Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

Kendra. KENDRA.

First off, I haven't been cooking much. I'll take something out to thaw and mom and dad will call and tell me they're BBQing. Or the in-laws will call and ask us out. Or Will mentions Sonic and we're out the door (I can never resist a corn dog and small tots, no sirree). I did make a pot roast, but we all know how to do that. Then the leftovers were shredded up, barbecue sauce was added, buns were toasted - that's simple enough. Also, don't tell anybody, but we have eaten like six frozen pizzas in the last couple of weeks.

Yeah. I'm not lying.

You know I am a stress-bucket right now, plus we're going on a little vacay this weekend...will I ever cook again? Probably not. Ever. My kids will be eating Frito pies at a drive-in and slices of greasy Red Baron pepperoni until they move out.

And we don't even have kids yet, so.

HOWEVER. Remember that one cool day we had? Wasn't that nice? Ok, well the insanely hot day AFTER THAT NICE FALL DAY, I made some soup. It is my favorite soup ever ever. It's a bastardization of an internet recipe I found. Isn't that the best kind? And it's just in time for fall! FALL, KENDRA. Some people call it autumn.

Also, it's kind of thick so I think it would be perfect for Mr. Toddlerpants who sometimes apparently can't remember the spoon goes in food-side up. And Will is not a soup man but he loves this stuff, so I think it's good for non-soup people. It's hubby approved on my end.

Also, this recipe is so, so half-assed. Sorry in advance.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

1 box of Uncle Ben's Wild Rice, the original recipe (already we're starting off super healthy, right? ahem)
6 tbsps of butter (yeah, I said it)
1 small onion, chopped up tiny
4 or 5 stalks of celery, also tinily chopped
1/3 cup of flour
4 cups of chicken broth (I guess more if you want this to be more soupy)
8 or so carrots peeled and sliced and diced (biteable pieces, you know what you want floating around in there - and how much)
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut up (again with the biteable)
salt and pepper (shoop)
1/2 cup slivered almonds (TRUST ME, find them in the baking aisle with the other nuts, HA)
3/4 cups of half and half

Cook your rice like the good Unc tells ya. Cook your chicken while that's going on and cut up your veggies. Rock your mise en place bowls. Put all that aside.

Melt the butter in a big old pot over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook for about 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Stir in the flour and cook another 5 minutes, until the whole thing is dark yellowish. It's gonna smell FANTASTIC. LIKE BUTTER AND LOVE, which are synonymous.

Whisk in your chicken broth and keep whisking until all the flour lumps are gone. Stir in the carrot. Bring it to a simmer and cook until the carrot is tender, whisking pretty often (I almost never do anything "constantly"). It'll thicken up, trust me.

Stir in the rice, chicken, salt, pepper, and almonds. Return to a simmer, and cook it all up until it's hot, a couple of minutes. Stir in your half-and-half and bring it to a boil. Then turn it all off and serve that shit up in some mugs or cheap-ass bowls in front of the TV or on the porch if it's cool enough when you make this.

You had better make this and report back. Little sister ain't playing.