I think I along with most of the population under this lovely storm am feeling literally under the weather. I've been fighting a cold since I started back at classes this week and nothing's worse than getting back to the grind with a stuffy nose and a fever.

My boyfriend's parents got us some nice pots for Christmas so I thought I'd try my hand at making some homemade chicken soup. It turned out so nicely I thought I'd share my experiment. I based it on this recipe but doubled up all the veggies and added about  a cup and a half of shell noodles at the end.

Because I let the soup simmer for so long after adding back in fresh veggies and the shredded chicken I found I didn't need the bouillon.

Chicken Noodle Soup

1 small chicken
4 carrots
4 onions
6 celery stalks
water
salt and pepper
1 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp basil


I really wanted my soup to have some sinus clearing punch, hence the chill flakes and extra onions.
I cut two carrots, two onions and two celery stalks in half and placed them in the bottom of my pot. Threw in the chicken then covered with water and added some salt and pepper. Then I simmered on medium-high heat until the meat was cooked and started to come apart (this took about 2 hours for me).


Then I strained the broth, threw it back into the pot and shredded the chicken with some forks. I added 2 chopped carrots, 4 celery stalks and 2 onions into the broth with the shredded chicken and went to class leaving the soup on the lowest heat possible. I came back added more salt and pepper, the chilli flakes and basil and brought back up the heat until veggies were soft. Near the very end I threw in the pasta which also helped thicken the broth.
I think the only thing I would do differently next time is maybe add some grated ginger. But otherwise it was the perfect thing for a cold winter night and the sniffles.