Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

With another winter storm coming this weekend to the mountain it is the perfect time to start planning for a big pot of chicken noodle soup.  There are only a few ingredients you need to have to make a pot of homemade chicken noodle soup.  With a whole chicken and some vegetables you can create a pot of rich broth in just a few hours.  Add some thick home-style noodles and you have the perfect homemade meal for your family.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
1 whole chicken
2 cups carrots, peeled and diced
2 cups celery, diced
2 cups onion, diced
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
water
6 cups chicken broth
16 oz bag Reames® frozen egg noodles or dry egg noodles

Unwrap whole chicken and remove from the inside any chicken parts and discard.  Run chicken under water to clean the inside cavity and place in a 7-8 quart pan.  Add the carrots, celery, onion, parsley, salt and pepper to the pan with the chicken.  Pour in water to cover the chicken.  Like me you might not have a pot that is big enough to cover the chicken so add as much water as you can and flip over the chicken about 1 hour into cooking.  Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 2 hours.  Remove chicken to a pan and set aside to cool for about 15 minutes.  Add the 6 cups of chicken broth and turn heat up to medium.  Once it starts to boil add the noodles and boil for 30 – 45 minutes.  While the noodles are cooking pull the chicken off the bones into smaller pieces, discard the bones.  Add chicken back into the pot, season with more salt and pepper if needed and simmer for about 30 more minutes.   It is ready to serve.  I like to freeze any leftover soup to enjoy on another day.