Chicken Soup made Easy!

Now I bet you're thinking that soups are hard to make. There are so many canned choices in the store that you're thinking "why bother?" I am here to tell you that is dead wrong! If you make this soup not only will you have a ton of great tasting homemade soup now, but you'll have some for later too!

Also, since we are not going to use the whole chicken that you boil you can save the rest for an even faster meal to make tomorrow or the following day. Think chicken fajitas, chicken salad, or some other tasty meal! A little extra work today is going to make tomorrow easier. So plan to make this soup before a raid or heavy game night, so that night is free for fun!

What you need:
Small chicken (thawed if it was frozen).
1 large soup pot.
1 bag of frozen veggies (I like using the stir-fry veggie mixes).
1 bag of frozen corn.
1 package of noodles (wide or extra wide egg noodles are great in this soup).
1 large onion (chopped).
Spices: oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt, pepper

Step 1. Place the unwrapped and rinsed (cold water) chicken in the pot. Sprinkle some pepper onto the chicken, pretty much coating the surface in a thin layer.

Step 2. Fill the pot with water (leave about an inch of space from the top) and add a few shakes of salt. Cover and bring to a boil (this will take about 20 minutes). Reduce the heat to medium and let the chicken cook (45 minutes to an hour).

**Note** The longer you cook the chicken the easier the meat with come off the bone. If your meat is still pinkish, it is not cooked!

Step 3. When the chicken is finished cooking, carefully remove it from the pot and place it in to a large bowl or an deep dish. Remember if you cooked it longer it will begin to break off while you are trying to get it out of the pot. Skim the top of your broth with a slotted spoon. Add half the bag of frozen veggies, the chopped onion, 1/2 a cup of the frozen corn, and 2 large handfuls of noodles.

Season with your spices to taste.
** Remember** It is much easier to add seasoning than remove it, so be conservative (a shake or two of each) until you get a better feel for cooking.

Step 4. Cover, but leave a little venting space.

Leave the chicken to cool for about 20-30 minutes.

Step 5. After the chicken is cooled quite a bit, pick the meat off the bones (should pull off easily with your fingers). Be sure to remove the bones and skin! Chop into nice chunks. Put half of the chopped chicken back into the soup. With the remainder of the chicken, wrap it up and put it in the fridge for another meal.

Step 6. Let the soup cook for another 30 minutes or so. Taste a little to make sure that it is seasoned to your liking.

If you'd like to top with a little cheese Mozzarella, Pepperjack and Cheddar are good choices. Add to the soup in the bowl, not the pot!

This recipe is going to make a full pot of soup. If you do not want to eat it all in the next few days (will last about a week in the fridge), let the soup cool and store it in some Tupperware containers that won't spill in your freezer.


**You can also substitute the noodles for 2/3 cup of cooked rice.**

I will post a Southwest style twist to this recipe soon!



Soup Recipes: Chicken Soup made Easy! AB Cappin' Cappaletti Soup, Easy Vegetarian Minestrone Soup, Helfire Boar Stewin' with Berlena, Monti's Crock Pot Ready Tortilla Soup, Mair's Super-Simple Taco Soup, Linsha's Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup.