Soup's On!

Last Saturday was the first day of fall.

Fall colors are one of my favorite things about this season!

The weather forecasters called for freezing temperatures overnight Saturday through early Sunday morning here in the Midwest.  I am not ready for that kind of cold - it feels like it was just 90 degrees and the swimming pool was sounding like a great idea!

But, because the Fall feeling was taking over, what better way to "celebrate" the end of summer and the beginning of  autumn than a warm bowl of creamy soup made in the Crock-Pot?  As I was feeling not-so-great with my seasonal allergies taking their toll, this soup idea sounded like a dream come true.

Soup in first phase of cooking

I have never made soup from scratch before.  I have wanted to for some time now, and with the cold temps being forecasted, I thought this was a great time to do it!  For inspiration, I consulted Pintrest (of course) and browsed through dozens of slow cooker recipes before deciding on making cheese and potato soup.  After reading through a few different recipes, I created my own recipe for the soup, using the others as measurement guides.

Let me tell you, this ended up being the best soup I have ever had.  Better than any store bought brand, better than any I've had at a restaurant.  I'm so glad that Matt enjoys being my cooking experiment guinea pig - he rated this soup as one of the "top 5" things that I have ever made (He's been eating it up all weekend since I made it!).  All of the vegetables and the cheddar used in this recipe came from (you guessed it) my favorite farmers market, so most of this recipe is using locally grown and made ingredients!  It's important to support local growers!  Keep scrolling down for my recipe!

Final product - garnished with shredded cheddar and fresh parsley
(straight from my patio "garden")

Cody's Cheese & Potato Soup

• 2 pounds potatoes (peeled and cubed)
• 1/2 large green pepper (chopped)
• 1/2 large head of broccoli (chopped) - I didn't measure the exact amount, I just added until I thought it "looked right."  You could probably substitute a small package of frozen broccoli here.
• 1 1/2 cups Velveeta (cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (a bit more if you'd like to garnish)
• 1 can (10.75 oz) cream of chicken soup
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 1/2 cups water

1. Add water, cream of chicken, potatoes, green pepper, and broccoli to slow cooker and stir until mixed well.  Cook on low for about 6 hours or until potatoes are cooked to your liking.
2. After vegetable mix is cooked, add Velveeta, cheddar, milk, and flour and stir until flour is well blended.  Replace lid and cook for another hour on low, or 30 minutes on high.  Be sure to stir the soup a few times during this cooking phase.

I have gotten about 5 servings from this recipe.  It can be altered for larger groups or put into containers and frozen.

Hope you enjoy!  Let me know if you tried the recipe and what you thought!

xo,

- C