Monday Meals: Chicken Noodle Soup

Both the Arkansas and Wisconsin test kitchens have fallen victim to various illnesses over the past few weeks. Arkansas was dealing with strep throat, while Wisconsin had the stomach flu. Cue lots of disinfecting, cleaning and chicken soup making.

Multiple studies have been done on the effectiveness of chicken soup on various illnesses; but we know one thing to be true... it tastes delicious when you're under the weather. Here's a crock pot version the Wisconsin Test Kitchen prepared this past weekend. We apologize for the lack of pictures; we were so excited to be making soup that we completely forgot...

Crock Pot Chicken Soup

4 cups chicken stock (bonus points if you make your own, but in a pinch the store bought variety works just fine)
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
3lbs whole chicken (the only whole chickens we had in our freezer were at least six pounds- don't ask... the farm we purchase them from has had an incredible year with chickens- so we used a half a chicken- bone in)
1/2 lb. dried egg noodles
2 t garlic powder
1 t dried oregano
seasoning salt
pepper

Combine stock, celery, carrots, chicken, garlic powder and oregano in slow cooker. Cook on high for 3-4 hours, or until the chicken is cooked all the way through.
Once chicken is cooked, remove it from the slow cooker and let it cool slightly so you can pull the meat off the bones. While the meat is cooling, skim fat off the top of the soup (also, take a slotted spoon through the soup... we found a rogue chicken bone that had sunk to the bottom of the soup. Super unappetizing if someone were to find that in their soup!).
How do you skim fat off the soup? One of two ways:

Are you eating the soup today?
If so, take an ice cube and run it over the top of the soup. It will collect the fat for you. Dispose of it. This might require multiple ice cubes.

Are you eating the soup later?
Let the soup cool completely, and put it in the refrigerator. The fat will rise to the top, allowing you to skim it off with a spoon.

Once fat removal is complete, put the crock pot on low heat and add the chicken back into the soup, and add more seasonings as needed. At this point in the soup process, I added a few shakes of garlic powder and seasoning salt.

Prepare the egg noodles according to package directions. Add them to the soup immediately before serving.

The end result is tasty, satisfying, and while it's not guaranteed to immediately cure your cold or sore throat; it will at least fill your belly and make you happy. So there's that.

Do you have any cold and flu season remedies you swear by? We'd love to hear about them!
Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew