Meal Planning Monday

Ughhhhhhhh I didn't get to the Halloween posts last week, whoops.  My goal is to try to get through those this week before it gets much later into November, but we'll see how it goes.  We had a busy weekend (where I didn't manage to snap a single photo, oops again, so no weekend roundup this week) and a long day today, so I thought I'd do another segment of "Meal Planning Monday" with - bet you can't guess what - another soup, ha! This should not shock anyone since I have mentioned before that it seems like soup is all I have wanted to eat during the second trimester of this pregnancy.

Before I get to the recipe, one thing we did finally do over the weekend (by "we" I mean "Dan" and by "over the weekend" I mean "on Sunday afternoon after we got home from out of town") was to get started on the guest bedroom-turned-guest bedroom and playroom!  I am SO excited to have a space that will hopefully help keep all of the toys contained, and I have big plans for this space.  I will probably do a series of posts on this as we go along (you may remember the chalkboard/magnetic wall post from not too long ago), but here is a sneak peak:  

Eeeeeeeeeeee, the possibilities are endless!  I'm so excited and I know I'm already driving Dan nuts with all of my Pinterest projects and ideas for this room.  Can't wait!  

Anyway, back to business.  This recipe is only very slightly modified from the original version that Stephanie gave me a few years ago.  It has quickly become a Baum family favorite and is SO easy, I will never buy it pre-made again.  Seriously.  That easy.  And SO delicious.  AND easy to freeze (noodles and all!) and still delicious when re-heated which makes it that much better!  I can't tell you how many times I've made this soup and had people ask for the recipe, many thanks to Steph for sharing!

One again, my photography skills in general food photography skills are still seriously lacking, but you get the idea.

Lilly's version, complete with flower-shaped grilled cheese (which she didn't even eat, ugh!).

Mommy's version, a lot less fun than flower-shaped grilled cheese for sure!

Chicken Noodle Soup
Recipe very slightly modified from Stephanie's original recipe

3 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 onion, chopped
1 T. (approx.) olive oil
6 c. (approx.) chicken broth (I sometimes use more or less depending on how soupy I want it to be)
2-3 cooked chicken breasts*
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried marjoram
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
salt & pepper, to taste
1 1/4 c. uncooked egg noodles
fresh parsley, for garnishing

1.  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and saute the carrot, celery and onion until tender, about 5 minutes.
2.  Stir in the broth, chicken and seasonings and bring to a boil.  
3.  Reduce heat and add noodles.  Cook for 10 minutes or until noodles are tender.
4.  Garnish with parsley.

*The original recipe calls for diced cooked chicken.  I like big chunks of chicken in my soup, so I typically cover my chicken breasts with water, salt & pepper and throw them in the crock pot on low all day while I'm at work (another trick Steph taught me and I haven't looked back!).  The chicken will literally fall off the fork at the end of the day, and an added bonus is that you can use what's left in the crock pot as broth (either for this recipe or you can freeze and use later for something else).  I have also been known to shred a rotisserie chicken and use that if I'm short on time or didn't decide I wanted soup in enough time to cook in the crock pot.  Whatever method you choose is delicious, and still easy!

A girlfriend recently invited me to an upcoming soup swap that she's hosting, and I am SO excited about it.  I've been toying with the idea of putting together a virtual "soup swap" using a link party (if I can ever figure out how those work, I am so technologically challenged!) to share ideas and get some new recipes to try (although it probably won't be as fun as the real-life one, where we are each supposed to pre-divide our soup into 2-person servings to send home with each person, YUM).  We'll see how it goes.

Anyway, hope your weekend and your Monday were great!  I think I am finally getting a short breather this week (both with work and home life), and I am thrilled about it.

Sarah