I have to admit this recipe is just one I throw together each time. John and I were married for a four years before I made this. I tried to put my recpie down.
Makes 16 cups
1 3-4 lb whole chicken OR 4 chicken breasts
20 cups of water
1 onion - cut into quarters or finer if you like onion
4 celery stalks - rough chop
6 whole carrots peeled and chopped
1 capful of Mrs. Dash
1 tsp pepper
3 bay leaves
salt to taste
noodles or rice
green beans, mushrooms, potatoes, peas, corn (optional)
Bring chicken and water to a boil and cook through. Remove chicken and take off bone- discard bones. Remember that the bones add a lot of flavor to the broth of the soup. I will skim the broth before adding the chicken back in and take some of the fat off if it is visible. If you can make your broth the night before, the fat will rise to the top and you can just remove it in one chunk. Add onion, carrots, celery and spices. Let cook for at least 30 minutes or until carrots and onion are tender. Add the other veggies and cook a little longer (about 10 minutes). About 15 minutes before you want to serve, add uncooked egg noodles or you can cook the noodles and add them to your bowl and pour the soup on top. If you want to do rice, add cooked rice to the broth.
I will freeze the leftovers and just thaw in the microwave when I want to have a meal for the night. I do not recommend canning this since it has chicken and veggies. You could if you did the veggies separate and added a can of chicken.
If you wanted to do this in your crockpot, you could, just reduce your water and do your chicken the night before. Combine everything except for noodles or rice and let cook on low all day.
