Made with love.

There are certain things that just can’t be beat when it comes to homemade.

When my BFF posted on Facebook that she was suffering from strep throat and hadn’t eaten in a day, I immediately strapped on my apron and grabbed my knives in preparation to make the “cure all” that I knew would bring her not only nutrition, but also comfort. There would be no opening a can of Campbell's for this girl...oh no no.

Fortunately for me, I am a little bit insane and just “happened” to have all of the ingredients necessary to make her a nice steamy container of chicken noodle soup.

Pulled a frozen chicken leg & wing out of the freezer, plopped it in water with carrots, onion & celery and simmered, skimming the broth every once and a while so the broth was clear and fat free.

Chopped some more carrots, onion & celery along with some mushrooms, threw those in another pot and then waited…..I might have watered my yard at this point to make good use of my time…..Removed the chicken pieces when they were cooked through and let them cool a minute.

Strained the broth in to the pot with the new veggies and simmered a bit more…..skimmed some more stuff from the top. Added a few sprigs of thyme from my backyard and let the soup think about itself for 20 minutes or so. I skinned the chicken and removed all the meat, then chopped it in bite sized pieces.

Boiled a little water, added salt and pasta to it until the noodles were almost al dente, not quite done yet. Rinsed the noodles and set aside

Added in the chicken meat and past and then seasoned the broth with a little salt to taste….fortunately it didn’t need much, the chicken broth was super flavorful and just a little sweet from the carrots.

Voila! So much better than the canned stuff and infinitely better for you!

I dropped it at her house where she was watching movies in her jammies and cuddling with her pug with a voice that sounded like she had been yelling at a concert all night before. Two days later she is almost better....could it be the antibiotics? Or the chicken soup made with love??? You decide.