Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

One of my favorite parts about being sick is eating Panera's chicken noodle soup.  I love it!  It's kind of pricey though and the last 2 times I've bought it, it was loaded with celery and onion (not something I like).  When I was menu planning for this month, I decided to try a new chicken noodle soup recipe.  I went over to Mel's Kitchen Cafe because I tend to like the stuff she posts.  Little did I know that the day I planned on making the soup, we'd all have colds (and Kevin had an ear infection).  I've eaten it for several meals and I love it!  Kevin said he would like it better with smaller noodles, but this soup is packed with flavor and will be my go-to recipe from now on :)

(I copied/pasted her recipe from the site, then made my changes...)
INGREDIENTS:
For Chicken and Broth:
3-4 pound chicken breast (I used 4 very large breasts which was probably close to 3lbs)
6 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
3 stalks celery, chopped in large chunks
3-4 carrots, cut in large chunks
1 onion, chopped in large pieces
Soup:
12 cups low-sodium chicken broth
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 pound carrots, chopped
1 teaspoons salt (to taste, depending on the broth)
½ teaspoon pepper
16-20 ounces egg noodles
1 cup cream or half-and-half combined with 1 tablespoon cornstarch

DIRECTIONS:
Place the chicken breasts in a slow cooker and add the other ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours. Carefully remove the chicken breasts and set aside in a large bowl until the chicken is cool enough to handle without burning your fingertips off. Meanwhile, remove and discard the large solids from the chicken broth and strain the chicken broth into a large pot.

Chicken & vegetables in crock pot

To the same pot, add another 12 cups chicken broth, the chopped vegetables and the salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook, covered, for 12-15 minutes, until the vegetables are slightly tender (they’ll cook more when the noodles cook). Taste the broth and add salt and pepper to taste, if needed. Add the noodles and cook according to package directions at a rolling boil. While the noodles are cooking, take the chicken off the bones and shred into bite-size pieces. Combine the cream (or half-and-half) and cornstarch in a liquid measuring, whisking to dissolve the cornstarch. Add the slurry to the soup and simmer rapidly for 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the shredded chicken. Serve.

chopped carrots and celery

Make sure you strain the broth from the crock pot!

Lots of yummy chicken!

The noodles I used - which I loved, but Kevin didn't love...

Recipe Source: Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

p.s. I picked all my celery out :)