Ranch Chicken Noodle Soup

I have a confession. I can't follow a recipe to save my life. It's a good thing in cooking, I don't need a step by step guide when I cook, instead I just use recipes as inspiration and 9 times out of 10 I find myself winging it, making substitutions and adding flavor. Bad part-it makes it hard to share my "recipes" But I am going to try, this was so yummy and perfect fall comfort food!

Ranch Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
3 poached chicken breasts-cleaned of all fat and cut into chunks
1 can chicken broth
around 6 cups of water
1 onion diced
2 cups baby carrots diced
3-4 celery stalks-diced with leaves (celert leaves=good)
1 can cream of chicken OR 1/2 cup heavy cream
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 tablespoon onion onion
1.5 tablespoon garlic garlic
fresh cracked pepper
1 packet dry ranch seasoning
1 package frozen homestyle egg noodles (I used yolk free to be healthier)

Directions
Poach chicken by adding raw defrosted chicken to warm water in a large pot. Bring water to a boil and then simmer until chicken is cooked through (15 minutesish). Remove from water, remove any fat or funky parts and cut into large chunks.

Dice onions, carrots and celery. In a large stock pot coat the bottom of the pn with 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil. Over medium high heat saute the veggies, adding the salt, onion onion, garlic garlic and fresh cracked pepper until starting to get golden color and onions are transluscent. Deglaze pan with 1 can chicken broth, scraping the bottom of the pan. Add 6 cups water and 2-3 tablespoons of chicken granules (or2 boullion cubes). ~You could just add several boxes of stock or broth but I didn't have any...water+boullion is fine~

Add chicken and stir in 1 can cream of chicken OR 1/2 cup of heavy cream. This gives the soup just a little more body and richness. Whisk in the dry ranch seasoning. Taste your broth and be sure its flavorful. If it is too salty add more water. This makes a BIG pot of soup!

I let this part of my soup simmer all day to really meld the flavors and cook the veggies down. I am sure 30-40 minutes would be fine though!

About 30 minutes before you are ready to eat bring the soup up to a boil. Add the frozen egg noodles and cook for 25-30 minutes. They will expand and be firm but not taste like raw dough when they are done. Return soup to low heat and eat it up!

Typing this out makes it seem WAY harder than it really is. I used the recipe below as my inspiration and I was pleased! I don't like chicken noodle soup but this was WAY better than a can or restaurant. I really think letting the veggies get some good color, deglazing the pan and a low long simmer make all the difference in the world!

Inspiration
http://picky-palate.com/2010/06/07/homemade-chicken-ranch-and-rice-soup/