Mmmm, mmmm, good. {Chicken Noodle Soup}

To say that the last several weeks (month, really) have been crazy would be beyond an understatement. In the last two weeks, I've spent approximately 4 nights in my own bed, been to Chicago, East Tennessee and spent a week staying at my parents' house. I've barely seen my husband or my kitten or my house, and in the few hours that I did get to spend at home, I mostly did this: Me, surrounded by schoolbooks and takeout, exhausted from studying with Puff checking on me so lovingly. Price took this picture because Puff was so cute. Close-up!

Midterms ... do you remember the last time you had to take an exam or write a paper with citations? Footnotes? What?!?!!? That part of my brain has been asleep for a long time ... at least, it was until this past week.

So today we spent a good amount of time roaming the aisles of our favorite grocery stores filling our carts and imagining having full house and full bellies many times in the next few weeks. My cabinets were shamefully bare, but are now bursting at the seams, and the refrigerator is piled high with fresh produce of so many different happy colors.

And of course, to celebrate both a return to somewhat "normal" life and the Sabbath, we had a sweet little family dinner tonight. We gathered with an assortment of ailments - viral illness, ear infection, seasonal sinus snottiness, exhaustion - and slightly tempered demeanors (sickness and sleepiness will do that to you), but with family it doesn't matter so much. We sipped chicken noodle soup (it's the Sabbath, so we're breaking our meat fast for the day) and dunked homemade crusty bread and ended the meal with a spring-hearkening lemon poppyseed cake. It was family and best friends - lucky for us they are one and the same. Soul-warming and belly-filling ... just what a Sabbath dinner should be.

Old-Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup based on this from Epicurious

This is just what it claims to be - old-fashioned. Salty, with the slight crunch of vegetables and a broth you could drink straight from a mug. Perfect for slightly drizzly, sickly kinds of days. I skipped the mushrooms from the original recipe and opted for chopped fresh asparagus instead, as well as chicken breast instead of a whole chicken. This would be lovely with homemade stock, if you have that kind of time.

Ingredients:

8 cups of low-sodium chicken broth 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast half of a sweet onion, chopped 2 cloves of garlic, chopped 2-3 carrots, peeled and chopped 2 celery ribs, chopped 6-8 stalks of asparagus, chopped juice of half of a lemon 2 cups dried egg noodles pepper, basil, thyme, oregano, parsley

To Do:

1. Boil the broth and chicken breast for about 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken and shred. 2. In a saucepan over medium heat, saute the onions until just soft. Add garlic, then other veggies and saute for just a few minutes. Remove from heat. 3. Add veggies into broth and simmer on low. Add shredded chicken and spices. Simmer. 4. 10 minutes before serving, add egg noodles. Add water if the broth is low.

Enjoy!