I was a vegetarian for 10 years and I never had the desire to eat meat until I smelt my mother in laws homemade chicken noodle soup simmering on the stove. I am now a huge fan of chicken noodle soup, it is the meal I make and bring to my friends who have babies, it is the meal I make for gatherings at my house in the winter. It is the perfect comfort food. I tried about 10 different recipes and took what I liked from each to make this recipe. This is what I consider the Perfect Chicken Noodle Soup.

2- lbs boneless, skinless, chicken thighs or a 4 lb whole chicken

2 – Lg containers (32 oz) Chicken broth

1- Head of Celery and leaves diced and divided in half

1- Large yellow onion diced and divided in half

1- pound of carrots sliced – divided in half

6- Chicken Bouillon cubes

1- tsp dry parsley flakes

1- tsp garlic (I use the roasted type garlic in the jar)

1- tblsp poltry seasoning

1- tsp thyme

2- tblsp kosher cooking salt- (or salt)

1- tblsp pepper-fresh ground

Juice from 1/4 of a lemon

Home made noodles (recipe below)  or if you must, 9 oz store bought bagged, nested wide Egg Noodles

Boil the chicken thighs or whole chicken in a large stockpot in the 2 containers of broth add 1/2 of the carrots, 1/2 of the onion, 1/2 of the celery and leaves and the tsp of garlic.  Boil for 1 hour or until the meat is easily shredded. I pull the thighs out and shred them on a plate and dump them back in.  Add bouillon cubes, 4 cups of water, and the rest of the ingredients and seasonings to the stockpot bring to a low rolling boil and add homemade noodles, boil 30 more minutes or until noodles are tender and serve!   Even my kids love this recipe and will eat all of the veggies and chicken.

Homemade Egg Noodles-

1 cup flour

1 egg

1 eggshell full of milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

On a clean, flat surface, place 1 cup of flour, create a hole in the center of the flour pile, add the salt, and crack the egg inside the hole. Then fill up one half of the egg shell with milk two times and place the milk in the hole of the flour as well.  Gently fold the ingredients together by hand until it is a soft doughlike mixture. If you need more liquid, slowly add 1/2 eggshell of milk at a time until it is a sticky ball. Sprinkle a little flour on the flat surface and Roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it is as flat as you can make it, it needs to be thinner than a pie crust. Once it is as thin as you can make it, (once you boil it, it will plump up) cut skinny strips of noodle about 1/3 inch wide with a pizza cutter. 
 

Add homemade noodles one or a few at a time to the chicken soup at a low rolling boil so they don’t stick together.  Boil in the soup until they are tender, or about 30 minutes.