A Lesson Learned......

Mom woke up yesterday sounding raspy and complaining of a sore throat.  Of course, when I went to give her medicine for the sore throat she looked at me like I was nuts because she has never had a sore throat in her life LOL.  Anyway she never complained but I noticed that she was flushed and coughing and sneezing quite a bit so I gave her some Nyquil before bed.  A BIG MISTAKE!!! It helped her sleep peacefully....so peacefully that she never awoke for her bathroom trips.  Everything was drenched and Mom still sounds terrible so it is off to the doctor's for us. I know that it is probably nothing but at 92 years of age I worry about any illness turning into a life threatening condition.

Doc said it is just a cold and to treat it with hot toddies and chicken soup.  He also gave me a prescription for amoxicillin just in case she gets worse over the weekend.  It was worth the trip just for my peace of mind.  When we got home, Nancy was already here.  When Nancy asked what the doctor had to say, Mom looked at her like she was nuts and said "I wasn't at the doctor's".  Nancy asked where she had been and Mom said "I've been right here.  Where have you been??" 

So tonight was originally scheduled to be pizza night but now I have decided to make Mom some homemade Chicken Soup.

I start by pulling out my stock pot with the strainer insert added.

 

 

I gather my veggies and my chicken.

 

 

I rinse my chicken and put it in the pot, scrub down my veggies and place all ends, scraps and scrapings to the pot with the chicken and cover with water (I still had some chicken stock left so I added that along with the water)

 

 

Set aside your prepared veggies for later.

 

 

Remove Chicken from the pot and discard solids (all of mine go to my animals)

 

 

Line a fine mesh strainer with cheesecloth and strain broth measuring out 12 cups.

 

I had an extra 2 quarts to put in my refrigerator for later use.

 

 

Remove skin from chicken and take meat off bones.  Chop half the meat into bite size pieces for the soup and reserve the other half for future use.

 

 

 

Enjoy!!

 

 

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

 

1 whole chicken or 4 lbs chicken pieces

3 carrots, scrubbed

1 onion

2 stalks celery, washed

3 stems parsley plus 2 T chopped parsley leaves

1 bay leaf

2-3 Chicken Bullion Cubes

8 oz. Egg Noodles

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

Place chicken in pot with strainer inserted.  Cut the tops and tips off the carrots and add to pot (include carrot greens if still on carrots). Scrape the skins from the carrots into the pot.  Cut the celery leaves and celery bottoms from the stalks and add these to the pot.  Cut the root end, stem end and remove peels from onion and add to pot.  Add bay leaf and 3 stems of parsley to the pot and cover completely with water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 hrs.

 

Slice carrots and celery.  Dice the onion and chop parsley leaves to equal 2 Tablespoons.  Set aside.

 

When chicken is done simmering, remove strainer from pot and remove chicken to cutting board. Discard all solids left in the strainer.  Using a fine mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth pour broth into a soup pot, measuring 12 cups broth and 2 or 3 bullion cubes. (The remaining broth can be strained and refrigerated for future use).  Add prepared carrots, celery and onion to the broth and bring to a boil, cooking until soft.  While veggies are cooking remove chicken meat from bones and skin and chop into bite size pieces.  When veggies are nearly cooked through add the chopped parsley and egg noodles and boil in broth per package directions.  Add  half the chicken meat to the pot  (reserving the other half for future use) and warm through. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed. Print Recipe