Well, it’s been one of those weekends.  A stomach virus hit my little peach overnight on thursday…and of course my husband was traveling, which meant I was fortunate enough to be on clean-up duty, wash 3 loads of sheets duty, comfort duty, rub your tummy duty until the sun came up and it was time to begin our friday.  I finally got her to bed for a few hours around 6:30 Friday morning and it was all good…Nick would be home that day and we could try to get rested up and have a leisure weekend…and I could have some adult company and a little help.

Nick gets home Friday and no more than 20 hours later gets hit with the “Icky Truck”.  Yep…stomach virus in full effect.  Awesome!  Totally fine, I can handle another patient…I’ll get them both cozy and comfortable and able to keep down liquids for a few hours, send them to bed for the night and then it will be my turn to sleep.  I’ve never craved anything like I did sleep that night-Im no good with skipping a full nights worth of the stuff like I did the previous night.  Nick’s out like a light and finally comfortable. I give Georgia a bath, we get cozy, read books and off to bed she goes.  Ahhh.  After a quick clorox wipe-down of most of the house I finally head up to start my shower….the feeling was pure bliss; a silent, semi germ-free house and a clean bed waiting for me.  The minute I grab my towel I hear Georgia scream.  I ran into her room and walked in to find her dripping a completely not-okay amount of blood from her mouth and grabbing at her tongue.  OF COURSE she bit her tongue horribly!  Why wouldn’t she??  That poor thing.  I have absolutely no clue how it happened but the little punkin was in pain.  She bled for well over two hours but again, Barney, that ridiculously annoying wonderful dinosaur kept her happy and busy while I tried to give her ice and popsicles to numb the pain and help with the swelling.  After two and a half hours she was finally in bed and asleep.  I got to shower and climb into my clean bed and aside from a couple of “I’m-in-pain wake ups” from the little lady I got a somewhat decent sleep in.  Today…both of my loves are seeming a little better; heres to hoping for them feeling 100% tomorrow.

I have no idea why I felt the need to tell you all of that when, in essence, I was simply trying to get to the point of how I made a pot of chicken soup for my poor sickies….that completely hit the comforting nail on the head.  I apologize for the rant…but boy did that feel good to vent 😉  This soup is just outstanding…it has the most rich chicken flavor you could imagine and by browning the chicken on the stove before making the stock you are left with an incredibly deep-in-flavor broth…so deep that the color is reminiscent of a beef broth, not chicken.  I’ve been on the hunt for a staple chicken soup recipe with homemade stock that is not an all-day deal….and I will not be looking further.  Perfection.  And pure, nourishing comfort.

Chicken Noodle Soup

adapted from this recipe

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon Peanut or Sunflower Seed Oil

2 Large Onions, roughly chopped

2-3 Pounds Bone-in Skin-on Chicken Breasts

2 Cups Chicken Stock

6 Cups Water

2 Bay Leaves

2 Teaspoons Salt

1 Teaspoon Pepper

2 Large Carrots, diced

1 Large Celery Stalk, diced

1 Cup Dried Egg Noodles

Flat Leaf Parsley for garnish, optional

Directions

In a heavy soup pot heat oil over medium high heat.  Add onion and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until edges begin to brown.  Nestle the chicken in the pot, skin side down, moving the onions aside so that the chicken is directly touching the bottom of the pan and brown for 5-6 minutes or until the skin is a deep golden color.  Turn chicken over and cook for another 4-5 minutes.  Add water, stock, bay leaves, salt and pepper, flip chicken over so it is skin side down and bring the pot to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer, scrape away any fat that has floated to the top, partially cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove chicken from the pot and set aside; shred which rest of the soup is simmering.  Pour the soup broth through a strainer to strain out the onion and bay leaves.  Return the broth to the pot, bring back to a simmer and add carrot and celery.  Let vegetable simmer for 5 minutes then add the pasta and cook for an additional 6 minutes.  Stir in shredded chicken, season with additional salt and pepper, if needed and serve with optional parsley for garnish.  Serves 6.