Potato Cheddar Soup

1/4 cup butter
2-3 cloves chopped garlic
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk
3-4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I use sharp)
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add in the garlic and cook until softened (doesn't take long). Stir in the flour. Add the chicken broth and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Stir in the milk.

Place the potatoes in a slow cooker. Pour in the soup mixture. Cover and cook 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.

Remove the cover. Puree part of the soup with a mixer. (I just use a hand mixer and put it right in the slow cooker) Stir in the cheese. If you need to thin it out, add some milk. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I serve mine with the bacon and sour cream. You could also add chives for color.

Cheesy Potatoes

Is there anything better, really? I don't think so. This recipe is tried and true. I've seen lots of different variations of it, most of which include melted butter in with the cheese mixture. I've made it that way before, but honestly, this recipe does not need any extra fat to taste good. It's got plenty even with my lower-fat version. :o) I use bread crumbs instead of corn flakes because I always have them on hand. So, here's how I roll:

-2 lbs frozen hash brown potatoes
-2 cups 2% cheddar cheese, shredded
-2 cans 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
-1 cup low fat sour cream
-1/2 small onion, chopped
-salt & pepper to taste
-2 tbsp butter, melted
-1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 425. Mix cheese, soup, sour cream, onion, salt and pepper together in a large bowl. Add frozen potatoes; mix well. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and add potatoes. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Toss melted butter together with seasoned bread crumbs and add to top of potatoes. Bake an additional 10 minutes until bread crumbs are browned and cheese is bubbly.

*I have to give a shoutout to my friend, Tonya, for inspiring me to make this tonight. She was serving cheesy potatoes with ham for her family tonight and upon hearing that, I had to make this for dinner. :o)

Twice Baked Potatoes

I gave these a try last month when we had my family over for dinner. The recipe is inspired by my aunt Cindy. She insists the cream cheese makes them creamy. Enjoy!

6 baking potatoes
olive oil
kosher salt
6 TBSP butter
1/4 cup milk
6 oz. cream cheese, cubed
1/4 cup sour cream
paprika

Scrub potatoes and poke holes in them with a fork. Rub potatoes with olive oil and kosher salt. Bake at 375 degrees for one hour or until potatoes are tender. Cool slightly.

Cut a thin slice off the top of each potato and scoop out filling and place in a mixing bowl. Beat potato filling, butter, milk, cream cheese, sour cream and salt and pepper to taste. Scoop potato mixture back into potato shells and sprinkle with paprika.

Place potatoes on baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes.

Ham and Potato Soup

This is the perfect soup for all your leftover ham from the holidays. I just made a big pot of this and I put the ham bone in the soup while it simmered for extra flavor.


1 TBSP butter
1/3 cup celery
1/3 cup carrots
3 cups peeled and diced potatoes
3/4 cup diced, cooked ham
4 cups chicken broth or stock
salt and pepper to taste
5 TBSP butter
5 TBSP all-purpose flour
2 cups warm milk

In a large stockpot, melt 1 TBSP butter over medium heat. Add the celery and carrots, season with salt and pepper and saute for about 3 - 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and season again with salt and pepper. Add the ham and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 10 to 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Mash potatoes and veggies in stockpot with a potato masher.

In a small saucepan, melt 5 TBSP butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour, stirring constantly for about one minute. Slowly stir in the milk. Continue stirring until thick, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot and cook until soup is heated through.

Easy Easy Potato Soup

Last winter, during a phone conversation with my sister, she mentioned she was making Potato Soup. YUM. The Irish girl in me loves anything that even mentions a potato in the recipe. I realized I had never made it before. Now, this is a staple in my house and I just made it for the first time this fall. I realize there are tons of potato soup recipes out there, but this one is so easy.

My sister uses bacon instead of ham, and doesn't use the immersion blender. She just mashes it a little. She likes more chunk to her potato soup, whereas I like mine smooth. Enjoy!

Potato Soup

5 Russett potatoes

1 pkg diced ham ( I like Bob Evans )

1 (32 oz) container chicken broth

1 (15 oz) can chicken broth

1 medium chopped onion

olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

Saute chopped onion with olive oil in a soup pot until the onions just start to brown. Add chicken broth and potatoes. Boil the potatoes until they're fork tender. While potatoes are cooking, in a seperate pan, cook the ham in a little olive oil just to crisp it up a tad. (You can probably skip this step, because the ham is pre-cooked, but I think it tastes better if it's browned a bit.) Once the potatoes are done, remove the pot from heat. Use an immersion blender to cream the soup. Add ham, and salt and pepper to taste. If it's too thick, thin it out with a little milk.

I think the soup is perfect the way it is, but it would be great with cheese, sour cream, and scallions on top.