Hi Friends! Its another Tasty Tuesday, and this week we have such a good ole standard classic, its Chicken Noodle Soup, and its pure comfort for the soul!

But before we begin, I want to thank my magnificent photographer, Maribeth Schmidt. She brings such love and joy to each and every picture, it is such an honor to have her as a friend and my photographer. She is passionate about food photography, but she is also an exquisite portrait photographer with a classic yet creative approach to Photography. If you would like to see more of her work, or for an inquiry, you can find more information at Maribeth Schmidt Photography.

Now maybe you’ve never made a soup. I promise you, You can do it! And its so worth it! Afterwards you will be pushing the “That was easy!” Button, I promise! And now, lets begin!

Ingredients:

• 2 large box/cans chicken broth (I keep a few extra chicken broth boxes on hand in case I need to add more liquid later)
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 2 carrots cleaned and sliced
• 2 stalks celery washed and sliced
• 3-4 handfuls uncooked medium egg noodles
• 1 pkg chicken thighs (5-6 pieces)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Add chicken (with skin on for the richest flavor) to pot and pour 2 boxes/cans of chicken broth over the meat. Place heat on medium high and cook to boiling for 1 hour. Leave broth in pot and remove the chicken pieces to a bowl. **Note** sometimes I add another container of chicken broth or a few cups of water as the broth can cook down, and its better to keep the meat covered in liquid in the cooking process. Either water or broth works. You also want to have plenty of liquid left for your soup bowl.

When you are purchasing the chicken broth, it usually comes in a low sodium variety, and that is a great way to make this dish a little healthier if you like. You can also mix it with chicken stock (sold right next to the broth usually). The stock is a slightly richer flavor, both are lovely for your soup. If I had to choose one over the other, for soup I would probably choose the broth as I like a little bit more clear broth for my soup. But they both are excellent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allow the meat to cool for a few minutes, this is when I  chop the carrots, celery and onions. You can add more or less of the veggies you like in your soup.

Remove and discard the skin from the chicken, shred chicken meat to the size you like it for soup, and discard bones. This is the part that drives my dog nuts… why don’t we just eat the chicken now? Why wait? (admittedly I may sneak a taste of the chicken here, and if anyone else is in the house, they do too!)

Throw all ingredients back in the pot, and add in the noodles.

Simmer on low for about 15 -20 minutes or until the noodles are cooked. In the picture below, the noodles are not yet cooked, they still are holding their shape.

Almost ready!

Now you see the noodles are fully cooked, and ready to eat.

Ladle it into your bowl, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve with love. This serves 4-6 bowls.

That’s a whole lot of love right there! Remember the books “Chicken Soup for the Soul”? Yes Sir!

Soup is a natural with a nice dinner roll, sometimes we dip the bread right in the soup!

My husband also likes his soup with crackers.

It reheats well, and I never throw leftovers out… every drop gets eaten! Soup is such a simple and delicious treat, it makes the house smell divine, and people all over the world agree that soup is good food!

Its the ultimate comfort food on a cold day! Truth be told, most times when I make this soup, I double the portions above- I get the mega pack of chicken thighs and use twice the broth- making a double batch.

I remember as a little girl sitting down to chicken noodle soup, oh how I loved it!  When my kids were little, I watched my sister Stacey’s boys and my own, and many winter days they sat around the table eating Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup with butterfly sandwiches and friendship apples. I would cut their sandwiches to look like butterflies and we would use an apple slicer down the middle of the apple, and share it, which is what makes the friendship apple so special, that we shared it! Lots of precious memories with chicken soup in my family! Those boys are all young men now, but they remember those times at the table with a big grin on their faces!

But the soup you make in a pot yourself is so extra delicious, so extra comforting and really so easy! No matter what kind of day you have had, if you walk in and smell that delicious soup cooking, it starts to soothe away the cares of the day before you even have your first taste! I believe the aroma of it is simply comforting and you feel that nostalgic sense of love right there in a bowl of chicken soup!

People have chosen chicken soup for helping those who are sick as its so easy to digest, gentle, mild and feels like its restoring strength to you. Its not expensive to make, and it can feed a hungry group. And it can feed more than just the hunger in their tummies!

The act of making chicken soup is as much for the cook is it is for anyone blessed with it. You could make up a pot of it and take a bowl with a nice slice of bread and surprise a neighbor, or show up where a friend or family member is working with it as a surprise! Or invite people over for soup day! I know someone that has “Soup Sundays” and they invite their whole crew over for a big pot of soup! Sometimes its the little things like a bowl of homemade soup that are really the biggest things! It can be a game changer in a day that beat a person down with circumstances and stress to the point of utter exhaustion, and then you smell that delicious soup, like hope and love in a bowl, building you back up, helping you feel you are loved and that this was nothing more than a bad day and the memory of that is diminishing and being replaced with the taste, sight, smell and the love that went into making this bowl of soup! The words “made with love” begin to wipe out all bad memories of the day. And not only is the soup made with love, but you yourself are made with love, and indeed you are loved! It is the love that defines us, reminds us, and rebuilds us.

I hope you have a fantastic week! I’ll be back Friday for another Fashion Friday!

I love you guys and gals!

Love Always,

Amy

“Soup is cuisine’s kindest course. It breathes reassurance; It steams consolation; after a weary day, it promotes sociability…”   ~Louis P. De Gouy