Creamy Chicken Soup with Celery and Mushrooms

I just threw this together for dinner tonight, literally having no plan for what I was doing as I was cutting up the chicken... but marvelous creativity pulled through once again, and I'm writing this blog post not just to share it with everyone (who should all try it...) but so that I myself will actually be able to make it again! 

2 large chicken breasts

bacon grease

white pepper

salt

italian seasoning

2 cups celery, diced

1 large onion, diced

2 cups mushrooms, chopped large

1 tbs minced garlic

4-6 tbs lemon juice

salt

1 can cream of mushroom soup

milk

1) Slice the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces and saute in the bacon grease over medium heat. When the meat starts to whiten, sprinkle white pepper across the top, a little salt, and a generous amount of italian seasoning. Leave uncovered until it cooks through, then take off the heat. 

2) Put a couple tbs of vegetable oil in the bottom of your soup pot and let it heat up. Add the celery and let it cook while you chop the onion. (roughly a minute or two) Add the onion, and let it cook while you wash and chop the mushrooms. (3-4 min) Add the mushrooms, garlic, and lemon juice. Let everything cook and simmer for about 5 minutes. When the mushrooms start loosing their water, sprinkle salt all over the top of everything in the pot, and add the cream of mushroom soup. Refill the soup can twice with water and once with whole milk. Bring to a rolling boil. 

3. After the soup has boiled for about 5 minutes, add the chicken, and turn the heat down. Let the soup simmer for 30 min for the flavors to mix.