Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

This recipe was contributed by Sarah McKenna.  I pulled it from Rachel's blog, and she got it from her friend Natalie Dayton, who is well-known to be a fabulous cook.  It is not as easy as most of the recipes I post, but it is worth the tiny bit of extra effort.  YUM, YUM, YUM!!!

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed or shredded
1 box Long Grain and Wild Rice mix
2 cans chicken broth
4 cups milk (Regular or evaporated.  I use a mix.)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 Tbs. cornstarch
(1/2 tsp poultry seasoning, optional)
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
Salt and pepper

-Cook the chicken.
-At the same time, cook the rice according to the directions on the box.
-In a large pot, melt butter. Add chopped carrots and celery and pepper to taste, and sauté for about 10 minutes until tender. Add flour, cornstarch and the poultry seasoning (optional), and whisk together quickly.
-Add chicken broth and milk, whisking quickly as you pour.   Cook over medium-low heat stirring often.
-When the chicken and rice are finished, cut chicken into bite-size pieces and add both to the soup.