Got chicken???

It's wintertime, it's cold and flu season, that means it's time to make home-made Chicken Noodle Soup....Yummy. I had a turkey carcass in the freezer from Thanksgiving dinner, and I was craving homemade soup. Mmmm, a bowl of soup, a warm fireplace.....Ahhhh.

Having Chicken Noodle Soup around almost makes me wish I was sick...

Ingredients
1 frozen chicken (or turkey) carcass - with some meaty pieces left on it
1 package of chicken breasts and/or thighs
Carrots (3 for broth, 3 or more for soup)
Celery (3 for stock, 3 or more for soup)
onion (1/2 for stock, 1 for soup)
salt and pepper
basil (fresh or dried)
oregano (fresh or dried)
rosemary (fresh or dried)
thyme (fresh or dried)
parsley (fresh or dried)
whole peppercorns (about 8-10)
Skinny egg noodles

Chicken Broth
Thaw the chicken carcass, place into pot of water (enough to cover). Add a few carrots in large pieces about 3 or 4 inches long. Add a few stalks of celery cut about the same as the carrots. Add 1/2 an onion rough chopped. Add some of the basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, peppercorns, and parsley. Bring the pot to a boil for about 1-2 hours (depending how rich you want the broth.

While the broth is cooking, preheat the oven to 350. season up the chicken breasts and/or thighs with that ever you like, and bake in the oven till done. If your grill is availalbe, grilled chicken would be wonderful in the soup. Place the chicken aside to cool.

After the broth is finished, remove from the heat and let cool for a few minutes. Remove hte chicken carcass from the pot an place on a cutting board (if you plan on removing any meat from the bones). Strain the broth into a second pot. Throw away the veggies.

Soup Time
Chop remaining carrots, onion, and celery into small pieces. Also cut up the chicken you baked earlier. Place the pot of broth on the stove over med-high heat. allow broth to begin to boil, reduce to simmer. Then add the veggies and chicken you just cut up Let this simmer for 20 minutes (or more depending on how done you like your veggies). Once veggies are to your liking, return pot to a boil, add the egg noodles and cook for 10-12 minutes.

Remove form heat and serve.