Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

My life has taken a huge change this week and I'm absolutely loving it. When Neal and I found out I was pregnant, we made the decision that I would quit working once the baby came so I could be a full-time stay at home mom and be with our little one. It's a dream I've always had and we both fully agreed it would be the most beneficial for our children and for us. Although I'm not due for another few weeks, my last day of work was Friday and now my sole focus is getting everything ready for our baby boy and for the move to our new house in a couple of weeks. Being at home is definitely a big adjustment since I've always either been in school or worked full-time. This is a whole new experience that I'm quickly learning to love and look forward to.

I like to talk to our baby boy when I'm by myself. Even though I'm sure I look pretty silly talking to my belly, I know he can hear me! :) When I left my work for the last time on Friday, I talked to him almost the whole way home about how excited I was to turn all of my focus and attention to him and his daddy - my two boys! Although I'm only in Day 2 of this new homemaker business, I'm determined to make it the best I can and live each day to the fullest. I'll keep you all posted on how everything's going since I know you're all dying to hear about my mundane life.. ;)

Anyway, back to the recipe here. I realize it's the middle of June and eating soup on a hot, humid 90-degree day sounds about as wonderful as getting a root canal, but we had a refreshing rain storm come through last night that cooled it off enough to make soup actually sound pretty nice! I knew it would be the last time I could get away with eating soup until around October, so I took advantage of it! There's nothing like a homemade chicken noodle soup, but I think I may have made it even better by making it creamy! I can easily say this is one of my favorite soups. Neal came home today to eat lunch with me and quickly decided this was much better than a sandwich or lean pocket any day! It's chocked full of hearty vegetables, chicken and thick noodles which absorb most of the liquid - just the way I like it. Plus there's an added bonus: it's a one-pot meal so less dishes are used and there's only one pot to clean - can't beat that, I tell you. It makes enough to comfortably feed around 4-5 people, or 2 people for several meals in our case!

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 2-3 chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup chopped carrot
• 2 stalks celery diced
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 8 oz. egg noodles
• 1 cup milk
• 4 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp. garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. ground sage
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add in the chicken, carrot, celery and onion and saute for 3-4 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and onions are translucent. Add in the chicken broth and egg noodles and bring to a boil. Cook for 7-8 minutes or until egg noodles are al dente. In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together the milk and flour until the flour has dissolved. Stir into the soup and simmer over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently until the soup has thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the cream cheese and spices. Allow the heat from the soup to melt the cream cheese, stirring occasionally until dissolved. Serve warm.