Pioneer Woman Inspired Chicken Noodle Stew

I love to take recipes that I know and love and find ways to make them fit into a healthy lifestyle!  While the original version of this dish is delectable, a few small tweaks makes it a little more fit-fam-friendly.  I kept most of the basics the same and just pumped up the veggies, decreased the carbs, and tweaked the portion size a bit.  

Pioneer Woman Inspired Chicken Noodle Stew

Serves 6-8 

64 oz of Low-sodium (organic if you can find it) Chicken Broth*

2-3 pounds of chicken, cooked*

1 medium onion, diced

4 stalks of celery, diced

6-8 carrots, diced

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon ground thyme

8 oz egg noodles (the homestyle ones in the freezer section are the best!)

1/2 cup half-and-half

Pour chicken broth into a large stock pot and bring to a boil.  Add chicken, onions, celery and carrots to the pot.  Add seasonings and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes.  Stir in the noodles and simmer until the noodles are to the desired doneness.  Stir in half-and-half to make it nice and creamy.  

If you are a fixer, this equates to 1 Red, 1 Green, 1 Yellow, and 2 teaspoons.  

Let me know if you try it out!

*You can use a whole 2-3 pound chicken, cook in water with salt and pepper, to make your own chicken and broth.  Place the chicken in a large stock pot and cover with water.  Bring the water to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes.  Once the chicken is done remove from water, shred chicken, return bones to the pot and boil for 20 minutes.  Remove the bones.  Chicken, broth - done! 

Or you can cheat like I did - boil boneless, skinless chicken breasts for 20ish minutes and use boxed chicken broth.  :)