Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

So, yes, I know that this is totally NOT the time of year to be sharing soup recipes. 

However, this is the only new thing I have made, and one of the few things I want to eat, so therefore this is the only thing I have to share with you!

Growing up my whole life, we never had chicken noodle soup all that much, and I was totally fine with that, because I just never really liked it. 

At all.

Not really sure why, but I think it was the lack of flavor sometimes, sometimes they are super watery and I hate that. Sometimes people would use rice instead of pasta, which I really, really, really didn't like! 

However, since being pregnant, I have craved chicken noodle soup a lot, for some reason. 

I could totally eat it Every.Single.Day. 

I don't want some exotic chicken noodle soup with weird things and flavors. I just want normal, flavorful yet subtle, chicken noodle soup. And not watery/brothy.....I want creamy.

I just realized I'm turning into a very picky person. 

Good grief. 

Anyways, turns out there is a million and one recipes for chicken noodle soup. The only thing I learned from all of them, is that it can literally take alllllllllllll day 

to make one pot of soup. 

No thank you. 

But I do realize to get a good, good soup, it just simply does take a while. So I picked apart a few recipes I found, and came up with this one! It usually takes me about an hour from start to finish....still seems long, but it's better than 8 hours, right?!

To me, it's the perfect combination of 

flavorful, creamy, comfort food. 

And it makes a TON, but it keeps in the fridge really well, and I eat on it all week long. I'm sure it probably freezes good too, but I haven't technically tried that yet. 

So whether you're feeling a little under the weather, or just in the mood for some good comfort food, I hope you give this a try!

6 cups low sodium chicken broth (make sure it's GF)
6 cups water
3-4 skinless chicken breasts or thighs (with or without bone)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups diced or sliced baby carrots
2 medium celery stalks, diced
2 heaping cups dry, gluten-free Rotini Pasta 
1 heaping cup fresh or frozen corn
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 cup milk 

Place water and chicken broth in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil, and add chicken. Cover and cook for 30 minutes. Remove chicken and any nasty little things that may be floating in the broth. Allow chicken to cool slightly, discard bones, if there is any, and shred meat with two forks (keep the broth covered and at a low boil).
In a medium skillet, heat olive oil slightly over medium-high heat. Add onions, carrots and celery. Saute until slightly tender, about 10-12 minutes.
Add the shredded chicken, sauteed vegetables, pasta and corn to the chicken broth. Cover and cook over medium heat for 12 minutes. 
Meanwhile, in the same skillet that you cooked the veggies in, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Whisk in cornstarch and Italian seasoning until smooth. Ladle in about one cup of the chicken broth from the soup pot. Whisk until smooth and thick. Add milk and mix well. Once the pasta is cooked, add the creamy mixture to the soup pot...very gently!! Stir to combine. 
Serve with muffins, garlic toast, grilled cheese, biscuits, good ole' bread and butter......anything you want!!! 

Note:
-Honesty moment: My chicken is generally frozen when I put it in the boiling water. Still works perfect. 
-Obviously, being gluten-free, I don't add crackers to my soup. But if crackers are you're thing, there is lots of different gluten-free crackers available out there. OR, if you are not a gluten-free eater, go crazy with saltines or oyster crackers or anything else, that will make all of us gluten-free eaters a little jealous of you!!!
-Also, if you are not a gluten-free eater, you can certainly use regular pasta.