Homemade Chicken Soup

I made a pot of soup tonight and it's delicious! I actually make some pretty awesome chicken noodle soup, but I only make it about 3 or 4 times a year. Tonight happens to be one of those times. But I did things a little differently tonight.

I already have a recipe posted here.  Chicken Noodle Soup. But that version was a bit more labor-intensive than what I did tonight. And plus, tonight I decided I wanted my dad's homemade noodles in my soup, so that's where the effort went.




Dad's Homemade Noodles
This is actually my grandmother's recipe and my dad picked it up from her. But I mostly consider it dad's because he's the one who made it most often. I remember as a young girl and my dad happened to have a weekday off work ... we'd come home from school to find the kitchen draped with homemade noodles drying everywhere. Every inch of counter space would be taken up with draped noodles. We'd walk in the door from school and give a cheer for this special treat.

In fact, I love Dad's Homemade Noodles so much that it was the food I requested as my "last supper" just before surgery almost three years ago. I mistakenly thought I'd never be able to eat those noodles again and I wanted them one last time. But since surgery I've eaten them more regularly than I had in the previous 10 years of my life. I've found a way to have them in moderation. For instance, in this recipe below, it's only a half-batch and just the right amount for a WLS-friendly pot of soup.

1 cup flour
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
3-4 teaspoons milk (or whatever is needed)

Mix flour and salt, then add eggs and mix well. Slowly add milk by bits until the mixture holds together and is not sticky. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead several times until the dough is well combined and elastic. Roll out with rolling pin until the dough is very thin. Cut with a pizza cutter (or knife) into noodle-sized pieces. (Note: the noodles swell a lot when cooked, so cut the noodles smaller than you think you'll need them - mine were 1/2 inch wide by 2 inches long.) Separate the noodles and lay out on the counter to air dry. Let sit for at least 1 hour, longer is better. Imperfection is encouraged.

The Chicken Soup
This is a pared down, simplified version of my normal chicken soup recipe. It is pretty darned good for being so quick. Feel free to improvise with whatever ingredients you have on hand. I'm not including measurements because I didn't measure anything. Add however much you want to add.

1 rotisserie chicken (pulled from bone and cut into bite size pieces)
3 boxes chicken stock (each box is 32oz - adjust based on your recipe size)
baby carrots (sliced into round 1/2-inch pieces)
edamame beans
baby bella mushrooms (sliced and chopped)
frozen spinach pieces
1 large capful Mrs. Dash seasoning
Dad's Homemade Noodles

Let the veggies cook through and become tender. Then add the noodles at the last minute -- be sure to include some of the flour leftover from the counter space where you rolled the dough, this will thicken the broth. Let the noodles cook for 3 to 7 minutes (depending on how thin you rolled them).