Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, aka Heaven, in a bowl

I'm on Day 3 of my quarantine with The Boy, so I've been cooking. He's got a nasty cold/cough, and I'm hoping that he doesn't spike a fever later today. Provided that he stays fever-free, we should be able to break our quarantine tomorrow. I've even been able to luck out of this with only one sick day, thanks to Snow-mageddon 2011 that dumped somewhere in the realm of 18" of snow on us.

I meant to cook on Day 1. But, that turned into a doctor's visit, a run to the drug store and grocery, a nap, a movie, and 4 loads of laundry. Day 2 was Snow Day 1. Having completed a variety of menial chores on Day 1, I just moved into the kitchen. Now that I'm up to Day 3 and Snow Day 2, I'm back to inconsequential puttering. I love inconsequential puttering. So, here's the fruit of my labors. Please note that this could be fancied up a number of ways, and I'm all for shortcuts, so I'm giving you those.

Cream of Chicken and Wild Rice Soup (aka Heaven, in a bowl)

1 medium onion

3 stalks celery

10 oz fresh mushrooms (or less if you don't love mushrooms like I do, or canned, or dried...whatever)

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

4-6 cups chicken stock

1 box wild rice mix with seasoning

1 tsp salt

2-4 tsp ground pepper

2 Tbsp butter or margarine

2 Tbsp flour

2 cups fat free half and half (or milk, or cream, or whatever)

1 can chicken

Chop the onion, celery, and mushrooms. Cook the onion and celery in a stockpot with the oil for a few minutes. Add the mushrooms and let them cook together for another few minutes. Add the chicken stock (or hot water with boullion or chicken base, like I did) and bring to a boil. Add the wild rice with seasoning packet, salt, and pepper to taste (I like pepper, so I used a little more). Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the rice is mostly cooked. If it looks like it's getting too thick for your taste, feel free to add some more chicken stock (I like mine a little soup-ier, rather than stew-ier). In a separate pot, melt the butter and mix in the flour. Wisk in the half and half and heat the mixture until it's bubbly and has thickened. Ladle a couple of scoops of the hot soup into the milk mixture and mix it all together. Add the milk mixture to the big pot and mix. Drain and chop the chicken from the can (you could certainly use leftover chicken parts or a rotisserie chicken, or cook a chicken, or whatever). Add it to the pot, stir, and heat it through for about 15 minutes. Enjoy. Mmmmm...