Chicken & Noodles with Vegetables

Thanks to a cookbook I have called 'Fast Fix Family Food', I have found a delectable new dish to share. The gist: egg noodles, chicken, carrots, celery, onion, and cream of chicken soup. The result? The perfect lunch, dinner and source of leftovers for days. The recipe did say that you could make it in a slow cooker (on low for 8-9 hours or high for 4-5 hours), but I wanted to make it faster, so I did:

2 cups sliced carrots (4 medium)
1 1/2 cups chopped onion (3 medium)
1 cup sliced celery (2 stalks)
2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley
1 bay leaf
3 medium chicken legs (drumstick thigh portion)- about 2 pounds total, skinned
2 10.75-oz. cans reduced-fat and reduced-sodium condensed cream of chicken soup
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
10 ounces dried wide noodles (about 5 cups)
1 cup frozen peas

Note: I only had 1 onion, and didn't have any parsley, celery or peas. I made it anyway, and it was still delicious. Flexibility in the kitchen is okay (when cooking, anyway. I might not be so flexible if I was baking).

What to do: (if you're using a crock pot/slow cooker)

1) In a 3 1/2 or 4 quart slow cooker, stir together carrot, onion, celery, parsley and bay leaf. Place chicken on top of vegetables. In a bowl, stir together soup, 1/2 cup water, thyme and 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper. Pour over chicken in the slow cooker.
2) Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 9 hours on or on high-heat setting for 4 to 4 1/2 hours. Remove chicken from slow cooker; cool slightly. Discard bay leaf.
3) Cook noodles according to package directions; drain. Remove chicken from bones and shred or chop; discard bones. Stir chicken and peas into mixture in slow cooker. To serve, spoon over noodles. Makes 6 servings.

On the stove: I steamed the veggies in a saucepan, added the soup and a little water, added the spices and added the (chopped up) chicken to boil/cook. Then I started the noodles in a large pot and let the 1st mixture (with chicken) continue bubbling throughout the noodles' cooking time. I made sure to store the noodles and the chicken/sauce separately so that it didn't get too mushy. This is definitely a keeper and was pretty easy.