Creamy Mushroom and Chicken Soup

Hello, everyone!  I don't know about where you are, but here fall is fully upon us!  Well, mostly upon us...it's still a little bit warmer than I would like, but the cooler temperatures will come!  I made a big batch of this soup the other night, with the feeling of, "If I make cold weather food, clearly the cold weather will come..."

I know that's how it works, and no, you can't try to tell me that weather just has natural patterns all on its own.  I know it's because I start making vats of soup in late September!
Weather issues aside, I do love making soups, because they're easy, and my four year old daughter loves to help, and soups are a great dish for her to help with; I chop the veggies, and she puts them in the pot.  She's much more likely to snack on some veggies while she's putting them in the pot, and she always does.  She loves carrots, but she was really chowing down on the carrots, celery, and chicken while we were working on this soup!
Anyway, lets all put this soup together, and bring the cold weather on!

Here's your grocery list for this one:

2-3 boneless/skinless chicken breasts

1 tsp Kosher salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried parsley flakes

2 Tbs butter, unsalted

2-4 garlic cloves, minced

3 carrot sticks

2 celery sticks

8 oz mushrooms of choice

1 tsp dried thyme

1/4 C all purpose flour

4 C chicken stock

1-2 bay leaves

1/2 C heavy cream

1 sprig fresh rosemary

Parsley for garnish

As usual, it seems like a lot, but you probably have most of this in your pantry already!  So, like I always do when I make chicken for a soup, I roast it in the oven (400* for 35 minutes) in the morning, so when I'm ready to shred it for the soup, it has cooled down, and I'm not burning my fingers off!  I seasoned my chicken with the garlic powder, Kosher salt, and dried oregano, and popped it in the oven to roast.  When you're ready to build the rest of your soup, peel your carrots and cut them up into small bite sized pieces, along with your cleaned celery.

While you're cutting up the carrots and celery, put the butter in a pot over medium heat, and let it melt while you're busy chopping.  I know, exciting pictures here :-)

Once your butter has melted, add in the carrots and celery, letting the soften over medium heat while you cut up the mushrooms into bite sized pieces.  You don't want to have any color on your carrots and veggies, so if they start to brown, turn your heat down.  Once your mushrooms are cut up, mince up your garlic, and add both to the carrots and celery.

Season to taste with some more Kosher salt; I added about 1/2 tsp, but add it to your taste.  Stir and cook until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute or so.  Add in the dried thyme, and cook for another 30 seconds.

After you add in the dried thyme, and let it cook for a few seconds, add in the flour, and let it coat the veggies, and cook (while stirring fairly constantly), for 1-2 minutes.  This will form a thick paste, and this is what you want to look for.

Add in the chicken stock, and bay leaf; shred your chicken up, and stir that into your newly formed soup.  

Once everything is stirred together, add in the sprig of fresh rosemary; I didn't take the needles off, because I just wanted a hint of the flavor to come through.  However, it's up to you if you want to strip the sprig and cut up the herb.  At this point, I just turned my soup down to the lowest setting on my stove up, and gave my daughter a bath.  I walked away from this for about an hour and a half, and it was totally fine.  Just before serving this, stir in the heavy cream, and top with the parsley, if you want it.
This soup is creamy and slightly thickened by the flour, but it is bursting with so much flavor, that I'll overlook that it is still in the mid-70's outside!