Cooking With The Wheats: Chicken And Rice Soup (Until the hubs walked in!)

I Love Soup, My family Loves soup, my momma (yep, I talk about her a lot!) can whip up a soup in no time and will cook a roast or something and then cut up the left overs for soup! She has taught me everything I know about starting a soup, soup is just one of those things that you really can't screw up, and you can add as much to as you want- Meat, Beans, Rice, pasta, tomatoes, carrots, celery, onion, peas, green beans, potatoes, garlic, water, milk, butter, broth, quinoa, corn, gnocchi, etc. the list is endless! I think I want to cook an "Everything but the Kitchen Sink Soup" I just don't think you can mess it up!

Just the other day, my husband was wanting something that he was going to have to go the store for- I did NOT want to wait for him to go and get back so I said I would just make some soup.. I had been wanting something lite and decided to make Chicken and Rice Soup- when I was half way finished Dustin, husband came in and asked if I would add pasta to it- so since I think you can add anything to soup I said why not- It turned out great and I believe he had 3 bowls (plus this was a much healthier choice than what he had wanted to begin with!)

My Ingredients-
~1 cup of Rice prepared as directed on package
I use a blend of rice called TruRice from Costco that has Quinoa in it (which is high in protein and very good!)
~3 chicken breast thawed and chopped (I use the kitchen shears to do this)
~about 1/4 cup of Olive Oil (just enough to cover the bottom of my pot)
~I used chopped celery, carrots, and onion for my starter (I chopped with the Pampered Chef food chopper on a Flexible cutting mat so I could just dump it all right into the pot)
~4 cloves of garlic minced/pressed (with the Garlic Press) you could use already minced if you need
~a little salt and pepper (not much just enough to get the flavor going)
~ a tablespoon of Italian Seasoning (the pampered chefs)
~a tablespoon of dried basil (I Will use fresh herbs when I have them, its just what I prefer and i love the smell!)
~a box of broth (chicken or vegetable)
~and about 4 cups of water
~a cup of frozen peas
~now either add or omit my husbands request- 2 cups of dry Pasta- whatever kind we actually had a whole bunch of different types of pasta that Dustin mixed together in a container so when I used it in the soup we didn't know what all pasta we would find and it was really fun for the kids!

-Start by preparing your rice like the directions say to do
-dethaw and chop the chicken
-add olive oil to the pot
-now add chopped vegetables (not the peas)
-add the garlic (I just used the garlic press and pressed it straight into the pot)
-add salt and pepper and herbs
-cook for about 6 minutes on medium high to sort of saute' it together
-now add your chicken and cook until it all turns nice and white!
-now add the peas
-pour in your broth
-stir and pour in water (sort of watch this, if you are not adding the pasta it may get to thin for you)
-add your cooked rice
-and if you wish, at this time bring to a slow boil and add your pasta
-cover and let simmer (medium-medium/low heat) for at least 15- 20 minutes

PS I also think some white kidney beans would have been great as well!

my favorite rice at the moment!