My hubs has the crud and said that he wanted some chicken noodle soup. Since Campbell’s is out of the question, I searched Pinterest for a canned-like, clean, chicken noodle soup with NO vegetables (per his request. He’s not a veggie fan).

That apparently doesn’t exist.

Despite my very best mothering efforts, I can’t reverse 40 years of vegetable-hating or turn my three boys into fancy eaters overnight. I was on my own.

The recipe that follows is what I came up with. It is super simple and PLAIN. It’s perfect kid-food. Or husband-food if he hates vegetables and wants some comfort soup. Campbell’s it ain’t, but it was as close as I could come and keep it healthy!

Jama’s Own Clean Chicken Noodle Soup

1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into TINY cubes
32oz organic, low-sodium chicken broth (I used Harvest Organic from Ingles)
6oz (half a bag) of Whole Wheat No Yolks egg noodles
garlic powder
salt
pepper
crushed red pepper

Get 3qts of water boiling in a large pot for the egg noodles (per package directions). Cook the chicken through with just a splash of chicken broth. Add garlic powder, crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper – all to taste. Add the rest of the chicken broth to the chicken and spices and let simmer while your noodles are cooking. When the noodles are ALMOST done, drain, return to pot, and add chicken and broth. I let the noodles finish cooking in the chicken and broth mixture so that they had a little flavor. I’m guessing about 10 minutes? I gave it a couple of tastes before it was just right. Boom. Chicken noodle soup.

This was a HUGE hit – like everyone got seconds kind of huge hit. The next time I make it, I’ll cook some veggies separately to add in to mine and the kids’ bowls. Tonight I just made some grilled cheese on whole wheat sourdough bread. Comfort food that I can feel good about!

Here’s the deal, y’all – not everything has to be fancy. Kids generally don’t like fancy stuff and, while I do cook a lot that requires a more mature palate, there is nothing wrong with making something super simple that you know your family will love. Tweak it, make it healthy, and enjoy it!

<3 Jama

Every Friday is pizza night at my house, and has been for a few years now. We’ve gone from buying different types of dough from the store, to using french bread from the grocery’s bakery, to making my own dough from scratch. Whenever we decided to cut out sugar and white flour, I was tasked with discovering a pizza dough that would make my boys happy that didn’t include the offending ingredients. It was easier than I expected!

I took my old recipe, switched to whole wheat or spelt flour (whichever I happened to have on hand) and just cut out the sugar. That’s it. And it’s GOOD!

Jama’s Easy Clean Pizza

2.5-3 cups whole grain flour (wheat, spelt, or a mixture of those with a potato or rice flour)
3 1/2 teaspoons quick-rising yeast
1 cup hot water (from the tap is fine, but make sure it’s HOT!)
pinch of salt

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1C flour, yeast, and salt, and blend well. Gradually add water to mixture. Blend at a low speed until moistened, then beat for 2 minutes at medium speed. By hand, add 1.5-2 cups flour until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. On a floured surface, knead in 1/4 to 1/2 cup flour until dough is smooth and elastic. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in a warm place for about 15 minutes.

Divide dough in half and press out onto two pizza pans (I use pizza stones…do that if you have them!) and prick randomly with a fork. Let rest again in a warm place for 10-15 minutes while your oven preheats to 450.

Bake at 450 for 5 minutes.

Add sugar-free pasta sauce or some roma tomatoes, cheese, and your favorite toppings and bake for another 5 minutes or until desired doneness.

<3 Jama