First off, Happy 85th Birthday to my Grandma Josephine!  I’m sure she won’t read this, but just in case. 🙂  Me and the kids are going to do a little road trip today to go have lunch with her and the rest of the ladies in my family.  Hopefully, I will remember my camera, because I don’t take nearly enough pictures of us all together.

Have you seen the YouTube phenom…Clara?  You can find her series on Depression Area Cooking here, and you need to watch them.  Simple, easy, *mostly* healthy cooking with the staples and she is just too darn cute at the 93 years young.  Watching her cook reminded me of my Grandma Lillian’s Chicken Noodle Soup.  Oh, how I LOVED it when she would make it, right down to the homemade egg noodles.  This is my crockpot version of the soup and you must make the noodles, too.  They are simple to make and you must try it yourself…trust me!

Soup Recipe:
2-4 chicken breasts (or bone in breasts – they do produce the best flavor)
6 cups chicken broth or water + chicken boullion
2-3 cups cut up veggies – carrots and celery (I used about 2 cups frozen mixed veggies here since I didn’t have anything fresh)
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp sage
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper 

Put the chicken breasts in a crockpot with the spices and broth (or water and boullion).  Turn on low all day.   At noon put the veggies in and keep on cooking.  About an hour before finish time, take out the chicken and shred.  Put back in, cover and turn on high.  Make the egg noodles. 

You can do this on the stovetop, too, just boil the chicken breasts with all the fixin’s in at once.  Set it to a low boil so the chicken gets tender for about 45 minutes or so.

Noodle recipe:
2 cup flour
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk

Place flour in bowl, making a dent in the center. Crack the eggs into the well and gradually mix into the flour with the milk.  Use your hands to get everything incorporated togehter.  The dough needs to be slightly sticky and form a ball, so if needed, add just a touch more milk or flour until the right consistency.  Just roll out the dough as thin as possible without tearing and cut into roughly 1/2 inch strips about 3-4 inches long.  This is homemade cooking…so no need to be all Type-A about it. 

Now you need a rolling boil to get these cooked right, so if your crockpot isn’t hot enough you may have to put your soup on the stove or boil some water separately from the soup for them.  Throw them into the pot and stir around so they don’t stick.  Just put them in as you cut them up so you aren’t putting a bunch of doughy ones in at once.  After about 20 minutes or so they are cooked up and you can serve with some bread. 

Enjoy the hearty home cooked soup!