If Cooking Raw Chicken: Season the chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large dutch oven or soup pot over medium-medium low heat. 

Add your chicken breasts and brown both sides--about 7-8 minutes each side. You'll know  the chicken is ready to flip when the chicken releases easily from the bottom of the pot.

Cover the pot, set the burner to medium low, and let the chicken finish cooking. The chicken is done when the internal temp reaches 160 degrees on a meat thermometer, about 30-45 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside to rest.

Once The Chicken Is Cooked: Without cleaning the pan after cooking the chicken, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil (you may need more if you didn't need to cook your chicken first) and toss in the onions and celery. Cook on medium to medium low heat until soft and translucent.

Add in the carrots, thyme, and garlic and cook until fragrant--about 30 seconds.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup of all purpose flour over the top of the vegetables.

Using a rubber spatula, stir and toss the flour and vegetables for about 1 minute. This will cook out that raw flour taste!

Pour in your chicken stock and add the bay leaves.

Stir the mixture together and try to scrape up all those yummy chicken and vegetable bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. 

Once the mixture is boiling, reduce the heat and allow soup to simmer uncovered until the carrots are tender. About 15 minutes.

While the soup is simmering, dice up your chicken breasts into bite sized chunks and set aside.

Once the carrots are tender, remove the bay leaves and add in the frozen tortellini. Turn the heat back up to get the soup simmering again, and cook per the instructions on your tortellini's package.

Once the tortellini is fully cooked, add in the diced chicken, spinach, and half and half. 

Give the soup a stir, and cook just long enough until everything is heated through.

Taste the soup before serving and add any additional salt and pepper if needed. Serve and enjoy!