Scrumptious Saturday: Potato & Chicken Noodle Soup

Hubby wasn't feeling well the other day, so I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner that might help him perk up.  I offered to make soup, which he readily agreed to, so off I went into the kitchen.  I figured I would make some kind of chicken noodle soup with potatoes (since I just bought a 5 pound bag of them!)  Here's what I came up with:

Potato & Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredient List:
Carrots
Celery
Onion
Potatoes
Chicken
Pasta (whatever kind you have around)
Salt
Italian Seasonings
Garlic Powder
Chicken/Veggie Stock

I started out with 4 cups of stock (I used 1 cup of vegetable stock that was in the fridge and 3 cups of chicken stock) in a stock pot over med/high heat.  While waiting for the stock to come to a boil, I cut up 2 large potatoes into 1-inch squares.  Once the stock came to a boil, I added the potatoes, 1 chopped onion (I keep baggies of pre-cut onions in my freezer, so it's easy to grab one whenever I need it), and some celery and carrots (about 5 or 6 carrots and about 1 cup of celery).  Let everything simmer for 10 to 20 minutes, or until the potatoes and carrots are tender (it's going to depend on how small the pieces are).  I cut up the chicken into chunks and added it right into the soup to let it cook, but you could probably pre-cook it if you wanted to.  The chicken will cook in less than 10 minutes if the chunks are on the small side.  Once the chicken was cooked through, I tossed in some pasta - egg noodles and some leftover flat pasta that I had laying around.  Don't forget to season the soup - I used salt, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning.  I think that's about all that was needed, but you really could put in whatever you like.  I also think that corn would be a nice addition to the soup, though I didn't have any in my cupboard.

Enjoy!!  It's that easy!! The soup was a big hit with the hubby, and I'm pretty sure it made him feel better...plus on a rainy April night, soup and muffins are a great meal!!

(By the way, I figure this recipe makes 5 to 6 good sized servings, and there are about 315 to 340 calories per serving, depending on how much pasta you use)

Happy Weekend!!