chicken noodle soup with fun-shaped noodles

Yummy note: The chicken noodle soup challenge... boy it sure was. I had been searching high and low for that perfect soup. Honestly, I went searching for a soup that looked good from a picture, rather than looking through the ingredients first. haha, I work that way, you know if it looks good, it must taste good, right? :) When I saw a picture on Iowa Girl Eats blog, I KNEW that was the one. I mean take a look yourself at this picture, makes you want to make a batch of chicken noodle soup right now, doesn't it? So this challenge by Tina at Mom's Crazy Cooking said it "must have chicken and noodles and must be a soup" - so I looked no further and knew I wanted this recipe and didn't even really want to change a thing. This recipe from Kristin at Iowa Girl Eats blog was so up my alley; I went to college in Iowa, my husband's family lives in Iowa, and well, we visit there quite a bit, so when that picture said "welcome home" - it was it. What a great blogger fit for me, really, this recipe rocked at how simple and tasty it was. I am now a big fan of Iowa Girl Eats and her awesome recipes!  :) The only thing I did different with Kristin's recipe was to add in a touch of mommy love, as the kiddo and I made a half a batch of fun-shaped egg noodles to throw in. We made the soup on a gloomy, cool morning, so adding a little fun touch made everyone feel a little better. Really, it is the little things that makes a day better...

Chicken Noodle Soup with Fun-Shaped Noodles 

Recipe from http://iowagirleats.com/2009/10/05/grandmas-homemade-chicken-noodle-soup/

Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter

2 tsp olive oil
1/4 of an onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot (or 10 mini carrots), sliced
1 stick of celery, chopped
salt and pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded or cubed
46 oz chicken broth
8 oz frozen egg noodles*

Directions:
Melt butter and olive oil in a large sauce pan and then toss in onions, carrots, celery, salt and pepper. Cook for about 10 minutes or so until veggies are tender, or add in a couple tablespoons of broth and put a lid on the veggies and let them sweat it out a bit. Just stir halfway through so they don't stick on the pan.

Then add in the minced garlic and saute for about a minute or so, before adding in your chicken and broth. Bring the soup to a boil, and add in your egg noodles and simmer for about 20 minutes or so, or until your noodles are tender.

*Yummy note: We made a small half batch of homemade egg noodles shaped like flowers to add into this soup for a whimsical touch. The key to my recipe for egg noodles is to roll your pasta dough fairly thin so the noodles don't get too thick and gummy. After rolling the dough out, use little mini cookie cutters and create some fun shapes! Make your own chicken and stars soup! 

If you liked my chicken noodle recipe with those oh, so cute fun-shaped noodles, go ahead and click LIKE on the link below next to my soup picture!  Hope you enjoy browsing around at all of the other great Crazy Cooking Challenge bloggers below.