Chicken noodle soup from scratch!

FINALLY, I have been aspiring to make this simple, yet time consuming (but ohh so worth it!) dish for months now!  The main drawback is how time consuming it is, and well, I put off buying a stock pot for so long.  Yesterday my daughter and I were feeling so under the weather and after having just received news from the doctor that I have gastritis and need to eat a bland diet, chicken noodle soup sounded perfect!  I asked my friend if she had a stock pot I could borrow and she did, so I got to the store and bought all my ingredients.  The veggies and herbs were all organic and only $10!  The chicken, on the other hand I did not want to skimp on, so I bought the best chicken there is.  Draper Valley Farms organic chicken!  A WHOLE chicken, I might add.  I have never in my life touched a whole raw chicken and the experience was very enlightening.  There is definitely something to the idea that we are too detached from our food these days.  I took the guts out with my bare hands...and it really wasn't that bad!  So now for the pictures and recipe!

The Stock

• 1 whole free-range chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds), rinsed, giblets discarded
• 2 carrots, cut in large chunks
• 3 celery stalks, cut in large chunks
• 2 large white onions, quartered
• 1 head of garlic, halved
• 1 turnip, halved
• 1/4 bunch fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Place the chicken and vegetables in a large stockpot over medium heat. Pour in only enough cold water to cover (about 3 quarts); too much will make the broth taste weak. Toss in the thyme, bay leaves, andpeppercorns, and allow it to slowly come to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and gently simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, partially covered, until the chicken is done. As it cooks, skim any impurities that rise to the surface; add a little more water if necessary to keep the chicken covered while simmering.

Carefully remove the chicken to a cutting board. When its cool enough to handle, discard the skin and bones; hand-shred the meat into a storage container.

Carefully strain the stock through a fine sieve into another pot to remove the vegetable solids. Use the stock immediately or if you plan on storing it, place the pot in a sink full of ice water and stir to cool down the stock. Cover and refrigerate for up to one week or freeze.

Yield: 2 quarts

The Soup:

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 medium carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 2 celery ribs, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 4 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 quarts chicken stock, recipe follows
• 8 ounces dried wide egg noodles
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Directions

Place a soup pot over medium heat and coat with the oil. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, thyme and bay leaf. Cook and stir for about 6 minutes, until the vegetables are softened but not browned. Pour in the chicken stock and bring the liquid to a boil. Add the noodles and simmer for 5 minutes until tender. Fold in the chicken, and continue to simmer for another couple of minutes to heat through; season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with chopped parsley before serving.

the chicken carnage:

I'm a Foodie...

I am learning the key to enjoying salads is to google.  Google kind of makes my world go 'round...I'd go as far to say that I am a google expert.  I actually have friends and family who call me and ask me questions because they know I rock at the internet.  I may try to market myself someday and charge money for this, that's how good I am.  Ok, anyway.  Enough bragging.  Find out what other people like.  Allrecipes.com is a great resource.  I am not a salad eater.  I have only ever eaten Caesar salads and have never appreciated trying new strange things on salads.  Like currants.  What the heck are currants?  Well, thanks to me being adventurous, I discovered they are kind of like a mix between grapes and cherries, only the ones I had are dried like raisins.  Good stuff, I tell ya!  So yes, to the point...earlier in the week I had a bad salad...I thought using parmasean, bacon and strawberries would be good...but it was very much not good.  To avoid making the same mistake again I googled and found some pretty yummy salads.  My favorite make-at-home salad has been hearts of romaine tossed with Annie's raspberry vinagrette dressing, topped with chopped walnuts, feta cheese and sliced apples.  This was one of the best salads I ever had.   I don't have money to buy ingredients for new salads all the time, so I will try to buy stuff for 1 new type of salad a week.

My other new make at home food was salmon.  I've always been really leary of cooking fish in my home.  I've made tilapia before, but anything else I've tried has been a horrible failure.  Luckily I bought the pre-marinated frozen salmon and it's awesome!  I will get more adventurous and buy fresh soon, but as of now I am eating salmon daily so it's nice to always have some!  Pics to be posted soon!

Progress...back on track!

So sorry I have not updated...I am back on track since this past Monday.  I had a horrible time trying to start last weekend but I attribute that to my monthly cycle, it was just bad timing to start something...I felt really sick to my stomach all weekend.  BUT..I started full on Monday and it has been absolutely smooth sailing since then!  I have had no cravings whatsoever and it feels like the easiest transition ever.  I have been reading about eating for your blood type (I'm O+), so I've been trying to focus on incorporating more of those foods into my diet.  Salmon was a new food to me a few weeks ago, but now I am eating it daily.  It is expensive, but knowing that it's probably the best source of protein for me and packed with omega 3's makes it worth it to me.  I haven't bought it fresh yet, I got the frozen vacuum sealed pack from Costco.  I believe it was $20 for 6-7 patties (I got only 6, of course, because I'm so lucky like that).  I've also been eating a lot more breakfast type meals...there is something about eggs that I will never get sick of, they are like a food group to me.  I have been able to find pastured eggs at whole foods but I admit I got the cheap ones this week.

So the good news...it's only Saturday and I'm down 11.2 pounds.  In LESS THAN A WEEK...people...this is crazy!  My mind has shifted a little to weight loss, not away from healthy eating, but I am starting to incorporate them together better, and it's becoming a lot easier.

Sadly I did not get to meet with Lindsay from Passionate Homemaking this week!  My dog got really sick and we were supposed to take him to the vet at that time.  Bummer...I hope she understands and will try another time with me!  I am eager to see her kitchen and learn about things like kefir and kombucha.

In other news I've been going through a lot in my personal life this week....I can't really talk about it..but your prayers are appreciated.  I am struggling.  It's funny to me because normally when something makes me upset or depressed I will drown my sorrows with half a box of pizza.  Not so anymore...not even tempted!  I think I really have experienced a paradigm shift.  Another funny thing--I haven't had the heart to call and cancel with Weight Watchers.  I am not doing the diet, but I love the meetings and the support and I have been debating going back just for the support...wonder if they would kick me out if they found out? Hehe.  I think part of it is that I am craving adult interaction right now, I still haven't met a ton of people and it's been rough.

I will try to update more often, but just to let you know it is in my nature to start things and never finish them.  I think I've started 10 blogs since the birth of the internet.  But, hang in there and check back weekly at least!