Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup!

I love making homemade soup! It is so satisfying, comforting, and delicious! It is especially great when you make it from scratch! It is so easy and versatile. You can throw just about anything you have in your fridge and pantry into it and it will come out great! Today, I am simmering a pot of Chicken Noodle Soup! It is a basic recipe that I grew up on. Every time I make it I think of my Uncle Dick who passed away 4 years ago. It brings back great memories of cooking and spending time with him.

Chicken Noodle Soup

2 Leftover Rotisserie Chicken Carcasses (We buy the $4.99 Costco ones enjoy two meals on it then freeze the carcass till I'm ready to make soup. It stretches a buck and is so good.) If you don't have a whole cooked chicken you can substitute chicken stock and cooked chicken breast shredded.

4 large carrots peeled and chopped

3 stalks of celery (leaves too) chopped

2 small-medium onions chopped

3 garlic cloves minced

1-1/2 cups whole wheat egg noodles, brown rice, or any other short cut pasta

2 bay leaves

1 tbsp oregano

1 tbsp thyme

1 tsp dried marjoram

salt and pepper

Throw frozen or thawed chicken carcass into a large pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 1 hour. Heat 2-3 tbsp of olive oil in another pot. Put onion, celery, and carrot into the pot and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until just about tender then add the minced garlic and sauté another 3 minutes. Strain all chicken pieces out of water/stock. Put the carrots, onion, celery, and garlic into the chicken stock. Pick through the chicken carcass pieces and pick out all chicken and put back into chicken stock with vegetables. Add all seasonings.. Bay leaves, oregano, thyme, and marjoram. Bring back to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes to blend flavors. Add uncooked noodles and lightly boil until noodles are done. If using rice cook according to package before adding. You can add any extra vegetables of your choice.. I have used broccoli, edamame, corn, peas, zucchini and green beans!

This soup freezes great and lasts up to a week in the refrigerator! Once you make this soup you will never buy canned soup again!

Easy English Muffin Bread!

Whenever I think of "homemade bread" I think about the time commitment to make it! I am the the woman in the grocery store looking at the bread labels trying to get the best nutritional value for my family without having to set aside most of the morning to bake my own bread. I was looking around my favorite food websites for an easy bread to try and I found a great one! It is not only easy, but I have changed and added a couple ingredients to make it healthier! Thought I would share it because not only did I enjoy it but the girls asked for seconds and even thirds!

English Muffin Bread

2 cups of milk (I used Horizon Organic Fat-Free Milk)

1/2 cup water

2 tbsp cornmeal

6 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour

2 packages active dry yeast

1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Brown Rice Syrup (my favorite is Lundberg Sweet Dreams Organic) If you don't have brown rice syrup you can use 1 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

Warm the milk and the water in a saucepan until the temperature reaches 125 degrees. Lightly grease two loaf pans with Organic Pam and sprinkle cornmeal evenly on the bottom and sides. In a large bowl mix together 3 cups of flour, yeast, salt and soda. If you are using sugar add that into bowl as well. If using the brown rice syrup add it into the milk and water mixture once it reaches 125 degrees, stir to combine. Stir milk mixture into the flour mixture and beat well. Stir in the remaining 3 cups of flour one cup at a time and beat until a stiff batter/dough ball forms. Spoon dough evenly into the two loaf pans cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place about 45 minutes or until at least double in size. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until brown on top. Remove from pans immediately and place on cooling racks!