Cheater Chicken Noodle

I admit to having cans of Campbell's Chicken Noodle in my pantry. But those are strictly reserved for those days when I personally am so sick that I can barely function, let alone make a batch of chicken noodle soup.

For all the other times that I want chicken noodle, I make it from scratch, mostly. I am a cheater, really. Ideally, one would simmer a chicken in some water with vegetables and fresh herbs to make a lovely broth, then de-bone and cut up the chicken, strain the broth, and add more fresh vegetables and herbs and homemade noodles. But I'm running a home here. I have toddlers and a husband working night shift, so the kids have to be quiet all day long. I can't slave away in the kitchen for hours.

Obviously, we have had some cooler weather lately so I've been making soups for dinner a lot. I wasn't planing on making chicken noodle yesterday until my husband woke up with a sore throat. I wasn't 100% sure what I was going to make (I was thinking about a chicken pot pie made with whole wheat pastry, something I've never done before) but with him waking up sick sealed the deal on dinner. Fortunately my cheater version of chicken noodle doesn't take all day, only about a half hour or 45 minutes start to finish, and it's not fussy so you're not spending the whole time in the kitchen slaving away over dinner.

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Begin by pouring 2- 1 quart boxes of chicken broth in a soup pot set on the stove at medium heat. Begin dicing 1-2 stalks of celery, 2 carrots, and 1 medium onion and add to the pot. Once those are added, you can season with a little salt and freshly ground pepper, add a little rosemary, thyme, and parsley (maybe a half teaspoon of each dried, a little more if you're using fresh, either fresh or dried are fine, though I usually prefer to work with fresh herbs). Once the vegetables are just starting to get tender, open up a 14.4 ounce can of chicken chunks (I told you this was cheater chicken noodle! I suppose you could use freshly cooked if you wanted to) and add it to the soup, breaking it up with a spoon as you stir it in. I get my chicken from my church's cannery, but I know they sell canned chicken in grocery stores as well. Finally, add 1 or 2 cups of egg noodles, depending on how much you like noodles. I usually go with 2 cups because my kids and my husband all love noodles. I use Country Pasta's Homemade Style Egg Pasta instead of conventional egg noodles. They have a much better bite to them and regular egg noodles simply will not do anymore. Simmer your soup until the pasta is cooked.

Serve with fresh bread or crackers. Don't expect leftovers (we never have any).