Creamy Chicken & White Bean Soup

Did anyone else forget about the time change? Don't get me wrong. This is my favorite one despite there are fewer daylight hours. You will not hear me complain about an extra hour added to my sleep. Extra hour or otherwise, I feel like the weekend flew by. We were so incredibly busy raking leaves from our backyard forest, cleaning, clearing out the basement for some contract work, and getting ready for the upcoming week. I am so grateful the Bear and I work so well together as a team. Together we tackled a lot without squabbling too much;) Luckily, we had this soup to sooth our souls and bring us together at dinner. Ahh! Isn't that just sweet?

Since I am working on simplifying my life, I chose to make this soup in the Crock Pot. I originally wrote this recipe for the stove top, but realized I could do some serious multitasking if I just let the slow cooker do all of the work. There is something so incredibly magical about Crock Pot cooking. Since I finally cracked the code to cooking kale chips, we enjoyed our soup topped with some crispy kale. If you are not a fan or do not have the time, you could easily include the kale in the slow cooker to bump up your vitamins. Either way, this soup is so comforting and delicious!

Creamy Chicken & White Bean Soup
inspired from The South Beach Diet

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 yellow or white onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz. can white beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups reduced sodium gluten-free chicken broth
1 dried bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups low fat milk (I used 2%)
3 tablespoons corn starch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place the chicken, onion, garlic, beans, chicken broth, bay leaf, and thyme into your slow cooker. Stir to combine. Set on low and cook for 4 hours. Using two forks, shred the chicken breast and stir into the soup. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and cornstarch until smooth. Pour the milk mixture into the soup. Stir, cover, and cook for another 45 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally until the soup begins to thicken. Top with kale chips before serving if you desire.