Cream Cheese Chicken & Vegetable Soup

This is a very creamy and delicious soup that is good for sneaking vegetables into your kids' diets. It calls for cooked chicken, so you might want to throw a couple chicken breasts into the crockpot with some chicken broth a few hours before you'll be cooking dinner.

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2 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 cup diced carrots (about 2 regular carrots or a handful of baby carrots)
3 cups chicken broth
2-3 potatoes, peeled and finely diced
1 cup milk
 4 tablespoons flour
1 (8 oz. package) regular or light cream cheese
2-3 (about 1 pound) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced
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1. In a large pot, melt the butter and add the onion, garlic, celery and carrots. Saute, stirring often, for 3-4 minutes, until the veggies are slightly tender and the onions are translucent.

2. Add the chicken broth and potatoes. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook, partially covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

3. In a liquid measuring cup, vigorously whisk the flour and milk together until smooth. Whisk the mixture into the soup, stirring quickly, and cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, until the soup begins to thicken slightly. Stir often to avoid burning it.

4. Soften the cream cheese in the microwave until it is very soft. (Place the unwrapped cream cheese on a plate and microwave it for 1-2 minutes at 50% power.)

5. Add the cream cheese to the soup in small tablespoon-size pieces. Let the pieces sit in the soup and warm through then whisk or stir the soup until the cream cheese melts and mixes in completely.

6. Add the cooked chicken and heat through. Season with salt and pepper before serving.