chicken noodle soup ~ slow cooker

don't worry, i realize this looks more like chicken and noodles less the "soup" but, i had forgotten to take a photo of the soup when i made it and this leftover version with a lot less broth became the next best thing. 

wait, i totally just lied.  i didn't "forget" to take a photo at all. actually, my dad and mom were eating with us that night and i didn't want to weird my dad out by taking a picture of my food in front of him.  i just wasn't ready for his reaction so, i made a choice.  

that's the truth.  the other truth is my dad told my mom on their way home that he really liked my soup.  my dad liked me soup, my dad liked my soup, lalalalalala.  

this makes it safe for me to say, "you'll like it too." and, made my head swell just a little because i made the recipe up all on my very own!

chicken noodle soup ~ slow cooker

2 tbsp olive oil

2 small onions, diced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp fresh thyme

5-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (i used 6 breasts that i had pre-portioned to 4 oz/breast for freezing) 

celery, chopped (i used 7 stalks, leaves and all)

1 lb carrots, chopped

2-3 bay leaves

4 cups low sodium chicken broth

s&p to taste

whole wheat noodles (i threw one cube of chicken bouillon to the boiling water)

1/2 tbsp parsley flakes

heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high.  add onions and cook until soft, about 8 minutes.  the last two minutes, add the garlic and the thyme.   

add the cooked onion mixture to the bottom of the slow cooker set on low heat.  place the chicken breasts on top of the onion mixture.

add the celery, carrots, bay leaves and chicken broth. throw in a pinch of salt and couple pinches of pepper.

cook over low heat for 8 hours.

after about 7.5 hours,  remove the bay leaves from the slow cooker and cook the wheat noodles to firm according to package directions in a separate pot.  mix the cooked noodles and parsley into rest of the ingredients in the slow cooker.  at this time, i added another cup or two of the boiling noodle broth/water to the slow cooker because i felt like it needed more broth.

let sit for another 10 - 20 minutes then serve.

easily makes 6-8 servings.

yum!