Loaded Baked Potato Soup

We'll just say I went on sabbatical, ok? That sounds professionally acceptable for not having updated this blog of mine for over 7 months...

No, seriously I have a baby. That should explain it all right there! I'm sure some of you snickered at my last post in April that I would try to still blog with a baby, but hey, my intentions were good. :)

After posting a picture of this soup on Facebook, I got a  lot of requests for a recipe and decided to open the vault of Emmy's Eats! Baby is napping now, so we'll see if we can get this done in one go!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup
adapted from Cooking Light

2-1/2 lbs russet potatoes (about 4 large potatoes, 5-6 smaller ones)

2/3 cup white whole wheat flour (you can sub. white flour)
6 cups skim milk (sub. 4 cups chicken broth + 2 cups almond milk)
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (preferably fresh shredded), divided
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 small onion, minced 
1/2 lb bacon, cooked & diced
1 small broccoli crown, cut in small pieces
1 cup reduced fat sour cream or plain Greek yogurt


Toppings:
shredded cheese
chives/green onion
more bacon :)

Bake potatoes, preferably in the oven at 400° for about an hour or until done. However, if you're like me and plan on making this soup, but don't decide to start making it until about, oh, and hour before you want to eat it, then you nuke 'em using the potato setting on your microwave...even if you hate cooking potatoes that way.

Moving on: place flour in to your soup pot and gradually whisk in milk or milk/broth combo. Cook over medium heat, whisking frequently, until mixture starts to thicken & it's bubbling (8-10min). Add cooked potatoes to the pot and mash with a potato masher or spoon. (Here is were my lovely hubby would step in and make some comment about blowing up the soup with the potato masher...don't worry if you don't get it, we're really nerdy around here-and that's a history lesson for another day). The more you mash, the less chunky your soup will be...we like chunky. :)

Add your cheese, broccoli, bacon, salt, pepper, onion powder and onion to the pot. Cook on low heat until the cheese melts. (if you like really well cooked broccoli, cook the fresh broccoli first before you add it to the soup). Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the sour cream/Greek yogurt. Return pot to low heat and cook for about 10 minutes (don't let it boil!) or until heated through. Top it with whatever garnishes you desire. I took the picture before I put chives on mine...fail-was pretty though! I did manage to save my fresh herbs from the cold and snow before it came, so Emmy for the win there!

Sorry if this post is obnoxious with my comments...I haven't done this in a while and am feeling a bit snarky today. :)

Enjoy!

                      Here's my little foodie in the making! Such a little ham!