Crockpot Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Serves 8-10

2 chicken breasts
¾ cup minced onion
¾ cup chopped celery
1 ½ cups chopped carrots
1 tsp salt
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp dried sage
½ tsp garlic powder
2/3 cup uncooked wild rice
4 cups chicken broth
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
¼ cup flour
2 cups whole milk

Place the chicken breasts, onion, celery, carrots, salt, thyme, sage, garlic powder, and wild rice into a crockpot. Stir in the chicken broth. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. Remove the chicken breasts to a plate and shred with two forks. Put back into the crockpot and cover.

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter. Whisk in flour and heat for 1 minute, whisking constantly. Pour in milk and continue to whisk until heated through. Stir milk mixture into crockpot, and let heat for 30 more minutes. Serve warm with crusty bread.

Tip: When you make this recipe, simply double your prep of the chicken, onion, celery, carrots, and spices. Place half in the crock pot and half in a large freezer zip top bag. Squeeze all the air out of the bag, and lay flat in the freezer. When you want to use it, thaw it in the refrigerator the night before. Pour the contents into a crockpot, add the rice and broth, and continue with the rest of the recipe.