Easy Chicken Soup

What do you have for lunch? I'm curious.

Lunch is my least favorite meal of the day. I'm such a snacker. If I'm working in an office and someone puts cookies out, I'm going to have (at least) one. I also spend most of my day looking forward to dinner, so a big lunch often feels like a commitment. For me, soup always seems like a good option, especially in the colder weather.

Lately, I've been going to Hale and Hearty almost every day. I'm slightly embarrassed by how often I've been going, and it's getting expensive!

The last time I was at my parent's house, my mom made a really tasty pot of chicken soup in about 20 minutes.  Saturday was a wet day in New York, so I grabbed what I had in the fridge and tried to replicate it. It came out pretty well, and now I have lunch for most of the week!

Do you have a favorite soup recipe? I'd love to try something new.

Here's what I did:

Ingredients:
2 tbspn. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic
3-4 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4" rounds
1 stalk of celery, chopped
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into small chunks
1 tbspn. tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 spring thyme
6 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup small noodles
S&P to taste

What I did: 
Heat olive oil over medium heat.
Add onion and cook for several minutes--until it's becoming translucent.
Throw in garlic, carrots, and celery. Season with salt and pepper and cook 10-15 minutes on low heat, until they begin to soften.
Toss in a bay leaf
Add tomato paste and chicken and stir. Cook for a couple of minutes.
Add chicken broth.
Turn heat up to high until it boils. Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked through.
Add pasta and cook for time the box or bag suggests.
Note: I undercooked my pasta as I'll re-heat later.

Voila! Easy, healthy, and hopefully tasty lunch. Serve with bread and cheese b/c all meals are better when bread and cheese are infolved.

I should also note that my son's daycare asks parents to provide lunch for the kids. I recently bought this tiny thermos and have heard that soup has been a hit at lunchtime.

p.s. I'm still working on my pictures of food. I promise it tasted better than it looks.