Especially a cold and snowy Christmas week like the one we’re having. It’s kind of picture perfect “Christmas-time” weather and I am loving it! Lots of snow has been falling, and the house… well my parent’s house anyway, is PACKED. Although, we’ve made it the routine to do before dinner cocktails down at my house. So far we have made these Moscow Mules, Margaritas and tonight I think we are doing Mojitos! I can’t believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I am still waiting for a few gifts to arrive. YIKES. I hope they get here in time! I should really start prepping some food and maybe wrapping some gifts. I am slightly behind…double yikes. What’s knew? Guarantee I will be wrapping all my gifts at midnight on Christmas Eve. I actually think my mom is more ready to go than me this year. Geez, what is happening to me. I need to plan.
But umm, anyway. I have to keep this post a little short and sweet. Seeing as my family is here and we are all about to head out on a frigid cold family dinner sleigh ride…in the dark…single digit temperatures. Guys, my mom is crazy. She says this is gonna be fun, but I think I may freeze. Send me warm vibes. PLEASE.
So let’s talk about this Winter Vegetable Chicken Noodle Soup. I feel like winter gets a bad wrap for not having colorful food, but I mean, are you guys looking at these colorful veggies I added to this soup? I packed in some onions, leeks, rainbow carrots (the prettiest!), celery, garlic and rainbow chard. I don’t think it gets much more colorful…eat the rainbow!! This chicken noodle soup is packed full of incredibly healthy things (enter all the colorful veggies we just chatted about) and get a total cold fighting meal. I added tons of fresh ginger, herbs and lemon, so I would say this soup is one of those healthy cozy meals. SCORE. I am planning on making a big batch of this and just letting it simmer on the stove. It’s the perfect soup to just have on hand for when people get hungry mid day. You can serve it with my cheesy crostini or just some crackers, but really, I would give the crostini a try. It’s pretty dang good and perfect for dipping. Plus it’s super simple, both together are oh so good. My one important note is to use really good egg noodles. The noodles are everything. They add the carbs. Carbs = YUM. So try to find some good egg noodles. I just used dried noodles, but I have heard good things about frozen ones too. I also don’t add the noodles directly to the soup, but instead just add them to each bowl and then ladle the soup over the noodles. If you serve it this way, the noodles will not soak up the soup and be all soggy when you go to eat the leftovers. OKAY and I maybe served it this way so I could pile my bowl high with noodles. Again, mom – she taught me well. Always heavy on the noodles.
And now I am done. I hope everyone makes this soup. It’s just one of those recipes you need to have in your back pocket. It makes you feel all warm and toasty insides, which clearly sounds pretty good to me right now. OHHH, and maybe after you finish your big bowl of this soup, you can move onto an even bigger mug of this hot cocoa. YEEESSSS. <–DO IT.
And now on to soup…and noodles….of course.
