Comfort food for raining days

It is a rainy, dreary day today. It is the perfect kind of day to make some warm, delicious soup.

I found this recipe while browsing the Internet when trying to use up some of my ingredients in my fridge. My husband is a huge lover of soups, so I figured it was worth a shot. I found this recipe on food.com and it is fantastic. It is a very thick soup, and if you over cook your potatoes, it turns into a thick mashed potato like texture, which we both liked just as much. I adjusted the recipe to suit my ingredients better and it turned out so great. In fact, this is the second time this week that I have made it. The husband asked for it again today!

Cheesy Ham and Potato Soup

 (My adaptions are in parentheses)

• 3 1/2 cups potatoes, peeled and diced (I keep mine with the peel)
• 1/3 cup celery, diced
• 1/3 cup onion, finely chopped ( I did not have any onion, so I used carrots. I did add some onion powder for flavoring)
• 1 -2 cup ham, diced and cooked
• 3 1/4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules (I chose to use 2 cups of chicken stock and 1 1/2 cups of water instead. It had a nice flavor to it.)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 5 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups milk ( I used one cup skim and one cup whole, as that is the only type of milk in my house)
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

Prep Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 30 mins

1. Combine potatoes, celery, onion, ham, and water/stock in stockpot and bring to boil.
2.  Then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender.
3.  Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt, and pepper.
4.  In separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour and cook stirring constantly until thick.
5. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form and all milk is added. Continue to stir until thick (4-5 minutes)
6.  Add in cheese and stir until melted.
7. Stir the cheese mixture into the stockpot and cook until heated through. (I also will break up some of the potatoes for thickness. It gets thicker as it cools and next day)

Really. It is so good. I could eat the whole thing. Ryan could eat the whole thing. It is the perfect rainy day soup.