MPM and an apology!

First off, I want to apologize for abandoning any of my readers who are still out there checking in on me - I have been a bad blogging friend for the past week and a half. This new work schedule, in short, is KICKING.MY.BUTT! For the past two weeks, I have been working a different schedule everyday...7-3:15, 7:30-3:15, 8:30-5:30, etc...I just can't seem to get anything done...add onto that that we have a weekly bible study on Tuesdays, we've been doing set-work for the musical at DH's school 1-2 times a week in the evenings & I had infertility support group at church last week & let's just say that blogging just didn't make it into the agenda any of the days last week. Hopefully next week, once things slow down again (8:30-5:30 everyday, if you call that slowing down) and I can get into a normal routine, I will be back to my normal, blogging self!

Here's this week's MPM (or I should say MPT since I'm a day late!)
Sunday: Herbed Chicken & Gravy with rice & salad
Monday: blueberry (me) & plain (DH) waffles
Tuesday: my homemade chicken noodle soup (see recipe below)
Wednesday: not sure of the entree...side of roasted potatoes
Thursday: family night w/ DH's parents/sister
Friday: maybe dinner out since we're going to the musical at DH's school
Saturday: dinner @ DH's parents' house since we're all going to the matinee of the musical together!

My Famous (at least my DH says so) Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken cut into pieces (sometimes, I will just use half of a chicken one time & save the other half in the freezer for next time)
3 stalks celery & celery greens, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 bay leaves
1/2 bag egg noodles
powdered/paste soup base
hot sauce

Directions:
1. Cut chicken up into pieces (you can leave it whole, but I think it cooks better in pieces), leaving the skin on.
2. Put the pieces into a large soup pot & fill the pot with water, being sure to cover the pieces
3. Depending on how you want to do it and how much time you have, you can rough chop (very large pieces) some carrots, celery, bay leaves & onions and put them in the pot to be strained out later, along with a clove of garlic. Usually, I don't have a ton of time & I will just chop them the size that I want them to be in the soup & I don't strain them out, since DH likes them on the mushy side anyway.
4. Add a generous amount of salt to the water (a tablespoon or so to start with) as well as 2 tbsp of soup base and 1/4 tsp pepper - bring to a boil. I usually end up adding more soup base later, to taste.
5. Once it comes to a boil, skim off the foam, cover & reduce to low, simmer (for up to an hour and a half).
6. Once the chicken is finished cooking & you are happy with the flavor of the broth, remove the chicken pieces & remove the meat from the bones, once cooled. I usually chop it pretty fine, but you can just tear it up, too.
7. If you are straining the stock veggies out, now is the time to do it. Add the new veggies back into the pot with the broth & chicken.
8. Shake in 1/2 to 1 tsp hot sauce. Trust me! You won't taste the "heat" at all, but it will give you that warm-from-the-inside-out feeling!
9. Finally, add in the egg noodles & boil until done. Alternately, you can cook the noodles separately so that your broth isn't all soaked up by the noodles, but I like it that way.

Enjoy!