chicken noodle soup

recipe adapted from friend, j.

about 1-1.5 hours from start to finish, although hands-on time is only about 30 min.

ingredients:
1 small yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
2.5 cups chopped or diced carrots (i use a whole bag of frozen heb circle carrots or crinkle carrots)
2.5 cups celery
3-4 cups cubed or shredded chicken breast
4 cups of cooked pasta or rice (i use ww or multigrain plus pasta)
1 box (appx 18 oz) butternut squash soup
32 oz chicken broth
16 oz water (i always find a need more and just add until it looks right)
3 bay leaves
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. boil chicken, drain water and ickies, set aside. in same stock pot, sautee onion, garlic, carrots, and celery until tender.
2. add chicken and continue to saute.
3. add all liquids and bay leaves, bring to boil, and then lower heat to med. low. simmer for 45 minutes.
4. i add the pasta about 15-20 min into simmer time and let it cook until very soft (falling apart a bit). you can also cook pasta separately and add at the very end before serving.
5. salt and pepper to taste.

notes: i love, love this soup. i crave it. it makes plenty for leftovers and for freezing. everyone here loves it.