Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup!

I've already made my 3rd new recipe of the month--Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup. And it was very good! I guess I have a lot of time on my hands now that I'm just working part-time. :-) This recipe had a little more prep work that I would normally like for a crock pot meal, but, it was definitely worth it.

Just one tip--the recipe says to bake the potatoes for 45 min. to 1 hour, however, I found that I had to bake them about 1 hour and 20 minutes in order for them to be fully baked. Different ovens may vary I guess, though. Here's the recipe!

Ingredients

4 large baking potatoes

2/3 cup butter or margarine

2/3 cup flour

6 cups milk

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

4 chopped green onions

12 slices cooked and crumbled bacon

1 1/4 coups shredded cheddar cheese

8 oz. light sour cream

1 1/2 tsp. chicken bouillon granules

additional cooked bacon (optional)

Preparation

1. Wash potatoes and prick several times with a fork.

2. Bake in foil in a preheated oven (I put mine in at 375 degrees--the recipe didn't say specifically) for 45 min. - 1 hour (or longer)

3. Let cool.

4. Cut potatoes into cubes.

5. Melt butter in a heavy sauce pan over low heat (med. to large sized sauce pan)

6. Add flour, stirring until smooth.

7. Cook 1 minutes, stirring constantly

8. Gradually add milk

9. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is bubbly.

10. Pour into crock pot and then add potato cubes, salt, pepper, green onions, crumbled bacon, cheddar cheese, and chicken granules.

11. Cook on high for 4 hours.

12. Stir in the sour cream right before serving.

13. If soup is too thick, add a little milk at a time until desired thickness is achieved.

14. Garnish with additional sour cream, bacon, and/or cheese.

The recipe says this makes 6 servings. However, I think it makes a lot more. I guess it depends on how much you eat! There were 4 of us who ate this for dinner the night that I made it. And there was definitely more than 2 servings left! Josh and I then ate some leftovers for dinner the next night, and there was still a good amount left over that I am freezing it to eat at a later date. Maybe we just don't eat much, I don't know. ..

Good serving suggestion--go to Panera Bread and buy some sourdough bread bowls and serve the soup in that! But I am big on Panera bread bowls. :-)

Here is my picture of the soup. I feel this doesn't make it look tooo appetizing, however, it is good. Trust me.

And now I guess I have a 4th new recipe that I made this weekend as well. It's the one thing that Josh said he wanted when he got out of the hospital. Cheesecake. I have made cheesecake before, however, but not this kind.

This was a New York Style Cheesecake. I added my own touch to it though, and topped the cheesecake with Ganache Glaze that I wrote about in a previous blog.

Ingredients for Cheesecake

4 packages cream cheese, softened

1 can condensed milk

1/3 coup flour

4 eggs @ room temperature

1 tbsp. vanilla

Ingredients for Graham Cracker Crust

1 1/4 coups crushed graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cups granulated sugar

5 tbsp. melted butter

Preparation

Crust:

Combine all ingredients and press firmly into a 9" spring form pan

Cheesecake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Beat cream cheese with electric mixer

Greadually beat in milk

Add eggs one at a time

Add flour and vanilla and mix together

Pour in crust

Wrap botton of the pan with foil and put in a shallow baking pan

Add 2 cups of hot water in the shallow baking pan

Bake 1 hour or until lightly browned