Home made chicken noodle soup

The cast of characters: 

1. chicken broth (I used two boxes, or 8 cups, and had to make more from chicken base. So in total, 10 cups or so, depending how you like your soup)
2. egg noodles [2 cups]
3. olive oil
4. onion [1 whole onion]
5. carrots [two large carrots]
6. celery [2 stalks]
7. half can of peas
8. butter
9. kosher salt
10. bay leaves
11. rosemary
12. pepper
13. oregano
14. garlic or garlic powder
15. lemon juice
16. pre cooked chicken (about two cups worth--I had leftover chicken from tacos. you can use a rotisserie chicken and shred the chicken off the bones, buy pre cooked chicken, boil your own, whatever)

Here is how you dice an onion, because it took me way too long to learn the easy way. Cut it in half. Take a half of the onion, and cut the bottom end off. Leave the top part, it will hold it all together. 

make vertical slices going up to, and just stopping at, the top of the onion

rotate your knife and slice the opposite way. boom, perfect dice every time. 

cut up your celery and carrot, and garlic for good measure. mincing garlic by hand totally sucks, you can also buy it pre-minced in the spice aisle or just use garlic powder. 

heat up some butter and olive oil in your big stock pot. I did about three tablespoons olive oil, two tablespoons butter. dump the carrot, onion, celery, and garlic mixture in. 

This is called a mirepoix. It will change the way you cook and make everything better. 

The flavors will combine and create an awesome base for your soup. 

Let it sweat for about 5-8 mns. 

Here is my chicken in a separate skillet. I just threw it in there with some olive oil, oregano, thyme, salt, and pepper. 

Now, add in your chicken stock. I have no idea where this photo is from, because that is a different soup, but this illustrates the point....add your broth directly on top of the mirepoix. 

Now, add your shredded chicken. 

Whip out the peas and some more black pepper, dump half a can in of the peas, and a tablespoon or so of black pepper. depends on how you like it baby. 

Take out two bay leaves and set them on top of the soup. Take a sprig of rosemary and toss it in as well. Now, you can totally use dried herbs from the spice aisle at the grocery store, start with a tablespoon each and work your way up. I just happen to love rosemary and over use it in everything. 

The bay leaves are weird. They provide a subtle flavor that no one can describe. Trust me, use them. 

NOW. My favorite part. I didnt use low sodium broth, but its a good idea because it allows you to adjust the saltiness of your soup. Anyways, I added like....4 tablespoons of kosher salt. I like my soup salty. 

Lemon juice. I did a tablespoon or so. The acidity helps balance out the other flavors. I probably could have added more, and will next time. Its not going to taste like lemon juice, it is just a chemistry thing, or something. 

Bring it all to a boil and let it sit for an hour or so, two is even better. 

15 mns before you serve the soup, add your egg noodles. They cook super fast and you dont want them to get mushy. 

Then add more salt, more pepper, more rosemary and oregano so it tastes exactly how you want it. 

Serve it with good old saltine crackers. enjoy!