chicken soup for a rainy day

it's very rainy today.  we woke up this morning to a thunderstorm.  i hoped it was not a sign of the rest of the day.  i felt nervous this morning.  see, pretty soon i have to send this face to kindergarten:

my sister took this picure around christmas


while i imagine it's tough for most parents to send their oldest to school it feels especially hard to send jack.  he's allergic to everyone's favorite lunch box treat- peanut butter.  he's allergic to more than just peanuts but it's the big one.  he only has to touch them to cause a reaction.  it's scary- the kind of scary that makes me want to keep him by my side at all times :)  i know that wouldn't be fair to him.....would it?

anyways- this week at preschool the kids are bringing their lunch as a "getting ready for kindergarten" activity.  this means of course, peanut butter.....in his classroom......lots of sticky-fingered 4/5 year olds.... 

 i love his preschool.  sunday afternoon an email was sent out reminding parents about sending lunches, and that "a child" in the class had a nut allergy- so if the kids helped make their sandwiches in the morning to please wash up.  the email also went on to say that they would have a nut-free table.  i didn't know they would do that, but it made me feel better.  at school this morning i was greeted by reassuring smiles that they were ready to take care of jack.  the clorox wipes were out and they were sure that several kids had packed nut-free lunches so he'd have plenty of classmates to sit with. 

i thought i would make dinner for one of the sweet ladies making sure he was safe at lunch.  i decided on soup because of this rainy day.  here's how to make it: 

 you'll need: 3/4 cup chopped celery, 3/4 cup chopped carrots, 3/4 cup chopped onion, 32 oz chicken broth, the rice that's already made, 3 tablespoons flour, olive oil and 2 cups cooked chicken....mine was in the oven.  the little "p" is my pepper shaker.  the salt is in an s.....i love them on my counter- it's my initials.  a little gift a while back from my sisters.

saute the veggies in a tablespoon or so of olive oil until tender-crisp....is that a word? 

add the flour, stir the entire time.  cook for about a minute.

add the chicken broth.  continue to stir...

i usually use my whisk just to be sure there are no chunks of flour, that wouldn't taste very good. cook on high for 2 minutes until it thickens.  add the chicken and rice, season with pepper.

here's my chicken- i just used 2 chicken breasts- covered with olive oil, salt and pepper baked 25 minutes on 350.  rotisserie chicken is really good for this recipe also.

you should always try a bite before you give it away......just to be sure it's yummy.

here's what it should look like

all packaged up and ready to deliver

and, just so you know- when i picked him up he was perfect.  the sun even came out for a little bit.  i am really grateful for a school that loves my jack so well. 

remember to thank the people who help make your days a little brighter.