Homemade Cheesy Potato Soup

I am such a slacker. I was so going to post on here everyday for a whole year. Best laid plans....

Well, tonight my house is pretty quiet. The 10-year old and 7-year old are at their cousin's birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese in Layton. The 13-year old just got home from Klondike Scout camp this afternoon so the house was pretty quiet last night also.

I made some super awesome cheesy potato soup for dinner tonight. It was all I could do not to eat 4 bowls of the stuff. I only ate 1 bowl and 1 piece of whole grain bread. Pretty good for me. I've noticed that since I started eating smaller portions, I'm not able to eat as much as I could before. My body is compensating for the smaller amount of food. I'm almost back to the weight I was before it got too cold outside to run or ride the bike anymore. The build your own book camp workout that I've been doing is really working. Makes me want to keep working out. That's a good thing!

Here's the recipe (I don't really use a recipe, I just make it up as I go) for the Cheesy Potato soup. Some of the amounts are estimates because I don't measure some things.

potatoes (russets 7-8; small, red 14-15), peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 small onion, diced
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter (or a combination of olive oil and butter)
5 Tbsp. flour
2 cups chicken broth
4 cups milk or cream (I use 1% milk because I don't want it to be too fattening)
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
dash cayenne pepper

Place potatoes in large pot. Cover with water. Bring to boil and boil for about 10 minutes (you want the potatoes soft, but not mushy). Drain and transfer to a bowl. In same pan, melt butter. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes, until very soft. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cayenne to taste. Sprinkle flour in butter and cook for 1 minute (this helps so it doesn't taste like paste). Add broth and milk. Cook over medium high heat until it starts to thicken. Add potatoes and check seasoning. Add cheese and stir to melt. Delicious with whole grain bread. You could add broccoli to this also and it would be delicious. I've also made it with bacon and used some of the bacon fat in place of some of the butter.

Super easy and super delicious. You can change the amounts of the butter, flour, and liquid to make as much or as little as you want. Just make sure it stays at 1 Tbsp. butter + 1 Tbsp. flour + 1 cup liquid. Basic white sauce. Play around with seasonings also and make it your own.

Hope everyone enjoys the post tonight.