Chicken Sauce Without Cream of Chicken

When we got married back in 1997, most of the dinners I made involved either cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup.  That is what our moms cooked with, so that is what I cooked with.

Fast forward to about 5 years ago when I realized how grossed out I was by those soups that just plop out of the can and who knows what is in them anyway.  I decided I needed to start cooking with fresh, real ingredients that don't have a shelf life of forever.

So one day I was talking to Brett's sister, Sherri, who was telling me that she makes her own cream of chicken sauce.  Sherri has six kids and 5 of them are boys and she is a great cook, so I knew I had to try this out.  So easy and so good and no weird additives or preservatives that you can't pronounce.  Thanks Sherri!

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
chicken broth
milk or half and half or cream
cooked, shredded chicken
salt/pepper
garlic or other spices you like

*Melt butter over medium heat and add flour.  Stir together until it's nice and pasty.  Add as much chicken broth (I used 2 cans) and milk (I used about 1 cup of milk and some half and half because that's what I had) until you have as much sauce as you want.  Add chicken (I used about 2 cups) and stir over heat, adding more milk if it's too thick.  Add salt and pepper to taste. You can add fresh garlic or whatever spices you want to season it.  I added some Ranch dressing powder and we ate it over rice.  You could also use it as a base for Hawaiian haystacks and add toppings.