Cooking 101 - Country Chicken Noodle Soup

For heaven's sake - it's dreary, rainy, and dark outside and ALL THREE of my kiddies are sick, sick, sick. Come on, here! It's the middle of June for crying out loud! Naturally, it was definitely a day to make some serious comfort food - homemade chicken noodle soup. {I happened to have cooked a chicken a few days ago with high hopes to make some amazing chicken salad so I already had broth AND cooked chicken on hand --- I know, GENIUS.}

And remember that heavenly stuff from Bob Evans that I crave when I get the sickies? This soup is just as good, if not better - and you can make it as thick or as soupy as you want.

COUNTRY CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Soup:
4 c. broth (or water with 4 t. chicken base or 4 bullion cubes)
1 c. sliced carrots
1 c. sliced celery
1 onion, finely chopped
cooked, chopped chicken - about 2+ cups
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can evaporated milk

Noodles:
1 2/3 c. flour
2 eggs
dash of salt

(If you were to cook your chicken the day before or a few days before, saving the meat and broth, this process goes much quicker.)

Bring the broth to a boil, add onion, celery, and carrots; boil on low for about 20 minutes. In the meantime, make noodles.

Homemade Noodles:
In a bowl, add flour, eggs, 2 1/2 egg shells of water, and a dash of salt. With a fork, mix everything together without over mixing. Knead on floured surface until dough is smooth, careful not to over mix, which makes the noodles hard and rubbery.

Working in small pieces, roll out dough very thin, slice with a knife, and either lay them on a cookie rack or wait until you're ready to add them to the soup. They're kind of hard to manage, but they don't need to be perfect - just throw 'em in the pot!

THEN:
Add cream of chicken soup, canned milk, chicken, and noodles. Cook for another 20 minutes until noodles are cooked and everything is heated through. If it's too thick for you, add more broth.

Enjoy with a hot, buttermilk biscuit!