Quick & Easy Chicken & Rice Soup

5 Things I LOVE about soups:

1. They're easy
2. They're tasty
3. They stretch
4. They're inexpensive
5. They're healthy (for the most part :) )

Here's a soup I made for dinner last night.  We had our fill for dinner, ate it again for lunch today, and still have one or two rounds left of it! Seriously...how can you not love soup?  When you make soup, remember that it's just as easy to make a huge soup as it is to make a small one.  Make more than you need for your meal.  You can freeze the extra for a later meal, or simply refrigerate them to serve as lunches throughout the week.  Yum!

Ingredients:

1 T extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

3-4 medium carrots, divided in half the long way and sliced

2 celery stalks, divided in half the long way and sliced

8 oz frozen peas

dried parsley

celery seed or salt

24 oz chicken stock

2-3 c water

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

2 cups cooked rice

salt & pepper

Directions:

Place oil in a soup pot over medium heat.  Add onion, garlic, carrots, & celery.  Cook and stir for about 6 minutes until veggies are soft but not browned.  Add frozen peas, parsley, and celery seed.  Pour in the chicken broth and water.  Bring the liquid to a boil.  Stir in shredded chicken and cooked rice.  Season with salt & pepper to taste.  Simmer on low until ready to serve.

*Note: for the shredded chicken, I just throw the chicken breasts in a pot with 2 cups of water and boil until they're cooked through (30 min. or so).  Once they're cooled, I shred them with a fork.  

Enjoy!