Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

For me, the little pieces of potato are what make this soup so awesome. I don;t know why, but it just does. I love making this soup any time of year, especially on bread baking days, because nothing is more delicious with a bowl of homemade soup than slices of homemade bread to go along with it.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

2 chicken breasts, bone-in, skin on
1 TBSP. salt
1 medium onion, diced
3-4 carrots, peeled and sliced
4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
3-4 stalks celery, sliced
3 TBSP. chicken bouillon granules
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1 bay leaf
pepper to taste
8 oz. medium or wide egg noodles***

Place the  chicken in a large Dutch oven or stock pot and cover with water. Add salt. Bring to a boil, making sure to skim off the foam and the fat. Add the onion and bring to a boil again. Reduce to a active simmer, cover and let cook for 1 hour. Remove the chicken from the soup and set on a plate in the fridge for a minute to help it cool a bit. Add carrots, potatoes, celery, bouillon granules, thyme, bay leaf and pepper to the soup pot. Add enough water to bring the soup up to about 5 1/2 - 6 quarts. Bring back to a boil. Remove the skin and bones from the chicken, dice the meat and add it to the soup pot. Let it actively simmer, covered, for 20-30 minutes. Add the egg noodles and cook until the noodles are done, (about 7-9 minutes). Adjust seasonings to taste. Makes about 5-6 quarts of soup.

***You can substitute 2 bags of frozen cheese tortellini for the noodles for a fun change of pace. Just add them instead of the noodles, cooking to package directions. Serve each bowl with a a sprinkle of freshly shredded Parmesan on top.

*note* This soup freezes well, but if you're going to freeze the entire batch, I suggest making the soup up until you add the noodles, divide into freezer containers and freeze. Once thawed, heat to boiling in soup pot, then add the uncooked egg noodles and proceed to cook them as directed, serve and enjoy. This keeps the noodles from overcooking once you cook them, freeze them, then re-heat them again. But if you're just going to freeze the soup in individual servings, it's ok to have the cooked noodles already in there.