Chicken Noodle Soup

I originally posted this recipe on here on a cold 9 degree night in January 2012.  It's fun to look back and remember where we were and what we were doing 6 years ago.  We only had 3 kids then, but they were all 4 and under so life was really busy.  My husband was in grad school and a graduate teaching assistant so he was on campus much of the time.  We didn't have much money, but we were happy.  We were and still are frugal.  We ate most of our meals at home because it's much easier with little ones and to save money.  We always had a warm meal on the table.  One of my favorite things to make was chicken noodle soup which I still make today.  

This is my easy version of chicken noodle soup because sometimes you just don't feel like cooking a chicken carcass and messing with it.  I do freeze them after I roast a chicken and usually have one in the freezer for bone broth or bone broth chicken soup, but sometimes...I just want easy.  

My 15 month old and I were both under the weather earlier this month so I made a big pot of chicken noodle soup.  I didn't feel like making a bone broth, but I found bone broth at the grocery store (32 oz. carton) with the regular chicken broth so I bought some and tried it in this soup.  It was more expensive than conventional chicken broth, but delicious and comforting and we did get over our colds within a couple of days.  I always feel like chicken soup from bone broth helps to shorten colds around our house.  

I recently discovered that our kids really like this small ditalini pasta in their chicken noodle soup.  It is easier for them to manage on a spoon so mealtime is easier.  We like it too!

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Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:
1 onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
1 stalk celery diced
2 T. butter
6 C. water
8 C. chicken broth or bone broth
1 lb. boneless chicken
1 t. salt
1 t. Cajun seasoning
1 C. sliced carrots
1 C. frozen peas
12 oz. ditalini pasta or egg noodles (I often use the whole 16 oz. box of pasta which makes it thicker)

1.     In a large pot, sauté onion, garlic and celery in butter until tender and caramelized.

2.     Add water, chicken broth, chicken, salt, Cajun seasoning.  Cook on low to medium for about an hour or until chicken is cooked. 

3.     Remove chicken from the pot and shred/chop it with a knife and a fork.  Return the chicken to the pot.  Add sliced carrots and peas and bring pot to a boil. 

4.     Add noodles and continue to boil uncovered (for the time suggested on the noodle package) until noodles are cooked.  

5.  Once noodles are tender, remove from heat and let soup rest for a few minutes to cool before serving.  

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Yum