Home Made Egg Noodles.....Heavenly

I have been on this comfort food kick lately. I can't even begin to tell you. When you dream of mashed potatoes is there something wrong with you? The great thing is....I joined Weight Watchers the end of September and I can eat this kind of food and still loose weight. It's a little tricky when you are making a conglomerate of food like say....home made egg noodles....but Weight Watchers is a tool about teaching you to use portion control & about making healthy food choices. I must say, I have consistently lost weight each week, through each major holiday (I do have that monthly gain that I can't seem to shake) and have not eaten 'diet food'. I eat a wide array of foods from all the food groups and that has been such a huge positive in my life. Let me mention these gorgeous eggs in the photo.....these are from my new hens. I have a brown egg in the picture to give you a contrast.....but the eggs are blue. Aren't they gorgeous, and I used them to make my famous home made egg noodles.

Here they are all rolled out. They are just so easy to make I really can't even tell you. Seriously, almost as easy as driving to the store and buying a package and boiling. Plus, you get that added bonus of making something totally from scratch.....and don't forget....there is a workout involved. It is hard work rolling out the dough. Also, I used half whole wheat flour & half white flour. Next time I am going to use all whole wheat flour. This was the first time that I have used whole wheat flour because I was scared they wouldn't be light enough....let me just tell you the texture of these noodle was terrific....the best ever in my opinion. See my cool noodle cutter??? I got it in my brother-in-laws trash!!! You will hear about him later in this post. Can you believe he got rid of this cool tool? I haven't completely mastered it because I like my noodles thin....but I make a first pass....then I cut them again....and I can't do it straight....twice!!! I am getting there. I must add....I am not buying a pasta machine. That would take all the JOY of noodle making away from me.

Here are my UN-EVEN-LY cut noodles. But I think they are quite charming. They are heavenly I can surely attest to that. Here is the great thing. I made them into chicken-n-noodles for pennies on the dollar. I can't tell you how much celery, onions, & carrots I put in & my son Lincoln says 'Mom....you could even add more next time!!!' More veggies from a 15 year old???? Wow. My husband Jeff said....'can you make some peas with this tomorrow?' What planet did he fall from? They are asking me for vegetables??? I served mine with a big can of salt free green beans & my daughter said 'oh that's a good idea!!!' So....we sure did get a lot of healthy mileage out of this batch of chicken-n-noodles. I saw a little road side sign the other day that read 'Noodles for sale'....one thing for sure....that sign will not be posted in my front yard when I am a little old lady.....if so I might be buying that pasta machine.

Remember I mentioned I would be talking about my brother-in-law? Well Andy is the greatest. I have known him most of my life. He is my best friends brother & he married my sister.....go figure. He is a chef & we are competitive. Each year for the past 3 years at Thanksgiving, we have been having noodle competition. My noodles vary with the changing of flavors of stocks....his noodles vary with I don't know what. I get my votes by consistency....he gets his votes by well ummmm his daughters. No one ever really wins.....we use the same noodle recipe. This year I used duck eggs from my flock....he said I was cheating because he didn't have any female ducks. We even have the same pan....because I had to have the same noodle pan. It's not even a 'noodle' pan....but all the kids call it the 'noodle' pan. It's those little traditions that keep families going. I hope you have enjoyed my home made noodles enough to want to roll out a few of your own. They really are easy...and you will feel so accomplished. Here's the recipe. Give it a try. Blessings.

Egg Noodles

1 1/2 Whole Wheat Flour

1 1/2 White Flour

1 1/2 baking powder

3 T. butter

1/2 tsp. salt

3 eggs

5 T. milk

Mix Flours, baking powder, butter, & salt in Cuisinart fitted with a blade until combined. Add eggs one at a time until mixed into a dough. Add in milk until combined. Take out dough ball and wrap in saran wrap. Let rest on counter for 30 minutes. Take out 1 cup sections and roll into rectangles 1/8" thick on floured counter. Cut into 1/4 " strips or those of desired width. Lay between waxed paper lined sections on baking sheet & sprinkle with flour. Can make night before or morning before. Rest in refrigerator or on counter. Boil in hot boiling broth 4-10 minutes until desired tenderness.