FOODIE FRIDAY-- Chicken Noodle Soup

Last week, I picked up a rotisserie chicken. Most of them are pretty inexpensive, costing around five-six dollars. This is an awesome way to save time on those busy school nights.  Pop the chicken into the microwave, make a salad and a veg, and there’s dinner.

This time, I stripped the meat from the bones, placing the bones in a pan with water, a couple sprigs of rosemary, a small bunch of thyme, a bay leaf, about 2 tsp. peppercorns, one quartered onion, one coarsely chopped carrot and two coarsely chopped stalks of celery.  I cooked this down for about 30 minutes. I added a little salt AFTER it cooked down. Many times the rub on the chicken contains salt, and I didn’t want to over salt the broth. I strained out the solid stuff and adjusted the flavor with herbs and a little salt. Then the broth went into a container and into the fridge. The next day, I spooned off the fat and used the broth in this soup.

Sorry, most of this I didn’t measure. Just adjust according to your family’s tastes.

Chicken Noodle Soup

1 onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, sliced lengthwise and chopped
2 carrots, chopped
Olive oil
Chopped chicken @ 2 cups
Chicken broth @ 8-10 cups
Parsley
Sage
Rosemary
Thyme
1 pkg. Reames frozen noodles, 16 oz.
Salt and pepper if desired

Add 1-2 Tbls. oil to hot pan. Saute celery, carrots and onion until slightly softened. Add chicken. Add broth and heat until boiling. Check seasonings, adjust as needed. Lower heat to a simmer. Add frozen noodles and cook until noodles are tender, about 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

This is just the comfort food for those cold nights.

Later, Peeps!

 

Herbed Tomato Soup

I should have taken a picture when I made this, but it disappeared quickly--Oops . . . 

While my kidlet was home due to the two freak snowstorms, I did a lot of cooking.  This recipe was originally a Weight Watcher's 0 point recipe.  Don't worry, we got rid of that pesky goose egg and added points.  I have no idea how many calories per serving, but I do know my 10-year-old had about three or four meals consisting of this soup.

Herbed Tomato Soup

1 medium onion, chopped
2-14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes
1- 6 oz. can tomato paste
1 t. basil
1 t. salt
1/2 t. thyme
1/4 t. pepper
4 c. chicken broth
@ 1/2 c. heavy cream

Saute onions in pat of butter until translucent. Add rest of ingredients, EXCEPT cream.  Simmer about 15-20 minutes. Puree soup using hand blender (if you have non-stick pans be very careful not to scratch them). Adjust seasoning to taste.  Add cream until turns the color of cooked salmon.

Sorry, but eyeballing it is part of the deal.  My kidlet tasted the soup prior to the cream and remarked that it tasted too herby.  The cream adds a touch of richness that tamps down the herbs and brings out the tomato flavor.

I'm beat from editing GNOME.  I managed to cut another 20% of the story and tightened it to within an inch of it's life.  It is out with another beta reader