Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

This recipe would have come in handy yesterday, during the freak snowstorm we got. The "light dusting" of snow we were warned about became a full blown storm of 5-6 inches in a matter of 4 hours or so. Way to go on that one, weather guys....

So, today was the day for soup. Today was also the day Lana decided to completely chew and destroy our TV remote. I guess the only plus side to that is that I learned there's an app for your phone where you can download a remote for Comcast. It's pretty neat, but I'd still prefer my remote. Most people around here would be panicking about a loss of a remote with such a big Patriots game on, but alas, I'm not much of a football fan. I didn't watch a second of the game. I spent my afternoon chasing Lana around and doing some meal planning. I'm loving the fact that I have tomorrow off as well. I already have my baking planned out and ready to go!

I wish I had known about this soup recipe a while ago. I love chicken soup, and there's nothing better when you have a cold, but I always find soup a bit lacking. I like stews and chowders, something with a little more sustenance. More veggies, more meat, more noodles, thicker broth...you catch my drift? Well, this recipe did just that for chicken noodle soup. There's enough chicken, noodles and veggies, but the best part is the broth. It's creamy and thicker, without being so heavy that you can't get through a bowl of it. I ate a bowl and a half! For soup, that's a feat for me. I usually have a small bowl and that's it. This recipe is also so easy to make. The most work I actually put in was having to cook some chicken before hand. If you have some pre-cooked chicken or even use a rotisserie chicken, this recipe comes together in minutes (well hours with the cook time), but little work on your part. Throw it into a crock pot and then go spend the next few hours chasing your dog, stopping her from destroying everything in sight, or maybe spend that time doing laundry. Hopefully you find a better was to spend those hours than doing laundry or controlling a crazy dog.

Also, before I move on to the recipe, I have to talk about the source. Better Homes and Gardens puts out these special edition magazines where they focus on certain recipe types. This one is from the 2014 Low-Carb Cooking edition. I also have one for Fast & Healthy cooking. There was one at the store today for slow cooker recipes, I should have grabbed it. I stopped getting cooking magazines, because there's so many recipes on the internet that I was ignoring my magazines and cookbooks. Now, I've found I enjoy the magazines. I spend so much time recipe planning, which online means just a lot of staring at the screen and scrolling, so having something tangible to hold is nice every now and then. Check out any of these magazines if you see one, I tore out at least 15 recipes from each, which is more than I usually do from a magazine.

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
BH&G Low-Carb Cooking 2014

5 cups of water
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 (10 oz) package frozen mixed vegetables
1 tsp. seasoned pepper
1.5 cups dried egg noodles

1. In your slow cooker, add the soup mixes and stir the water into them, stirring until combined and smooth.
2. Add the chicken, vegetables, and pepper. Cook on low 5-6 hours or high 3-4 hours.
3. Add the noodles and cook for another 30 minutes on the high setting until noodles are tender.

I love some Saltines in my soup. I don't have any, hence the cracker box in the background. I crushed up some butter crackers and threw them on top. Just look at how creamy that broth is in that picture!