Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

It's that time of year--soups and comfort foods.  Among those is definitely chicken noodle soup.  It has amazing healing powers (science still doesn't fully understand why) and if made right, is very healthy (mainly watch the sodium--SALT).  My little baby boy had his first cold last week, at 8 months (and one week) old.  While he napped, I decided to make some homemade chicken noodle soup for him.  Well, most of it was for Mom and Dad, but I blended a little bit of it for the little babe.
I started making my own homemade chicken noodle soup a few years ago and have tweaked my recipe a few times until I have decided what I have below is exactly what I want.  Hope you love it!

Ingredients:
Noodle Ingredients:


1/2 Cup All-Purpose (Unbleached Organic) Flour
1/2 Cup Whole-Wheat (Unbleached Organic) Flour
1/4 Tsp. Sea Salt
2 Tbsp. Water
1/2 tsp. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 Egg

Soup Ingredients:3-5 lb. Whole Chicken
12 Cups Water
2 Chicken Bouillon Cubes or 2 tsp. Granulated Chicken Bouillon (sodium-free)
1/3 Cup. Chopped (or Minced) Onion
1 Tsp. Pepper
1 Bay Leaf
1 Cup Celery, chopped/sliced (about 4-5 stalks)
1 Cup Carrots, thinly sliced (about 4 medium carrots)
1 Batch Noodles (recipe below) or 2 Cup Egg Noodles (if you're feeling less ambitious)


Directions:
Noodle Directions:
1.  In a small bowl, combine flour and salt; combine well. 
2.  In another small bowl, beat together the water, oil, and egg.  Gradually combine the two to form dough.3.  On floured surface, knead dough until smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for1 hour.
4.  On floured surface, roll dough out as thin as possible into rectangle. Cut dough into thirds, lengthwise. Stack three pieces on top of one another (should not stick--should have plenty of flour).  Cut into 1/4" slices. Separate noodles and set aside on a platter, baking sheet or counter top at room temperature for 1-2 hours to dry somewhat.

5.  Start making soup.

Soup Directions:
1.  In 5 quart Dutch oven or large stockpot, combine chicken and water. Bring to a boil. 
2.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15 minutes. Skim off any fat that rises to the surface (I used a slotted spoon). 
3.  Add bouillon, onion, pepper and bay leaf. Cover again and simmer, for 40-55 minutes or until chicken is tender and started to come off the bone. 

4.  Remove chicken from broth and place onto cutting board.  Remove chicken from bones and cut chicken into bite size pieces.  Don't fret if a few pieces are pinkish and not quite done, the chicken is going back in the pot to cook longer (although my 4 lb bird was actually all done at 45 min). Skim fat from broth again. Return chicken to broth. 
5.  Stir in celery and carrots. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes or until carrots are crisp-tender. Remove bay leaf. 
6.  Bring to a boil again. Drop noodles into boiling soup. After soup returns to a boil, cook, uncovered for 7-10 minutes or until noodles are tender.



Enjoy!


Feel free to add a bit of flour to the broth to thicken it up, if you like it that way.  Also, feel free to mix in some dried parsley to your broth.  I usually do, but was out at the time I posted the recipe. 


Freezer-friendly:  Just store in dated/labeled ziploc bags in your freezer for up to 3 months.  


Oh and here is a photo of the soup pureed for my son, because I know you were curious to see what that looked like too. 

And here's a big bowl of the goodness...for adults.

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