Wild Rice Chicken Soup

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Each week during winter we have a homemade soup. Normally, I'm not a fan of wild rice, but I saw this recipe on Pinterest and thought it would do well for Sunday (plus leftovers on Monday). The recipe was pretty simple and inexpensive. However, chicken breasts were up there this past week, so we bought chicken drumsticks instead.

Instead of adding in the chicken breasts when the recipe suggests, I pre-cooked the 6 chicken drumsticks (skins removed) in my small crock pot overnight with my own  little mixture:

1 onion, sliced - laid along the bottom

2 cups herb chicken stock

1 tsp Italian seasoning

2 tsp garlic powder

3 tsp cubed butter

salt

pepper

Then before church (9am, oh yeah), I removed and discarded the bones from the drumsticks (the meat practically fell off the bones at that point, very easy), and added the chicken pieces to the regular recipe in my big crock pot (minus the celery). I think it worked out better that way.

"Ingredients:

4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (again, I used 6 drumsticks instead)
1 package of Rice-a-Roni long grain and wild rice
1/2 tsp salt (plus more to taste)
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup butter (I used that fake "can't believe it's not butter" cube)
2 cups half and half (I used 1 cup fat-free half and half, and one cup whole Ryan's whole milk)
1 cup grated carrots (I just sliced baby carrots in half and threw them in)
1 cup diced celery (I always find myself picking the celery out of soup, so I didn't add it at all)

Directions:

Combine broth, water, carrots, celery, chicken and rice (along with seasoning packet) in a large slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours. Take out chicken and shred with two forks and then add back into slow cooker. In a small bowl combine salt, pepper, and flour. In medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in flour mixture by tablespoon to form a roux. Whisk in cream, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Stir cream mixture into slow cooker and then let cook on low for 15 more minutes. "

We at this with crunchy bread (multi grain bread lightly brushed with olive oil, broiled until darkened). 

Ryan loved this. He made me promise I'd make it for his birthday with some kind of fish (yuck). So I have until November to learn how to make salmon....