Welcome, Fall!

Ahhh, it's getting to be that time of year. I love this time of year because we're not in the arctic zone of freezing cold yet, but the leaves are turning beautiful fall colors and the holidays are just around the corner. We're so excited for Halloween (if you can't tell from my previous Banana post) and went out and bought some White Chocolate Candy Corn M&Ms. Lemmie tell you. These things are YUMMY! And I HATE white chocolate and am not much of a fan of candy corns, either. But these are SO GOOD that I despise them. Yep, they're sitting there on my counter, in my pumpkin-shaped, clear dish, beckoning to me, along with their friends, peanut butter and peanut M&Ms.

And speaking of delicious, fattening foods, I thought I would post my favorite soup/fall recipe of all time. Those who know me well know that I make this soup every fall and it is SO FREAKING good. You may have had some good chicken and rice soup before, but it wasn't as good as this. I promise. This isn't a recipe I made up, mind you, so I'm not gloating over my own creation. Although, I did make some little tweaks to it. I found this on allrecipes.com and have changed the title to one that is more fitting. Serve this with some yummy bread or rolls cuz you're gonna wanna scrape every last bit out of the bowl!

Creamy, Thick and Dreamy Chicken and Rice Soup

Ingredients:
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 roast chicken, cut up into small chunks (Costco is the best!!)
1 (4.5 oz.) package quick-cooking long grain and wild rice with seasoning packet
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 cup butter
2 cups heavy cream
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, chopped

1. In a large pot over medium heat, combine broth, water and chicken. Bring just to boiling, then stir in rice, reserving seasoning packet. Cover and remove from heat.
2. In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper and flour. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in contents of seasoning packet until mixture is bubbly. Reduce heat to low, then stir in flour mixture by tablespoons, to form a roux. Whisk in cream, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Add onion and cook until thickened, 5 minutes.
3. Stir cream mixture into broth and rice. Cook over medium heat until heated through, 10 to 15 minutes. 
4. Meanwhile, cook carrots in microwave until tender. Stir carrots into soup and serve.