Wow – 2 weeks since my last post! That’s a sign that I’ve hit my busiest time at work. I’m an event manager for a literary and photography archive and exhibition gallery for a state university, coordinating scheduling of over 100 classes, tours, and events, managing all the minute details for each. The state university is 60 miles from where I live. I spend 3 hours a day driving to and from work, on top of the full day of work. Sometimes that full day is up to 12 – 13 hours of work when we have evening events. Our two major events were 10 days apart during these last two weeks, with other events scattered between. Yep, I’ve been busy. Tired. Exhausted, really. With allergies on top of it all. That equals no posts for the last two weeks.
But, that will all change this summer. I gave my notice at work. It’s official. My last day will be June 30. I’m nervous, worried, and happy all at the same time. This blog that started as a hobby is now allowing me to start a chapter of life working from home. I still can’t believe how awesome that is. I also plan on volunteering with the local farmers markets! I’m excited for the changes, but sad to leave those who’ve been my work family the last nearly 5 years. They’re the best co-workers anyone could ask for.
Tonight’s dinner was a soup good for those with a cold (that would be my hubby), with seasonings that also help digestive health (which always makes me happy). The basic recipe came from a friend of a friend, but as always, I tweaked it to fit my cooking style. Namely, where it calls for canned or boxed chicken stock, I used my homemade stock. Where it called for browning the chicken, I boiled my chicken to make that yummy chicken stock my family and I love so much. The seasonings, however, is where I stayed true to the written word.
CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
- Place 2 medium frozen chicken breast halves in a 6-quart stock pot.
- Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and about 1/4 or so teaspoon fresh ground black pepper.
- Toss in 1/3 of a yellow onion, 2 cloves garlic cut in half, about 5 6-inch sprigs of oregano, 1 bay leaf, and the inner most celery ribs with the leaves (about 3 or 4 of the smallest).
- Fill stock pot with water until the top 3 inches of the pot (so it doesn’t boil over).
- Bring to a boil, boiling until the chicken is cooked through (about 10 – 20 minutes).
- While the chicken boils, finely chop 3 medium carrots, 4 medium ribs of celery, and 1/2 yellow onion.
- In a smaller stock pot, heat 2 teaspoons olive oil.
- Add onion to hot oil and cook a few minutes until translucent.
- Add carrot and cook a few more minutes.
- Add celery and cook a few more minutes.
- Once vegetables start to stick to the pot, add 1/4 cup sherry or dry white wine and stir.
- Add 5 small cloves minced garlic and stir.
- Cook vegetables until liquid evaporates.
- Remove cooked chicken from broth to cutting board and cut into bite-sized pieces.
- Use a large slotted spoon to remove and discard the onion, oregano sprigs, bay leaf, and halved garlic from the broth.
- Pour the cooked vegetables into the broth and bring to a simmer.
- Add 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1 teaspoon ground turmeric, and 1/2 teaspoon thyme.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Add 1 1/2 cups petite frozen peas.
- At this point, I ladled enough for my serving into the smaller stockpot, and added a handful of No Yolks brand egg noodles.
- I added the rest of the noodles to the larger stock pot, along with the diced chicken and heated through – about 12 minutes to cook the noodles.
For the kids and hubby, I served this soup with turkey club sandwiches on wheat, with super sweet Roma tomato slices, crisp romaine, and Morning Star brand bacon. For myself, I had my sandwich with Ezekiel bread, an extra slice of the Morning Star bacon instead of the turkey, with the tomato and romaine.
E loved the sandwich. B loved the soup. She had seconds of the soup at dinner. Then, after a walk to the park, she had another huge bowl of soup. I think that means it was a hit. Hubby even had another full bowl a few hours after dinner too. It was really yummy! The turmeric and ginger really make the soup, and both are beneficial spices. Turmeric is an antioxidant that reduces inflammation and protects the liver. Ginger is good for relieving colds and calming upset stomachs.
This meal was perfect for a hubby whose allergies turned into a full-blown spring cold. Poor hubby 😦
~Ingredients to nourish the body put together in ways to nourish the soul to share with family and friends to nourish the heart~
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