When it’s cold and gloomy outside (like it’s been the past week or so)

or when someone is not feeling well (like I’ve had around here off and on for the past week or two)

it’s a good time to turn to the foods you know will not only fill you up but that will comfort you and make you feel good, too.

Big Girl has been under the weather today. So, my initial menu plan for Asian Chicken stir-fry was probably not going to be a good choice. She’s got a tummy bug and any kind of Asian food is not a good choice when you have a tummy ache.

So, enter Plan B – soup. 

Potato Soup, to be exact.

I absolutely LOVE potato soup, but don’t eat it very often since my surgery. It’s pretty much a carb-fest (which is why it is so good) and my little tummy doesn’t like a carb-fest very often. But with Big Girl’s tummy needing something soothing, I decided to make her some.

As a matter of fact, Potato Soup was my food of choice as a girl. We had a family friend that would make it for me whenever I asked and I absolutely loved it. I’ve never had a match to what she used to make. It was just the right mix of creaminess and chunks of potato. Absolutely divine.

I found a crock-pot recipe on Pinterest (I love that website!) and edited/altered to suit what I had on hand and what I knew my family would like.

All I can say is YUM.  It is sooo good. I can’t wait to serve it to everyone tonight. (that’s black bean soup in the baby crock pot – I’m trying out a new recipe and will post when I get it mastered)

I’ll toast some bread in the same fashion my family friend used to make – she would cut bread slices into “fingers” and toast them until they were golden brown and crispy.  Then you dip those into the soup – heaven. Absolute heaven.

Topped with some cheddar cheese and a sprinkle of pepper, this is simply divine. This is the closest to Mary’s soup I’ve ever had.

Comfort food at it’s best.

I hope you’ll give it a try sometime. (And I’ll be sharing the Black Bean Soup recipe soon, too – it’s yummy but I’m still working on consistency. Once I get that right, I’ll post the recipe)

Here’s the Potato Soup recipe:

Crock Pot Potato Soup

1 32 oz bag of Southern-style hash brown potatoes (the chunked kind, not shredded)
1 box of chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup diced onion (I used the frozen diced ones)
1 Tbsp minced garlic (about 2 cloves if you use fresh)
Salt/Pepper
1 package Low fat cream cheese (not fat free) (should be room temp)

• Add all ingredients (except cream cheese) to the crock pot.
• Cook on Low for 6-8 hours. (If you are going to be home, start it on high for about 2 hrs and then drop it down to low for the remainder of the time)
• About an hour before serving, put the cream cheese in the soup. Use an immersion blender to mix the cream cheese into the soup and to puree the potatoes.  If you don’t have an immersion blender, you could scoop out some of your soup into a blender of food processor and mix the cheese into that soup and then add it back to the crock pot and mix it all together.

Serve with shredded sharp cheddar cheese, diced cooked bacon, diced scallions (if you desire) and toasted bread “fingers.”