Homestyle Chicken and Noodles to Welcome Fall!

I am long overdue for a new post! Seeing as how we’ve entered a new season, my most favorite of all, I thought I would post the recipe for the meal that we had to celebrate the first day of Fall. It was just cool enough that I could pull off a one-dish comfort meal like this Chicken and Noodles!

Not only was it budget-friendly and super easy to make, but it was SO good too!  I know that this is not cutting edge health food, but I have come to the conclusion that there is room in our diet for comforting, enjoyable meals like this.  Of course there were plenty of variations running through my mind, like using spaghetti squash instead of noodles or buying the whole wheat flax fettuccine noodles so feel free to experiment with those options if that appeals to you.  But it has been my goal lately to simplify and de-stress our family dinner time by making only one meal that everyone can enjoy.  I have been encouraging the kids to choose what we will have for dinner and letting them help out in the kitchen more.  This was definitely a kid-friendly dish and it makes a great leftover to send reheated in a thermos for lunch the next day.  Enjoy… and Happy Fall!!!

Homestyle Chicken Noodles

inspired by Better Homes and Garden

Ingredients

Chicken Thighs (I just bought a package that had 5-6, bone-in would be great to for additional flavor)

3 cups water

2 cups chicken broth (one without msg, “natural flavor”, or yeast extract)

2 Bay leaves

1 tsp dried thyme (I had ground thyme which worked nicely)

Salt and pepper to taste ( I added close to 1 tsp. of sea salt and a few grinds of pepper)

1 medium onion, chopped

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 ribs of celery, chopped

Homestyle egg noodles (I used the thick fettuccine style noodles)

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup milk

2 T. flour

Directions

Add chicken pieces, chopped onion, carrot, and celery, herbs, water and broth to a large stockpot or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 25-30 minutes until chicken is done. Remove and discard bay leaves. Remove chicken and place on a cutting board to cool. Remove bones if necessary and shred or chop into bite-sized pieces and set aside.

Bring the broth mixture back up to a boil and add noodles. Cook according to package directions (mine were about 12-15 minutes). Stir in frozen peas. In a lidded container, combine milk and flour and shake until thoroughly mixed. Pour milk mixture into pot. Add chicken back in. Cook over low heat until thickened.