Nothing beats Homeade Chicken Noodle Soup

When the babies are sick, momma makes homeade noodle soup.

Up until a few years ago, I actually hated soup because it made me think of being sick.

I guess it was because growing up, momma always made it when one of us were sick.

And now I do the same, but as my momma says, its like medicine!

This is also probably one of my most requested recipes.

 

Homeade Chicken Noodle Soup

 

Start off boiling a whole chicken (I think its super important to use an organic chicken too)

Add whole cloves of garlic

The more the better

Garlic is a natural antibiotic

Season with salt, red pepper, lemon pepper, garlic powder and cinnamon

Use a lot too!

Here is a picture of my pot, right after I seasoned it, wanted to show you how much I season it!

Then Boil baby Boil!

The longer the better, the richer your stock and the more medicinal....

I boil for a long time, like 2 hours....

About half way through I add chopped onion, celery and carrot

Boil again....

and boil some more

Probably a total of 2-3 hours

When it falls apart, then its time to take it out.

BE VERY CAREFUL, its BOILING HOT!

Literally, ha!

I usually use tongs and a big spoon.

Let it cool.

Turn your pot down a bit.

Just let it simmer while you let your chicken cool.

Then de-skin and de-bone.

Add chicken back.

This is what my de-boned, de-skinned chicken looks like...

 

Then bring it back up to a boil and add whatever noodles you want.

Once the noodles are cooked, taste and see if you need to add any seasoning.

Turn off

Chop flat leaf italian parsley and add.

 

 

Enjoy!!!



Perfect Rainy Day Food- Beef and Vegetable Soup

Well today was so gloomy and the forecast for the next two days is rain and for me that is having a big pot of something cooking on the stove, staying in our pjs, not putting makeup on and just having a fun play day with the girls and not being on a schedule or trying to hustle and bustle around town. Growing up, my mom would call it "rainy day schedule". Sometimes, she would even let us skip school to have a rainy day schedule and after I graduated from college and was in the "working world" she would convince me to call in and have a "rainy day" with her. Again, my mom always made little things FUN things! I know I brag on her ALOT but being that mother's day is Sunday, I think I'm entitled to brag on her a little bit! But, let's be honest...I'll probably keep on bragging...

I'm just so Thankful that I had the best role model!

 

A lot of those rainy days we were all in the kitchen. We always loved being in the kitchen all together, cooking and laughing. DAD reaped the benefits!

We never wanted to go to the grocery store bc that would require getting dressed, violation to rule #1 of rainy day schedule!

So we had to cook with whatever we had and that is a great lesson to learn- to make something with what you've got!

So today, that landed us a big ol' pot of beef and vegetable soup

 

Beef and Vegetable Soup

Start by browning your meat, I had some stew meat in the fridge. I dumped that in the pot with a little olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and browned the meat. Once browned, I added 1 Can of Tomato Paste, then 1 can of water.

Then add whatever tomato product you have or want to use. You can use pureed tomatoes, sauce, canned tomatoes, whatever you have.. even V8 juice...

Today I used a box of pomi tomatoes. Then I also added 1 box of vegetable broth

And added lots of water, until the pot was this full-

In hindsight, I put a lil too much water, and my pot was overflowing....

I was in a rush and wasn't thinking....

Then bring it to a steady boil and start adding your vegetables

You can really put whatever vegetables you want...can't go wrong. Use what you have!

I think no matter what you put you should always put onion, celery, garlic and carrots. I also put fresh tomatoes, bellpepper, corn, zucchini, potatoes and peas!

Then you just got to season it A LOT!!!!

Salt, red pepper, garlic powder, oregano and basil. I MEAN you have to season it and reseason it a lot. there is a lot of liquid!

I also put fresh oregano and fresh basil (I really think that makes a big difference too)

Then you just got to let it cook for a long time....just let it boil and cook for a good 2 hrs. The longer the better...

Stir occasionaly, make sure the bottom doesn't stick.

Taste occasionally...see if you need to reseason

*remember its boiling hot and to let it cool b/c I sure did burn my tongue good today*

Enjoy! Hearty meal!

 

Be sure to stay tuned tomorrow for our 2nd Feature Friday!!!!

Lebanese Lentil Soup with a Twist

If you don't know, I am half Lebanese. My mom is full blooded Lebanese, so we cook a lot of middle eastern food. My Sittee (arabic for grandma) was the best cook I WILL ever know! One thing that I grew up eating and still enjoy is Dreda. It is a lentil and rice soup. My girls LOVE beans so naturally they love dreda. I recently started added vegetables to it to make it a more complete meal and more nutritious. Our favorite is dreda with carrots and kale.
Recipe-
Sautee 1/2 sweet yellow onion and 2-3 carrots chopped small in olive oil until onions are soft. add 1 cup to 1 1/2 cup of lentils (you can use any kind). Season with salt, red pepper, garlic powder, and cinnamon. Add a quart of chicken stock and bring to a boil. Let cook until lentils are tender. Once lentils are tender add 1/2 cup of rice. Add 1-2 cups of water at this time to make sure you have enough liquid to cook the rice and it still be somewhat soupy. Cover and cook on low-medium. I let my rice cook slowly so I dont cook out all the liquid. Add chopped kale at the end. Taste and re-season if needed with same spices.