So yesterday we had my husband's family pictures, which was super fun! Trying to get a large group together, which included 12 children and 10 adults, to take a picture is hard work. Between wrangling the escapee toddlers, saying "CHEESE" fifty million times, and secretly cursing the wind, I was exhausted. On top of the exhaustion, go ahead and add shivering children and chattering teeth to the list. It was unexpectedly very cold out! Fall had definitely decided to grace us with its presence and what fine timing it had. Anyways, the pictures went well, I survived. Our photographer was pretty much a superhero to deal with our family :)
With the crisp air coming in, I got an itch for some warm soup and Christmas music. I know you are thinking, "Seriously, woman?!" To make myself look worse it was a high of 65 today but hey its chillier than it has been, okay? Anyways, while rocking out to Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" I got the idea to make chicken noodle soup. I have never made homemade chicken noodle soup before so I opened up Pinterest (my BFF) and began my search for a healthy recipe that called for the crock-pot. Of course I found one because Pinterest never lets a girl down! I present to you......
I have to say that this was so delicious!! I have nothing against canned soup or people who eat canned soup, but I personally just can't eat it. The meat tastes funny and they are packed with loads of sodium. Finding this easy, yummy, homemade soup made this girl very happy! My husband loves soup and sandwiches so he of course was very pleased. What actually really shocked me was the fact that my children loved it. My daughter (16 months) will eat ANYTHING you put in front of her so I wasn't surprised when she gobbled it all up. My son (35 months), on the other hand, is a little more hesitant to try stuff and had actually never tried soup before. He tried it and liked it!! I was so shocked! This was literally a family favorite.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 5 medium carrots, peeled and chopped (1 3/4 cups)
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
- 4 stalks celery, chopped (1 1/4 cups)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth (3 - 15 oz cans)
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 cups uncooked wide egg noodles
- 3 1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- Saltine crackers (optional)
- Directions
- To a slow cooker, add chicken (un-cut), diced carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Drizzle olive oil over top then add in chicken broth, water, thyme, rosemary, celery seed, bay leaves and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook on low heat 6 - 7 hours.
- Remove cooked chicken and allow to rest 10 minutes, then dice into bite size pieces. Meanwhile, add egg noodles and parsley to slow cooker. Increase temperature to high, cover and cook 10 minutes longer (or until noodles are tender). Stir in lemon juice and toss in cooked, diced chicken. Serve warm with saltine crackers. Enjoy!!
We have plenty of leftovers for lunch tomorrow which is terrific!! Sometimes dinner can be such a pain. Trying to decide what to make, gathering the ingredients, and actually cooking it is a long process and sometimes I'm in a hurry or simply just too tired to spend all night in the kitchen, so this crock-pot soup will be a lifesaver for me through the next few colder months. Thank you Pinterest and Jaclyn at Cooking Classy for this wonderful addition to my recipe collection! Here is proof of my son enjoying the wonderful flavor this soup has to offer.
I swear he was very happy with this soup ha! I also wanted to add a little info about the slow cooker I use. One word, AMAZING!! It was actually a gift from my lovely mother-in-law last Christmas. It can slow cook, roast, saute, and steam. It can be found here. I just checked and Williams-Sonoma still carries it so if you don't have a slow cooker or are looking to upgrade, I highly recommend this bad boy! Okay well I now have a glass of wine calling my name or maybe that's my husband, either way it's time I say goodbye and head off to clear our DVR list. Have a great night everyone!
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