Chicken Noodle Soup

So a few blogs back, I mentioned my son's change in eating his meals. In particular lunch and dinner really suffered. A week of no snacks after 4 pm, was quite testing. I had to keep him pre occupied with an activity so his mind wouldn't drift to biscuits and other munchies. I cut out heavier snacks like bananas, sandwiches and dry fruit and just offered fruit like strawberries and melon. However it was very hard on playdates. While my eldest was happy indulging on breadsticks and cream cheese, he was feeling left out which would result in either a stroppy toddler or a stroppy daughter (after I'd hidden the snacks). By the end of it, I just couldn't control snacks if we were out of the house. On Friday, we were home and I didn't offer the kids snacks after 4, which meant I couldn't snack either. I felt so irritable without a biscuit at tea time! Why was I suffering in all this?! By the end of the week, I had forgotten why I had implemented these strategies in the first place. The result was that some days it worked and others it didn't.

Now my mind has been distracted with my son's cold that developed over the weekend. His eating is erratic now, dinner at 5 pm yesterday of poached egg and a glass of milk and some more dinner at 630 of boiled rice and sai bhaji (spinach with lentils and 5 vegetables), and a large bowl of blueberry yoghurt.

Today I've made a soup for him, filled with vegetables, chicken, noodles and of course spices! I used a pressure cooker and allowed 2 whistles, however you can use the conventional method below.

For 4 portions:

1 spring onion
1 garlic pod crushed
2 bay leaves
4 black peppercorns
1 clove
1 sprig of rosemary leaves
1 small carrot
1/2 courgette
1 baby potatoes
1 small chicken leg or thigh
handful of raw noodles
salt to taste

1. In a large pan, sautee the whole spices, rosemary, garlic and spring onion in a tablespoon of olive oil.
2. Add the vegetables roughly chopped.
3. Now add the chicken (still on the bone) and water till it covers three fourths of the pan.
4. Put a lid on and cook for 35-45 mins till the vegetables are softened and the chicken is cooked through.
5. Now remove the chicken and shred the pieces, put the pieces back in the pan.
6. Remove the bay leaves and clove, and blend the soup now.
7. Add the noodles now and simmer on low heat till the noodles are cooked.
Serve with warm bread and butter