Cheesy Vegetable Soup

Most of the county is experiencing a lot of snow, and there's nothing better than staying inside and enjoying a bowl of warm soup, (especially if you just came in from shoveling!).   Thirty-some odd years ago, I worked with a young mother who said the only way her kids would eat any kind of vegetable was to melt cheese and pour it over the top.  I told her to take that concept one step further and make soup.  I then told her how I make this cheesy vegetable soup for my son.  The next day, Kelly came into work and declared that for the first time her 2 kids each ate 3 bowls of vegetable soup for supper.  Here's how I make my cheesy vegetable soup:

You will need:
1 pound of potatoes, (more or less)
3 - 4 carrots
1 medium/small onion
2 garlic cloves
2 celery stalks
1 Tabs butter
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
4 - 5 ounces cheddar cheese, (shredded)
1 cup chicken stock (homemade or canned)
salt and pepper (to taste)
1 teas dried oregano

scrub and chop potatoes into small bite sized pieces, (you don't need to peel, unless you want to).

Scrub and chop carrots into bite size pieces.

Scrub and slice celery into 1/4 inch slices.

Into a large sauce pan, combine potatoes, celery, and carrots.

Add chicken stock and 1 cup water.  (note:  I am using chicken stock from my homemade chicken noodle soup recipe).  Cook over medium heat.  Don't forget to season with salt and pepper, (about 1 teas each).

While vegetables are cooking, chop the onions and garlic.

In a sauce pan, (over medium heat), melt the butter.  Add and cook the onions and garlic, until translucent.

Drain the vegetables, reserving  1 cup of the broth from the cooked vegetables

Add the flour to the cooked onions and garlic, cook the flour mixture, (stirring often), for 2 -3 minutes).

The onion mixture will have a nice golden color.

Slowly add the milk and stir into the flour onion mixture.

Stir cooking until mixture starts to thicken.

Stir in the shredded cheddar cheese.

Stir the cheese sauce.

Note:  This cheese sauce is a basic macaroni and cheese recipe sauce.

Slowly add the 1 cup of stock from the vegetables into the cheese sauce to loosen up the sauce.

Pour the cheese sauce over the cooked vegetables.  Add the oregano.  Stir to evenly coat.

Now taste for seasoning, (does it need a little more salt or pepper?).

Tonight, I'm serving my cheesy vegetable soup with a salad and a slice of homemade bread.  YUMMY.

You can change the vegetables up and use whatever you happen to have on hand.  This soup doesn't last long in our family.  And the next day, it's even better.  (If it's a little thick the next day, just add a little water as you heat it up).

Enjoy.