Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup with Dumplings

This is one of my favorite meals ever!! Its a family recipe and I decided its time to share this amazing meal with others!! :) About half of my family love the dumplings (me included) and the other half aren't fans of them so making the dumplings are entirely optional.

Soup:
2 Chicken Breasts, sliced into bite size pieces
3 Large cans Chicken Broth OR 10 cups Water and 10 tsp Chicken Bouillon
1 Sweet Onion, chopped
6 Stalks Celery, chopped
6 Carrots, chopped

Put all ingredients into pot, cook until Chicken is done. I cook it for about 2 hours on med-low heat.

Noodles:
3 Eggs ( I use 4 eggs because we like more noodles)
1 tsp Salt
2-2 1/2 Cups flour (2 1/2-3 cups if you used 4 eggs)

Mix together and roll out until dough is about 1/8" thick. Use pizza cutter and cut dough into noodles. Add to Chicken Soup. Cook for at least 45 minutes. Covered. (I like thicker noodles so i cut mine a little thicker. You can cut them as thin/thick as you like.)

Dumplings: (optional)

1 cup Milk

13 Tablespoons Butter (2/3 Cup)

1 cup Flour

3 Eggs

1 Tablespoon Salt

1/2 Bunch FRESH Parsley

Bring milk to boil. Add butter and salt, stirring constantly. When melted turn down heat to LOW add flour and mix immediately. When stiff add one egg at a time and mix well between eggs. Add Parsley. Mix well for a few minutes. Remove from heat. NEXT: Remove the noodles and most of the chicken and veggies so there is mainly broth in the pot. (the dumplings are very sensitive and i have found they cook better when just in broth) Bring Broth to BOIL and place dumplings in by the spoonful, one by one. COVER (VERY important... DO NOT lift the lid) and turn heat down to med-low and cook for 25 minutes. When done remove them from the broth and set aside in separate bowl. Add noodles, chicken and veggies back to pot. Serve soup and top with dumplings, if desired. Serve with Salad and Enjoy!