Creamy Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Soup Ingredients:

4 cups chicken stock

3 cups water (add more if needed later)

1 medium onion

3-4 garlic cloves (to taste)

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper (to taste)

1⁄2 teaspoon thyme

4 chicken bouillon cubes

3 cups leftover chicken, cubed

2 (15 ounce) cans cream of mushroom soup (I use the Campbell's 98% fat free)

2 carrots sliced

1 celery stick sliced

1 (10 ounce) frozen peas (optional)

1 lb egg noodles or make from scratch. See recipe below

1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour (as needed to thicken)

Egg Noodle Ingredients:

2 cups flour

3 egg yolks

1 egg

2 teaspoons salt

1⁄4-1⁄2 cup water

Egg Noodle Directions:

1. Measure flour into bowl; make a well in the center and add egg yolks, whole egg and salt.

2. With hands, thoroughly mix egg into flour.

3. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. (Add only enough water to form dough into a ball.).

4. Turn dough onto well-floured board; knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

5. Cover; let rest 10 minutes.

6. Divide dough into 4 equal parts.

7. Roll dough, 1 part at a time, into paper-thin rectangle, keeping remaining dough covered.

8. Roll rectangle around rolling pin; slip out rolling pin.

9. Cut dough cross-wise into 1/8-inch strips for narrow noodles and 1/4-inch for wide noodles.

10. Shake out strips and place on towel to dry, about 2 hours.

11. When dry, break dry strips into smaller pieces.

12. Cook in 3 quarts boiling salted water (1 tablespoon salt) (We use chicken broth.) 12 to 15 minutes or until tender.

13. Drain thoroughly.

Soup Directions:

1. Saute onion and garlic in a little olive oil in your pot, until tender. Be careful not to burn the garlic, or it will be bitter.

2. Combine the rest of the ingredients, except the noodles and peas, in a large pot. Simmer on low for a couple hours to develop flavors, and thicken slightly.

3. Taste it to see if it's "chickeny" enough for you. If not, you can add more bouillon, but be careful, as this will make it saltier. Also, add salt or pepper to taste.

4. When it tastes right to you, add your egg noodles and peas. These usually need to cook for 15 or 20 minutes.

5. We like our soup pretty thick, kinda like Rachel Ray's "stoup", so if it needs thicken after the noodles are about done, I then mix up the flour in a little cold water, and stir it in. This will only need a few minutes to thicken, but make sure to stir pretty often after you add the flour mixture, or it might collect at the bottom.

6. After the flour and noodles have cooked, it's ready to serve!

#soup #chicken