Turkey Noodle Soup

I bought a turkey breast at the grocery store that was a little over nine pounds because we had company for dinner last week.  Even after cutting off a bunch of turkey for sandwiches, I still had a fair amount of turkey meat left on the bones, so I decided to make some turkey noodle soup.   Even though I associate soup with cold weather, it is delicious year round.  There's something about soup that brings instant comfort!!  My in-laws were great cooks and one of the many tips they gave me was to cook the noodles and soup separate from each other. I thought it was kind of unusual the first time they served me soup and did that, but if you think about it, it makes perfect sense.  If you add the noodles to the soup as you're cooking it, it absorbs a lot of the liquid!! If you don't have leftover turkey, you can use leftover chicken instead.  This recipe is great for either :)

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked and chopped turkey
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2  teaspoon marjoram
8 cups water
6 ounces egg noodles (uncooked)

Break turkey  bones into small enough pieces to fit into large stockpot.  Cover with enough water that it covers turkey bones.  Bring to boil, turn down to simmer, cover with lid and cook for 1/2 hour.  Remove from heat, let cool slightly and strain liquid through colander into large bowl (the colander will catch all the bones).  Pull remaining meat off bones and set aside.  Toss the bones :)  Pour the liquid back into the stockpot and add all the ingredients except the noodles.  Cover with lid and simmer until all the vegetables are tender (about 30-40 minutes).  Cook noodles as directed on package, drain and set aside.  Add desired amount of noodles to bottom of serving bowl and then add the soup.