Chicken Noodle Soup recipe

 I'm thoroughly enjoying my week off from school and clinic. I've been doing one of the things I enjoy most - cooking.

Today I used up the rest of the rotisserie chicken that I bought from Foodland. Some of the chicken went into last night's Monterey Chicken Tortilla Casserole (which was so good that we've eaten it all up), some Butterfly just picked off the bird as a snack, and the rest went into the soup pot this evening. That's two meals from the casserole, at least three meals from the soup, and Butterfly's snack, all from one chicken - not too shabby! Now I feel a little better about way over-spending on that precooked chicken to begin with.

You can scale the number of servings for the soup up or down. Use more water and vegetables for more servings and less of both for fewer servings. I like to make lots and then put the leftovers in the freezer for quick meals when I either come home late from school/clinic or when I have too much homework to cook (not to mention when I'm just too pooped).

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken carcass from a store-bought rotisserie chicken (with some meat still attached)
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
1 large carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
3 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 onion, diced
1 recipe Homemade Noodles

1. In a large pot of water, cover the chicken carcass with water. Add the bay leaves and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 1 or 2 hours; the longer the better.
2. Strain the soup; separate out meat from the bones. Chop any large pieces of chicken meat and place back into the soup.
3. Add the vegetables; cook until tender.
4. Re-season the soup.
5. Add the noodles and cook until al dente.
6. Serve with French bread and a salad.