Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Well the school bus is yet again holding me up in the mornings....yep fall is here. I just adore fall but I would have liked a little more summer. I recently saw on the news that every holiday weekend this summer was rainy!! Boo! Oh well, I'm burning my pumpkin spice candles, already made an apple pie from my parents' orchard and starting to make some nice hearty dishes for dinner. Bring on fall.

This is just the perfect soup to welcome fall. It is thick, rich, healthy and will keep everyone full. If I liked mushrooms I would have added them to this soup. They would probably go perfectly, so if you like the fungi toss them in. I make my soups really nice and thick so beware that the next day I usually have to add a little extra water or broth to loosen this up again. Give this soup a try when fall calls you to make some comfort food.

Ingredients

Makes 8 servings

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup flour

6 cups chicken broth (homemade if you have it)

1 1/2 cups uncooked wild rice

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup orzo (I tossed this in on a whim, optional)

2 cups shredded or cubed cooked chicken ( I used the left over chicken off a roasted whole chicken, then made homemade broth from the carcass.)

1 cup whole milk

Directions

1. Add olive oil to large, heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion, celery, carrots and garlic and saute for about 5 minutes. Then add the the flour and stir well. Let the flour cook for a minute or two. Slowly add the chicken broth a cup at a time, stirring constantly. Bring just to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer to let the soup thicken up.
2. Next, add the rice, salt, curry powder, mustard powder, thyme and ground black pepper. Simmer on low for about 30 minutes then add the orzo (if using) and simmer for another 25 minutes until rice is tender. When rice and orzo is tender, add the chicken and milk and allow to heat through. Serve with fresh parsley if desired.

Recipe by me.

Jungle Animal Cupcakes

I don't have a recipe to share but thought I would post these fun jungle animal cupcakes my sister and I made for my brother's baby shower. We used this tutorial I found on YouTube but changed the monkey up a bit, made some fun owls just because and I did one special butterfly cupcake for my Grandma's 80th birthday (which was also the day of the shower). The cupcakes

were a lot of fun to make and they were liked by all.