Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Noodle Soup

1 rotisserie chicken carcass (or turkey from thanksgiving) with enough meat left on it for soup (usually about 1/2 eaten)
2 bay leaves
2 lemons, halved
6-8 stalks chopped celery
6-8 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 medium onion, diced
Chicken flavored bullion (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 batch of homemade noodles (I found a good tutorial here: Egg Noodles)

Place chicken carcass in a large stockpot with bay leaves.  Squeeze lemon into pot and place lemon halves in with chicken.  Cover with water and heat on medium until boiling.  Simmer until meat is falling off bones and broth is golden brown in color, approximately 2 hours.  Add more water as needed.  Meanwhile, chop veggies and make noodles.

Once the chicken is done simmering, remove stockpot from stove and strain over a bowl/pot, reserving all broth.  Leave chicken to cool in strainer and add broth back to stockpot.  Add veggies to pot with broth and return to medium heat, adding water to cover veggies if needed.

Once chicken is cool enough to touch, separate bones from meat.  Discard bones, lemon halves, and bay leaves.  Place the chicken meat back into the stockpot with the veggies, adding more water as needed.

Simmer soup on medium-low heat until veggies are crisp-tender, or about 20 minutes, adding pepper and chicken bullion to taste. Add cinnamon and nutmeg.

Once veggies are nearly done, turn the heat up to medium-high until the soup is at a boil.  Add noodles by handfuls, and cook for 10 minutes, or until tender.

Serve with homemade bread or rolls!  My favorite homemade bread recipe is this one:  Grandmother Bread