Meal planning is such a daunting task for me. I want to offer nutritious and tasty meals for my family each week, but I need them to be as easy as possible. With a 2 year old and a 10 month old, time is ALWAYS of the essence! One of my favorite “make in advance” meals is super easy, super tasty, my two year old can get involved, and it is soft enough for our 10 month old as well! Chicken Noodle Stew is the perfect meal to make in advance for a night when you just do not have the time, but it is also SO easy to prepare the night of as well.
What you’ll need:
- 1/2 medium onion (very fine dice)
- 1 large carrot or a handful of baby carrots (very fine dice)
- 2-3 stalks of celery chopped small
- 1-2 large lemons
- Chicken broth (I use the big box which I think is around 32 oz, but eyeball it and add more if you need to)
- Package of very small noodles (Stelline or Alphabet noodles are our favorite)
- Chicken – get creative here. Bake it, sauté it, buy it already roasted, or even better, boil 1-2 small chicken breasts with salt, pepper and a stalk of celery and use the broth too!
The Process:
- Cook your chicken and shred it
- Chop veggies and sauté them until softened in either butter or olive oil. Be generous with the amount of fat as you will need it later
- Add shredded chicken, then chicken broth, juice of 1 lemon and pinch of salt and pepper
- Add the noodles and reduce heat to low.
- The noodles will start to absorb the liquid and cook. Continue to stir so it doesn’t stick. (This is when you’ll be happy you added that extra little bit of butter or oil) It will take less than 10 minutes for the noodles to cook since they are so small. Check for seasoning and adjust with salt/pepper to taste. Add more lemon juice at the end if you’d like. The stew will be thick and VERY yummy!
I like to let my son juice the lemons and add the pasta to the pot. He seems to enjoy his food more when he feels invested in the meal, and quite frankly, he’s the cutest sous chef around, so I don’t mind a bit! Get cooking, ladies, and serve up a warm bowl of yum on one of these chilly evenings, and if you’re lucky like me, your kids might even feed each other…Cue heart explosion, hashtag be still my heart!
