Chicken…In Three Parts

I have to admit-I’m pretty proud of this one.

It might just look like ordinary chicken soup to you, but to me it’s a feat of mass proportions. Okay, I’m being a little dramatic, it’s homemade soup. And I don’t mean homemade as in I bought chicken broth and chicken breast from the store, mixed it up with veggies and noodles and called it a day. I mean the kind that requires a little bit of pre-planning and an entire chicken.

Before I get ahead of myself, let me tell you how I did it! In three parts of course.

Part I

It all started on Sunday, when I decided to crock pot (it’s a verb now) a full chicken-just for kicks.

Crock Pot Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 3-4 pound chicken (neck, gizzard removed-you can buy them this way-I did because my gag reflex is sensitive )
• 1 onion diced
• 1/2 pound diced carrots
• salt
• pepper

Directions

1. Placed diced veggies in the bottom of a crock pot.
2. Season chicken and place in crock pot.
3. Cook on low for 5-6 hours.

The chicken was tender moist and delicious (so tender that a drumstick just fell off…).

From start to finish.

Part II

Since I had conquered the cooking an entire chicken thing, I decided to take things a step further and make my own chicken stock. There’s no pictures of this part, because it looks like a massacre (#honesty).

The Stock

Ingredients

• Bones from aforementioned chicken
• onions and carrots from aforementioned chicken
• bay leaves
• thyme
• 4 cups of water

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
2. Remove bones from mixture and use fine strainer to remove vegetables etc. from broth. Note: I removed the bones, but left the vegetables and small bits of chicken in the mixture, refrigerated it for a day and then strained it for a richer flavor.

Part III

The soup and the stock were complete and now my chicken now had a home-in some chicken noodle soup.

The Soup

Ingredients

• Chicken stock
• Chicken from 3-4 pound chicken (about 4 cups), diced
• 2 cups diced carrots
• 2 cups diced celery
• 1 diced onion
• 3 cups rice noodles
• 1 cup diced zucchini
• thyme
• oregano
• salt
• pepper

Directions

1. Boil broth and reduce to a simmer.
2. Add vegetables and spices (to taste) and simmer on low for about 20 minutes.
3. Add chicken and noodles and cook on medium for another 10 minutes, or until noodles are fully cooked.