Mamma's Chicken Soup

Since Owen and I are fighting our first (and hopefully last) colds of the year, I decided to make chicken noodle soup. I wasn't too sure how this was going to work out since he had never really had broth type of food before. Turns out it was a hit! I pointed out all of the goods in the bowl and he was pretty excited to try it. He was REALLY happy when he learned that he could drink from the bowl. He had three bowls and was asking for more, I was shocked! Be aware, this can get messy! : )I didn't have enough time to make it all from scratch because, one, I was hungry and two, didn't have a whole chicken in the house. So, I used two boxes of organic chicken broth instead. I sent Adam to Costco to pick up a $5 whole roasted chicken to cut up and add to my soup. It wasn't organic, but it was cooked, cheap and close to home. I wasn't feeling good enough to care at this point. Here is the recipe:

Mamma's Chicken Soup

8 Cups organic Chicken stock
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups carrots, diced
3 ribs of celery, chopped
1/2 bulb of fennel, chopped
1 small zucchini, cut in half rounds
1-2 cups cut up pieces of roasted chicken breast.
3 sprigs of fresh thyme chopped (or 1/2 tsp. dried)
1 handful of parsley leaves chopped
1 Tb. fresh oregano chopped (use less if using dried)
1 tsp. fresh rosemary chopped
1/2 cup Israeli cous cous (or egg noodles) I used the Harvest Grains package from Trader Joes

On medium heat, cook onions in 1/4 cup of chicken stock for 5 minutes. Add a little more stock if you need to to keep from burning the onions and your pan. Add garlic and saute for 2 more minutes. Add carrots, celery, fennel, zucchini, herbs and the rest of the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile cook the Israeli cous cous or egg noodles till done. Add the chicken and pasta to the soup base and enjoy.