Chicken and noodles

It has started to get chilly here in the Ozarks and that always makes me think of comfort food! What better way to welcome the family home than to have them come in the house and smell a big pot of chicken and noodles on the stove? Unfortunately, this is not a 30 minute dish, but the left over chicken can be. So you need to start this one when you have at least 2 hours to get supper on the table. Here is what you need:

1 whole chicken (what ever is on sale)
1 onion (yellow or white- what ever is cheaper)
1 package of noodles- more on that later
1 can of chicken broth- optional
bouillon cube-optional
carrots and celery- optional
garlic salt
pepper
Greek seasoning

Remove any innards from the chicken- I don't use the giblets in my soup because we don't care for them, but I do use the neck. You can save the giblets for other uses, or I sometimes lightly saute them for the dogs to eat. In a large stock pot or soup pot place your rinsed chicken (inside and out) neck and broth if you are using it. Now you need to add about 4-6 cups of water, enough to give you plenty of soup to cook your noodles in later. Add salt, pepper and Greek seasoning to taste. I start with about 1/4 tsp each of the salt and Greek seasoning and a good dose of the pepper depending upon your family's taste. If you don't use the broth you will need more salt and seasoning. Chop the onion and add to the broth mixture.
If I have carrots in the house, I give them a chop and toss them in, if I don't have any, I don't make a special trip to the store. You want about 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped carrots. I never add celery because again we don't care for it, but if your family likes it toss in some. The nice thing about using the vegetables this way is that you get all the vitamins that are cooked out in the broth since you are eating that too!
Bring to a boil and then simmer until the chicken is done-about one hour. Remove the chicken and the neck from the broth and put on plate to cool.
Taste your broth and adjust any seasonings as needed. Also, check to make sure you have enough liquid to cook your noodles. If not add more water or broth as you desire. You can also add water and a bouillon cube if you like to adjust the taste. Now is a good time to skim extra fat from the broth if you desire.
Now here is the really fun part, the noodles. I use lots of different kinds of noodles depending upon my mood for the day. The choices are almost endless. Last night I used wide egg noodles, but we also love the freezer kind. I sometimes get Amish noodles from the bulk store and my Mother always made her own. (I am not that good) Pick what ever your family loves!
Return the broth to a boil and add your noodles and cook according to package directions. If I am feeding a whole bunch, I make lots of broth and add the whole package. If there are just a few of us I cook just enough for that meal and maybe a lunch for me later.
While your noodles are cooking, take the meat off the chicken. the neck takes a little work for not much meat, but every little bit helps in this day and age. The skin and bones go in the trash, and all that wonderful chicken meat is left. I add about 1/3 of the meat in the noodles as they are cooking or at the end which ever comes first. If you like yours with more meat in it, add more!!!
When your noodles are done, your soup is ready to serve. Yumm!!
And you have left over chicken for another meal or two. We like to make fried rice with some, or for a quick meal, I add some of the chicken to spaghetti sauce and then serve over elbow noodles. Add a tossed salad and you are good to go. Easy, fast meals that are so yummy