More snow. More soup.

Ten more inches of snow.  Plus winds of 35-50 mph.  Seriously?  Seriously.  The snow is touching the bottom of our mailbox.  So what's a girl to do when she can't control a thing going on outdoors?  Make more soup of course.  Soup makes everything better.

I found a recipe for "make a mama happy chicken noodle soup" on Domestic Reflections and thought it sounded perfect.  It was indeed--though I do mention a tweak or two below. 

Chicken Noodle Soup

• 16 c. chicken broth (4 cartons)
• 1 3 1/2 lb. chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2-3 carrots, peeled, thinly sliced (I chopped up a bag of baby carrots)
• 2-3 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (I agree that this is critical--in fact, I added lots more than 1 T, probably closer to the juice of the entire lemon)
• 12 oz. dried wide egg noodles (I used the recommended pappardelle from Trader Joe's
• 1/2 c. finely chopped fresh parsley (I only added this to the adult servings as the boys didn't want "salad" floating in their soup)

Directions

• Combine broth and chicken in a large heavy pot.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover partially and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 20 mins. **I cooked the chicken closer to 40 minutes**.
• Transfer chicken to a large bowl and after chicken has cooled slightly, pull off and discard the skin and bones and shred the meat.
• Return broth to a simmer.  Add carrots and celery.  Simmer until vegetables soften, about 8 mins.
• Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onions and sauté until beginning to wilt, about 5 mins.  Add onions to broth and vegetables. 
• Stir in lemon juice. 
• Add noodles and chicken and simmer until noodles are done (about 5 mins). 
• Stir in parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.

I should also note that this recipe makes a ton--we delivered a small pot of it to neighbors and still had plenty for two rounds of soup ourselves.  Good thing, too.  We needed it.

Comments

[Victoria]

I am totally into soups this winter! This recipe looks great. Following from MBC FFF. :)

http://www.thepumpkinpiepatch.blogspot.com

[Charlene]

Yes - soup makes everything better. Yummy too! Good luck digging out!!

[shelly]

We've had so much snow and cold weather that I've kinda gotten tired of eating soup. lol But that sounds like a great recipe!

Here are some of our snow photos:

http://atticgirl.blogspot.com/2010/02/im-beginning-to-think-that-gopher-was.html

[Sarah @ Mum In Bloom]

When you freeze this in the milk containers, do you deliver it frozen or defrosted?

[Sandra]

Thanks for the comments everyone!

And Sarah--I've done both, but usually only gift frozen soup if it's for a food brigade (new baby, etc.) & I know the recipients might prefer to stock their freezer. This recipe is a fairly new find and since it's such a quick recipe, I made it & delivered it the same day (leaving out the noodles so the recipient can just add them in when they heat up the soup). If you do freeze it, just leave a little room in the container for expansion. Thanks for stopping by!

[pam]

I can't believe you have had so much snow! Such a strange, strange winter for almost everyone. But the good news is that it inspired you to post this yoummy chicken noodle soup recipe which i will be trying out this week! I love chicken noodle soup, but I just can't seem to get it right. Lemon - that must be the secret!