Homemade Chicken Soup for The Freezing Chicago Winter.

It's almost winter! Insane blizzards, blistering winds, and grueling transportation from your own legs to the bus is just about to arrive! For all you winter lovers and haters out there (I'm a hater), here's a recipe that should warm you up inside regardless of the relationship you have with old man winter. It's a quick and low budget lunch/dinner that will put a smile on your face :)

Ingredients:
1.) ~2.5 cups of mirepoix (meaning diced carrots, onions, and celery). However, due to my incompetency at grocery shopping, I instead just used carrots and onions and upped the portions to cover the celery. I know, shame on me.
2.) 1 large chicken breast
3.) 2-3 chicken bouillon cubes
4.) 3/4 tbsp of oregano
5.) 1/2 cup of macaroni (of your choice, elbow or not. I used wheels)
6.) Salt and pepper to taste
7.) 1.2 tbsp of starch dissolved in three tbsp of water (optional)
8.) ~3.5 cups of water (you can use chicken stock but just adjust the salt content accordingly since most pre-made stocks have high salt content and the bouillon cubes)
9.)

Directions!
1.) Prepare the mirepoix with washing and dicing of the veggies. I must stress: people wash your veggies before consuming!
2.) Dice chicken the chicken breast into cubes and mix with a few pinches of salt and a pinch of pepper. Note: In this step, it's okay to be a little more heavy handed with the salt since I'm using water instead of stock. But, don't go over board. Keep in mind the salt content of the bouillon cubes. Some have higher sodium than others.

Since I didn't have celery, I used one small onion and 1.5 carrots

Dice up the chicken and mirepoix. I used 1/4 cup of macaroni.

3.) In a pot, add some oil on the bottom (olive oil works best) and heat up. Adding the seasoned chicken cubes in, keep the pot on high heat and let the chicken brown a bit. Once the chicken starts to brown, add the mirepoix. Stir the contents.

Add chicken to brown first, then veggies. 

4.) Once the mirepoix soften a bit (you can tell by the onions), add bouillon cubes and oregano. Stir the contents and let the bouillon cubes to start dissolving. Add water (or stock) and bring the pot to a boil with the lid on. This should take about 8-10 minutes.

Once soften, add bouillon cubes and oregano. 

Add either stock or water and bring to boil.

5.) Once at a boil, turn the heat down to a medium and add macaroni. Please keep in mind that you're free to add as much as you please, but these little macaroni bits do double/triple in size. So, even though a 1 bag of macaroni seems insufficient for three people, it is.
6.) [Optional] This is a fairly "thin" soup, so if you want thicker, follow this step: Using ingredient #7, add into soup after it comes to a boil. The starch is diluted first for a reason--it prevents clumping. The starch should be mixed to avoid clumps and then added.
7.) Leave lid on and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and serve. Enjoy!

Final product. Fairly easy and delicious.

Close up of final product.

Afterthoughts: This was pretty good. Personally, I'm not a big fan of American soups but this was a nice meal. For me, the salt content and taste worked out just fine for me. I can't say for sure for others (depending on what they're using also). I'm also glad that I didn't put in celery since I'm not a big fan of the cooked kind. This took me less than a half hour to make so it's a good late night meal too. Serves about four people. I hope you enjoy!

Costs:
1.) 1 chicken breast = $0.75
2.) Mirepoix = $1.25
3.) Bouillon cubes & spices = $1.00
Total Cost = $3.00 for a 4 servings.