Rainy Days and Mondays

First off,

I am sorry for being M.I.A.

This blog thing, work, kids and just plain ol' life is a tough bit to handle!

Kudos to you all for balancing the juggling act.

I seriously dont know how some of you do it all!

We have had a pretty uneventful past month...

~  we DID however have a 2.7 earthquake this morning that rocked the whole house!

We thought it was a sonic-boom...

(I thought someone crashed into our home!) 

It was centered 2 miles away from our town!

C.R.A.Z.Y. 

Anyhoo....

besides the Remnants show, 

(of which I have ZERO photos! So sorry!) 

a couple of get togethers,

a trip to Bishop to visit some friends, 

2 rounds of sickness, 

(blech) 

and a fun weekend at the Lake, 

We havent been busy at all....

:) 

I am honestly just trying to catch up from being sick 

and recovering from our 5 month remodel/move.

I DO however have a yummy homeade Chicken Soup recipe

that we have made TWICE in the past 3 weeks. 

Anthro bowls from sweet Kim

tea towel from cute Andrea 

ruffled burlap runner from dear friend Tara 

 It rained here Saturday and Sunday, and with the Stig in bed sick

(poor baby!)

It seemed like the perfect day for some homeade soup.

Enjoy! 

RAINY DAY CHICKEN SOUP

Ingredients:

1 whole 4 lb chicken

7 carrots - roughly chopped

4 celery stalks - finely chopped 

1 large yellow onion-diced 

1 lb mushrooms - sliced

2 cloves garlic - minced 

4 quarts of water

Fresh pepper (as much as you desire) 

Pinches of salt 

4 bay leaves 

* "Better than Bouillon" - 4 heaping tbspns 

** "Grandmas Fresh Frozen Egg Noodles" (Wide)

couple snips of fresh herbs (we like rosemary, oregano and parsley)

Directions:

Add whole chicken (be sure to remove any twine or wrappings!) to 8 quart pot

Pour 4 quarts of water in (make sure bird is swimming in water)

ADD carrots, celery, onion, garlic salt/pepper bay leaves and herbs 

Set on medium heat and bring to a boil

After 10 minutes of rolling boil, reduce heat to low

Cook at low for 1 1/2 hours until chicken is tender 

Remove chicken and place in a large bowl to cool

Remove bay leaves from pot 

ADD "Better than Bouillon" and mushrooms to pot

Reduce heat to simmer for approx 1 hour

While broth is simmering, remove skin and bones from cooled chicken

Cut chicken into 1/4" cubes

Add cooled chicken chunks to pot 

Add Grandma's Egg noodles (as per package instructions)

Cook on low for approx 30 minutes.

Perfect for a rainy day or anytime you want to cozy up with a warm bowl of soup!

* "Better than Bouillon" can be found at Smart & Final

(Trader Joes used to carry it, but stopped! Boo!)

** "Grandma's Frozen Noodles" are found in the frozen food section

(kinda of pricey $4/pack, but trust me - sooo worth it !)

Please tell me if you have a yummy soup recipe, or if you decide to try mine...

I would LOVE to hear!

XOX,