Cream of Potato Soup

This morning, my son had a run in with his sticker book and suffered his first ever paper cut. It was a traumatic experience for him because the little cut was a bleeder. My son does not do well with blood, he automatically assumes he is going to bleed to death when he sees a little blood. It is funny, but it is sad too. Thankfully, I have a full stock of Band-Aids, they work magic every time! 

 

 

Look at that face :(

Luckily, after a couple of kisses and some cuddle time with mommy, that frown finally turned upside down!

 

 

I never tried a potato soup before. Instead of trying a canned version, I decided that I would make it myself to try. I started out on a recipe hunt... My friend shared her husband's recipe with me an that was the one I decided to go with it. I'm not going to lie, it was a little labor intensive and time consuming to make, but it was so worth it! This soup is amazing! I tried to add a lot of veggies to offset all of the not so healthy ingredients in this soup. Me, being me, I always have to add ingredients and make some changes to the recipe-- I just can't help myself. I decided to add in spinach and garlic for added flavor and nutrients. I used beef broth instead of chicken because that's what I had on hand. I added the parmesan cheese into the soup because it added such a nice flavor. At this point, the soup was delish!  I decided to add bacon into the soup at the end so that I wouldn't have to hear my husband say "I'm not eating vegetable soup," plus, I figured it would help sell my kids on it. The bacon definitely did the trick :) You could easily make a vegetarian version of the soup by replacing the beef or chicken broth with vegetable broth and omitting the bacon. Below, is the recipe that I used, hope you enjoy it!!

 

 

Cream of Potato Soup

Ingredients:

6 slices of bacon, chopped
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3 handfuls of fresh spinach leaves
6 large potatoes, peeled and diced
8 cups of Beef Broth (or you can use chicken broth)
3 Tablespoons flour
1cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning ( I use Emeril's Bayou Blast)
1 teaspoon minced parsley
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
sour cream, bacon pieces, and grated parmesan cheese to top soup

Directions:

Cook bacon and set aside. Add 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease to your pot and cook the onions, carrots, garlic, and celery in it for 2-3 minutes. Add the potatoes and continue cooking for 5 minutes more. Season with salt, pepper, and Cajun spice. Add in your broth and bring to a boil. Add in the spinach. Cook until the potatoes are tender. In a small bowl, whisk together milk and flour until combined, add to the soup and cook for 5 minutes. Remove 2/3 of the soup and blend it in a food processor until it is smooth and creamy. Pour blended soup back into the pot with the soup that is still chunky and combine. Heat it back up and season to taste. Stir in cream, parsley, parmesan cheese, and chopped bacon.
Serve topped with a dollop of sour cram, and bacon pieces and grated parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.
Enjoy!!