Chicken Noodle Soup

This recipe is one of those great standbys.  I do it over and over and over.  I used to make the noodles from scratch, but there is a great brand of frozen homemade egg noodles at my grocery store -- they're way better than any egg noodles I've ever made and so much more convenient.  They win.

Cherie Clawson's Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
(Cherie is the mother of one of my oldest friends, Rachel)

Bring a whole chicken to boil in 3-4 quarts of water.  Add 1 tsp. salt, a bay leaf, a peeled and diced onion, and a cup of diced celery.  Simmer for a couple of hours.  Remove chicken and add 2 cups of diced carrots and 6 diced potatoes.  Simmer carrots and potatoes until tender.  While they are simmering, remove the skin and bones from chicken.  Cut into bite sized pieces (alternately, I just learned that you can use the paddle attachment on a KitchenAid or Bosch to shred chicken in seconds - this would be the perfect place to try that).  After carrots and potatoes are tender, add noodles and simmer until done (7-10 minutes).  Add 2 cups frozen petite peas.  When peas are tender but firm, return chicken to the soup and heat to desired temperature.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add chicken bullion if desired (I actually add beef base, which you can purchase in the seasonings aisle of Sam's Club). 

I love this soup.