Home-made Chicken Noodle Soup

Sadly, my little baby is under the weather. So what does Momma do when someone gets sick? Make Chicken Noodle Soup of course. I didn't have time today to make my famous slow-cooker Get Well Chicken Noodle Soup...my usual cure for when my girls or my husband catches a cold. I've even made it for my mom and step-dad when they got sick. However today, I didn't have all day to cook it. And I really didn't just want to pop open a can and serve it up. What's a girl to do? Well I'll tell you.


Chicken Noodle Soup - On The Fly

4 c. water
4    chicken bouillon cubes
1    chicken breast
1/3 c. light balsamic vinaigrette dressing
1/2 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp rubbed sage
1/8 tsp ground cloves
salt and pepper
1 c.  mixed veggies (peas and chopped carrots mix)
1 can cream of chicken soup
small pasta (I used whole grain spaghetti, broken into small pieces)


    In a soup pot, bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, turn heat down to medium and add bouillon cubes. Whisk together to dissolve the cubes. Add in spices. Cover and let simmer. (If using frozen veggies, add now.)
    Meanwhile, in a small pan (one with a lid) pour in balsamic vinaigrette dressing, add chicken and sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper over chicken breast (to season). Cover and let cook over medium heat. Turn once bottom has become a nice brown; the top will be white.
    While the chicken is cooking and the soup base is simmering, bring another pot of water to boiling. This one is for the pasta. If using spaghetti, break into small pieces before adding to the salted water. (I used whole grain spaghetti.) Cook pasta according to package directions, taking it off heat 2 minutes early. Drain most of the water and then add to the soup pot. If using leftover veggies, as I did, add now as well.
     Stir the condensed cream of chicken soup into the soup pot. Once the chicken is finished cooking, chop it up into small bite-sized pieces and add to soup pot. Cover the pot and let simmer just a few minutes longer.
     Serve with biscuits, crackers, or home-made breadsticks! :)




The "breadsticks" pictured were made in between the steps for the soup. I've made a lot of biscuits lately, so I wanted to change things up a bit. I used a boxed pizza dough mix. I followed the directions for preparation and did add 2 Tbsp veggie oil with the water to help the dough retain some moisture. I kneaded it a fair amount (I may not like handling raw meat, but kneading dough, I could do that all day!) then cut it into 5 semi-even sections and made 5 long breadsticks. I put a little butter atop all the strips, as well as a little garlic and onion powder. I baked them at 425 degrees for 13 minutes. When cooled a bit, I cut them into smaller 'dunkable' pieces. Dipping the breadsticks into the soup-- wonderful!, tasty!, scrumptious!