Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

This has become a favorite in our house, and it's the perfect soup to enjoy on such a cold day. I think we hit a low of 5 degrees in Chicago, not that I would know since we didn't venture out today. I try to stick with recipes that are not difficult or complicated with lots of strange ingredients, and this one is no exception. It's another easy one with great results. I've made it a lot and have tweaked the original recipe...it seems to work well for us!

Recipe: Adapted from Real Mom Kitchen
Ingredients:

• 2 split chicken breasts (or 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts)
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 qt. chicken stock or broth
• 1 qt. water
• ½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 3 large carrots, sliced
• 3 celery stalks, sliced
• 3 teaspoons salt

For the cream sauce:

• ¾ cup butter
• 1 cup flour (sometimes I use 1/2 white with 1/2 whole wheat flour for a nuttier taste)
• 4 cups milk

Directions:

1. Boil above ingredients for 1 hours. When chicken is tender, remove from broth and remove from bones. Cut into 1 inch pieces and set aside(I like to tear mine so it's in big chunks). 
2. If the liquid has reduced too much you can add some more water at this point. Add 2 cups of uncooked noodles and continue to boil for 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, melt butter in large sauce pan. Whisk in flour, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly until thickened (get it pretty thick). Add salt and pepper. 
4. Add cream sauce to broth/noodle mixture. If the soup is too thin after adding the cream mixture, continue cooking until desired thickness.

Note: Once your cream sauce has thickened, do not allow to boil as it may separate. Also, if cream sauce has a strong white sauce flavor, add ½ to 1 tsp. lemon juice.