Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Oh blogger family, I can't even begin to tell you how much I love a good homemade soup.
At the moment, hubby has caught the bug I had last weekend except of course his has turned into a full blown summer cold. (Those are the worst!)
So since I felt a little guilty about spreading my cooties all over the house, I decided to make him some soup to help him feel better.
This is a recipe that I came up with a while ago and it is still a continuous work in progress.  One thing I've noticed with soups, is that you have to tweak it to your tastes.  Every time I make it, I work to make it even healthier, so here is my easy recipe.  Hope you enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
3-4 medium-sized boneless skinless chicken breasts
48 oz. low fat/low sodium (no msg) chicken broth (I love the College Inn Light & Fat Free brand)
2 cups water
8 oz. package of No Yolks egg white noodles
4 medium sized carrots - washed, peeled, & chopped (can also use about a cup of frozen sliced carrots)
1/2 medium onion - chopped
4 stalks celery - washed & chopped
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 bay leaf
1/2 - 1 tsp black pepper (to taste)
1/2 - 1 tsp salt (to taste)
1 clove garlic - minced
1 Tbsp olive oil

Here are some pictures of what went into the soup...

Chicken broth

Chopped onions, celery, and carrots

 Egg noodles

DIRECTIONS

1.  Heat olive oil in large pot.
2. Saute onions until translucent.
3. Add garlic and saute until fragrant (approximately 1-2 minutes)
4. Add onions, celery, and carrots. Stir well.
5. Add chicken broth and water.
6. Bring stock to a rapid boil.  Reduce heat to medium-high and boil vegetables in water for 5 minutes.
7. Add rinsed chicken breasts and bay leaf.  
8. Cover pot with lid and boil for 15 minutes.
9. Remove chicken breasts and chop into bite-sized pieces.
10. Add chicken pieces back to pot.
11. Add Italian Seasoning, salt, and pepper.
12. Add noodles to pot. Boil according to package directions.
13. When noodles are done, taste broth to determine if you need more or less salt & pepper.
14. Enjoy!

*NOTE: One thing I noticed was that as they cooked, my noodles started to absorb the chicken broth! I like my soup to actually be soupy and didn't want this to turn into a chicken noodle stew.  So, I  ended up adding another 2 cups of water to the pot along with a teaspoon of chicken bouillon, and a little more salt and pepper. We both really liked it and ate it for dinner tonight with some whole wheat crackers. Hubby said it tasted great and even asked for seconds! I won't tell him I made it with cholesterol free egg white noodles and boneless skinless chicken breasts! (Shhh, that'll be our secret! LOL)