Brrr a great day for guilt free soup.

We are now at about 6-7" of snow, with more coming. It hasn't gotten over like 20 degrees, and even though the house is at 71 all day, it really doesn't feel that warm...I am living in fleece, sweatshirts and my snuggie LOL. Today we made a yummy and "Skinny" Broccoli cheese and potato soup. So good, we will be making this one again!

Ingredients:

1 small onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2 1/2 cups fat free chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
1 cup fat free milk
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced small
salt and fresh pepper
4 cups (about 2 heads) broccoli florets, chopped into small pieces
1-1/2 cups 2% shredded sharp cheddar
2 slices 2% American cheese (we used ultra thin sliced provolone instead)
1 tbsp parmesan cheese

 Directions:

Chop onion, carrot, celery, garlic in a chopper or mini food processor. 

In a large soup pot, melt butter. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic and sauté on low heat until soft, about 5 minutes.

Add flour, salt and pepper to the pot and stir until smooth. Add chicken broth, milk and potatoes and set heat to high until it comes to a boil, then cover and cook on low until potatoes are soft, about 10-15 minutes.

Add broccoli florets, parmesan cheese, and stir well. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Cook uncovered until broccoli is cooked, about 5 minutes.

Using an immersion blender, quickly blend part of the soup for a quick second or two. If you don't have an immersion blender, remove about 2 cups of potatoes and broccoli, place it in your chopper, then add it back to the soup. This helps thicken it a bit.

Add cheddar and American cheese, stir well and remove from heat.

1 1/4 cup is 282 calories and 8 grams of fat. Makes 4 servings.

We served it with the "Skinny" BLT's that are a staple around here...love them. I would only do half a serving of the soup if you pair it with a sandwich...this was almost too much LOL.

Delicious meal...can't wait to make this one again!

The kids spent a good hour outside playing in the snow again today. When we got them to come in and warm up Jericho was not ready to be done playing. He found a broom and rode it around the house being a nut for a while.

My canvas freeze got a short reprieve, its been over a year since I added to my collection...it has been hard LOL. I added the cute one of Jericho holding the flower up in the top right corner. So cute :)

My car is getting buried, it hasn't moved since last night.