Mom's Chicken Noodle Soup

I'm back!!  Did you ever wonder if I I'd return?  Well, these last seven months I have been on a diet, the divorce diet.  I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, really, unless you want to lose a lot of weight in a short period of time.  That would be one of the benefits.  Since many of us are going to be setting goals to loose weight in the next few weeks, let me tell you my secret on how I lost 40 pounds in five months.  First of all, you must convince yourself that crunchy Cheetos are the only food item that tastes good on the entire planet.  Stick with that for about six weeks.  Then, slowly add in cereal.  Bland cereal.  At first it will taste like dirt, but keep trying.  Eventually, it will taste better and get easier to eat.  After a few weeks add sandwiches.  Doesn't matter what kind.  Just keep it simple.  Something like peanut butter and honey.  And then miraculously after about two more months, you will feel hungry again and some food will start tasting good again.  When you crave chocolate daily, you will know you are almost back to normal.  Only much lighter.  It works.  I know.  I've tried it.  Oh, please take a multivitamin daily while on this diet.  If not, the only complete daily dose of anything you'll be getting is stress.

I am hoping to completely get off of the divorce diet really soon.  One thing that will help is to cut down on the amount of chocolate, cheetos, cereal, and peanut butter in the house.  That way I actually have to cook something.  Or rather, get to cook.  No excuses.  This is one of my hobbies, right?! 

 I decided to make a nice comfort food to kick off the end of the divorce diet.  What could be more perfect that my mom's chicken noodle soup.  Only I used a turkey carcass (that sounds like road kill, doesn't it?)  I really think that's what it's called.  And don't be intimidated by the homemade egg noodles.  They are super easy and make this recipe unique.  Although if you must, you can throw in some dried egg noodles at the end and cook until tender.

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (or turkey carcass)
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup carrots, sliced
2 chicken bullion cubes
poultry season to taste
sage to taste
salt and pepper to taste
2 - 3 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water
Homemade egg noodles (see recipe below)


Directions:
Wash chicken and put in large pan.  Cover with water and boil until thoroughly cooked.  Or cover turkey carcass with water and boil for 30 minutes.  Pull chicken out of broth and cool.  Add celery, onion, carrots, and bullion to broth.  Boil until carrots are nearly tender.  Pull meat off of chicken or turkey and dice.  Add a desired amount back to the soup.  Add salt and pepper, poultry seasoning, and sage to taste.  Make homemade noodles and add to boiling soup.  Mix cornstarch with water and stir into soup.  Add more bullion for flavor as needed.

Homemade Egg Noodles
Ingredients:  
2 eggs
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour (approximate)


Directions:
Whip eggs, water, and salt with a whisk.  Add enough flour to make a stiff dough.  When dough comes to a ball similar to pie crust, it is ready.  Roll out as thinly as possible on a floured surface.  Sprinkle dough with flour.  Fold over and over like a thin jelly roll.  Use scissors to cut thin slices of rolled up dough.  Unroll the noodle and break if desired.  Drop in boiling soup.  Cook in two minutes.