Thanksgiving Tuesday

Its Thanksgiving week.  We are travelling to visit my mom in Wisconsin on Thursday.  We are flying out of Jacksonville instead of Tallahassee (cost difference of about $200/ticket!) so we are heading out tomorrow night.

Due to all the travel, I don’t have a weekly menu to share.  However, tonight the kids and I are attending a Soup Potluck with some church folk.  So I am going to share with you one of my favorite soup recipes.  Broccoli Cheese!

I craved Broccoli Cheese soup all.the.time when I was pregnant with Will. I know it’s a pretty popular soup too.  But what I hate is when you get the restaurant soups, they are all usually overly salty, or made with super processed velveeta type cheese. 

I got this recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook I have.  I have made one small modification, but otherwise I pretty much follow it exactly.  It does not have a lot of salt (unless you use canned broth – which I like to use my own), and you can use vegetable stock to make it vegetarian.  I bet if you really wanted, you could try using coconut or almond milk to make it vegan even (omitting the cheese).  Which, someone should try and let me know how it turns out!

Ingredients:

3 cups chopped broccoli (you can use frozen)

1 carrot, shredded

1 can (14.5oz – just under 2 cups) broth (chicken or vegetable)

3 TBSP flour (this is my alteration – original recipe uses 2.  We like it thicker)

¼ cup cold water

1 cup half and half

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Salt & pepper to taste

 

Directions:

Add broth, vegetables, and salt & pepper to pot.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook 6-8 minutes, or until broccoli is tender.  Meanwhile, mix flour & water in a small bowl.  Once vegetables are cooked tender, add flour mixture to pot, stirring constantly.  Bring to a boil and cook 1 minute.  Reduce heat and add half and half.  DO NOT ALLOW TO BOIL.  Cook until hot.  Once hot, add cheese gradually, stirring until melted & mixed completely.  Enjoy!