Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

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Chicken noodle soup is much better when made with homemade broth and homemade noodles.

 

I like to make chicken broth after having a roast chicken - Throw the leftover chicken, bones and all, in a big pot with water and salt, enough to cover all the chicken. Let it cook at a slow boil until the chicken is falling off the bones. Then strain the broth off the chicken, return to heat and let it reduce until it has the "strength" of chicken flavor that you like. 

 

 

While it's boiling down, you have things you can be doing. First off, mix up the noodle dough. Here is a small recipe. It can easily be doubled.

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 1.5 cup unbleached flour

2 eggs

1.5 tsp olive oil

1 Tbsp water

1/2 tsp sea salt

Put flour and sea salt in a bowl, then add beaten eggs, water, and oil. Mix with a fork and let the dough sit for at least 15-20 minutes, covered. 

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Okay, once your noodle dough is resting, start peeling and slicing carrots, slice celery, and dice onions; mince a little parsley, too, if you like.  When your broth is reduced to about the strength you like, add the chopped vegetables. While the veggies are cooking in the broth, bone some of the chicken, which should have cooled by now. If you prefer nice chunks of chicken instead of little pieces of leftovers, you can use a leftover cooked chicken breast or, maybe you can just use your roast chicken entirely for the soup, cutting off some of the best of the chicken before it goes to making broth. The boiled bits of chicken are good for chicken tacos.

Now, roll out your noodles on a lightly floured surface. Turn them over every so often, dusting lightly with flour. Once they are quite thin, cut them in strips with a pizza cutter or knife. 

Once your  veggies are just right (not too mushy), add the chicken. Then, carefully add the noodles, a few at a time. (You may not want to use all of them, depending on how much broth you made. Just play it by ear.) Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover. Let the noodles cook for about ten minutes. Remove from heat and let cool a bit.

Enjoy!!!

Twice-baked Acorn Squash

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Another squash side dish I made recently was this twice-baked acorn squash. I halved the squash and cooked it, open-side down. Then I removed the seeds. I scraped the cooked squash into a bowl, leaving about a 1/4 inch cushion. 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I mixed beaten eggs, parmesan cheese, thawed and drained chopped spinach, chopped onion, and sea salt, and then piled it all back into the shells. Then I topped with some grated farmer cheese and put back in the oven until the cheese was nicely melted. This was really good and really filling! Nice way to get veggies.

 

Twice-Baked Acorn Squash

 

1 acorn squash

2 beaten eggs

6 oz spinach, thawed and drained (or fresh, chopped)

chopped onion to taste

parmesan to taste

sea salt to taste

about 3 oz shredded farmer cheese

Maple Glazed Acorn Squash

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Recently, I made a few side dishes from acorn squash. Actually, I just ate this for lunch all by itself, which is good, too! For this one, I just halved the squash, put the halves open-side down on a baking sheet, baked until tender, removed the seeds. 

 

 

 

 

While the squash was baking, I combined butter, pure maple syrup, sea salt, and chili powder, and let them boil down until they were syrupy and fairly thick. When the squash was done cooking, I drizzled the syrup all over the squash, then put it back in the oven for a while. You can put it under the broiler a few minutes if you are determined to keep a close eye on it.

 

I garnished with blended raw coconut ( you can use a good sour cream ) and chives. It was very yummy!

 

Maple Glazed Acorn Squash

 

1 acorn squash

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

dash of chili powder

dash of sea salt