Chicken and Noodles

So I'm breaking the norm a little bit since this recipe is pretty time-consuming. It also isn't as cheap as my other recipes, but it feeds a lot more, so it evens out.

This is a recipe I attempted to recreate from what my grandmother used to make me and my sisters when we were kids. She loved to work all day to make this meal and feed her constantly hungry grandkids. We could seriously eat this stuff all day (and we did). It was especially important to me that I try to make this exactly like she did. It's been seven years since she passed away, and it made me feel closer to her. 

Ingredients

1 whole chicken
1 package of No Yolks extra broad egg noodles
2 celery stalks
3 carrots
1/4 onion
3 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder



1. Boil Chicken

I really appreciate this step because it means you don't have to get your hands dirty with raw chicken. Place chicken in a large pot along with celery, carrots, and onion (no need to peel or chop). Add seasoning and fill pot with water. Bring water to a boil.

Reduce to medium heat and boil covered for 45 minutes.

2. Debone chicken

Leave the vegetables and the water in the pot. Using tongs (or, in my case, two knives to stick in it), lift chicken and place onto cutting board. Let it cool for several minutes.

Use whatever utensils you need to pull apart the skin and bones of the chicken. Place the bones back in the pot. Set aside the chicken pieces and refrigerate for later.

3. Boil bones

Add 3 more cups of water to the pot and bring it back to a boil. Reduce to a simmer for an hour to make delicious homemade broth.

Place a colander in a large bowl to catch the broth. Carefully pour the contents of the pot into the colander.

You can dump the bones in the trash, but the veggies are so soft and cooked that you could feed them to any youngsters who might want them! In addition, since I bought a whole package of carrots and celery, I'm going to use the remaining vegetables to make chicken stew later in the week.

Pour the broth back into the pot.

4. Cook Egg Noodles

Return to a boil and add entire package of egg noodles. Stir occasionally.

While the egg noodles were cooking, I took the chicken back out and shredded it into smaller pieces with my fingers. Some of the chicken was still too hot for me to properly shred it before.

Once chicken is shredded, add half of the chicken to the pot with noodles.

I froze the other half. I'm actually going to make this recipe again with a box of chicken broth instead of homemade. All I have to buy are the egg noodles!

Continue stirring the chicken and noodles until the noodles are nice and fat and have absorbed most of the broth.

Add salt and pepper to taste (mine actually needed a lot more than I originally thought!). The meal serves at least 8, so invite some friends over and enjoy :)