When You're Feeling Shabby Chicken Noodle Soup

Dry air.  Dry airways. Stuffy nose.  I needed soup.  Chicken soup.  With real chicken bones.  That's where the good stuff comes from.  With lots of garlic and onions and parsley.  It's Soup Season!! 

We had a package of bone in chicken breasts in the freezer that I had been saving for this very occasion.  I always like to have some on hand because there is nothing that beats down the start of a cold like some heavily garlicked bone in chicken soup.  You can season however you like - sometimes I do Chicken Taco Soup - just as effective.

The crockpot was the cooking mechanism for this soup because... well... I had to work all day and couldn't stand over a hot stove for hours. 

By the way - this recipe uses the famous Miracle Noodles... in keeping with tradition, this soup is basically carb free.

Feeling Shabby Chicken Noodle Soup

2 large Bone-In Chicken Breasts (remove skin if there is skin)
3 cups Celery, chopped
2 1/2 cups Onion, chopped
4 Mushrooms, sliced
4 Bay Leaves
2 containers of Chicken Broth (probably 3-4 cups each??) - however much broth you want basically.
20 Garlic Cloves
2 Habanero Peppers or Jalapenos or just some Red Pepper Flakes
4 tsp. Garlic Powder
2 tsp. Basil
1 tsp. Thyme
1 tsp. Black Pepper
1 cup Parsley, chopped fine

Place chicken broth, chicken breasts, 1 cup celery, 1 cup onions, 1/4 of the mushrooms, bay leaves, hot peppers, 1 tsp black pepper, 10 whole garlic cloves or equivalent if already minced in crockpot on low until chicken is cooked through (mine was on for nearly 10 hours).  Pull chicken breasts out to cool. Mince 10 garlic cloves fine.  Add all remaining ingredients except parsley.  Pull chicken from bone, chop, add back into crock.  Cook for another hour or so on high or until vegetables are tender.  Add parsley and stir.  Eat up!

If you are using Miracle Noodles: drain, rinse, chop into bite size pieces, put them in a bowl, and pour soup over them.  You can also add regular egg noodles if you want!

Note: Garlic's cold fighting properties are activated when the garlic pieces are ground together/rubbed together.

The key to the flavor for this soup is to let the chicken cook a long time, as there really isn't much else to season it.  For a quick chicken soup there are other ingredients I add to make it more flavorful, but when you have the time - it's great to pull all the flavors from the ingredients you're working with.

Attack the Block was a pretty good movie. Creative alieons.

It was a warm 39 degrees here this morning at 5 am for our morning run.  I was quite pleased by this... however, it is now raining, so I fear my long evening run will be nixed. More time for cooking!

If you are interested in purchasing Miracle Noodles, here is their website - http://www.miraclenoodle.com/default.aspx

Next on the menu is Calamari and Brussel Sprouts.  I need to figure what to do with those.... decisions, decisions.

Just Keep Tasting!!