cousins see Claira when we watch a S.T. movie. We just never know what's going to come out of her mouth.  She's 5 going on 15. (Or maybe 50?!)  What an entertainer. With that vivacious and effervescent personality.

Deb called me to say they were driving down the road and Claira blurts out..."I sure am glad Nana (me) isn't dead"...."Well, yeh, so am I" was mom's reply.  Then Claira proclaims, "I would TOTALLY FREAK OUT if one of your parents died!"  

WHHHAAAAATTTT????

We have no clue what could have possibly triggered her thread of thinking, but I do know we will laugh for the rest of our lives to remember this hilarious proclamation.

How thankful I am to know she feels that way.  We live hours away from each other and don't get to be together but every couple of months or so.

I'm really looking forward to some bonding time, as well as reading time, together this week. 

Grandkids really do make life GRAND!

Here's Claira's school picture this year - you can see that twinkle in her eye can't you?  She's sooo much like her mama at this age. Smarter than smart.

All right...onto the recipe part of my post....

While hubby and I were both recovering from colds a while back, I made this tasty soup....though I don't really have a written recipe.

Soon after, I came across this delicious version at

Cooking with K, so please be sure to check out her recipe too. 

She adds some herbs and spices to add to the rich flavor.

This is a picture of MY soup =)

I simply put 3 large chicken breasts in my dutch oven, covered with a mixture of chicken broth and water and let them simmer for 45 minutes - 1 hour.

Then I strained it - keeping the broth - cool, rinse and dice up the chicken.

I sauteed some chopped onion, celery and carrots and a touch of garlic.

(good for colds!)

 Place the chicken and broth back in the pot and add the sauteed veggies.

(At this point, I like to add a tsp. or two of a chicken base, but it isn't necessary.  If using the base, omit any salt).

(I normally have the dry kind, but had purchased this not realizing it was a moist base and needs to be refrigerated.  It's delicious just the same.)

Bring broth to a boil and add the noodles.  I dumped them in without measuring...probably about 1-1/2 - 2 c.

Let the soup simmer on medium heat until noodles are done.

You can let it simmer on low until it's time to eat, or dish it up and go for it! I like topping it off with fresh ground pepper.

Add a sandwich, muffin or salad and you are ready to enjoy!

I had 1/2 can of cream of chicken soup leftover from something else, so I stirred that in for a bit thicker texture.  You could add a whole can if you'd like.

We DID feel better after enjoying this comfort food!  I'm convinced that just smelling it while it cooked was the beginning of our healing.

(Keep in mind these measurements are guesstimates=)

HOMEMADE CHICKEN SOUP

(From The Better Baker)

3 - 4 bone-in chicken breasts

2 - 3 c. chicken broth

2 - 3 c. water (to cover chicken nicely)

fresh ground pepper 

chopped onion, celery, carrot & garlic, to taste

1 - 2 tsp. chicken base for soup

dry noodles

1 can cream of chicken soup, optional

thyme and parsley, seasoning to taste, optional

Place chicken breasts in dutch oven, covering with a mixture of chicken broth, water and pepper and let it simmer for 45 minutes - 1 hour.

Strain; keeping the broth - cool, rinse and dice up the chicken.

Saute some chopped onion, celery and carrots and a touch of garlic.

(good for colds!)

 Place the chicken and broth back in the pot and add the sauteed veggies.

(At this point, I like to add a tsp. or two of a chicken base, but it isn't necessary.  If using the base, omit any salt).

Bring broth to a boil and add the noodles.  I dumped them in without measuring...probably about 1-1/2 - 2 c.

Let the soup simmer on medium heat until noodles are done.

Add herbs if using. 

Let it simmer on low until it's time to eat, or dish it up and go for it! I like topping it off with fresh ground pepper.

Add a sandwich, muffin or salad and you are ready to enjoy!

I had 1/2 can of cream of chicken soup leftover from something else, so I stirred that in for a bit thicker texture.  You could add a whole can if you'd like.