everyday food made simple

One of the things about living in Minnesota (land of the cold and snow), is that you just crave something that would warm your insides for dinner during the cold winter months. That’s also why Crockpot meals and soups are very popular in our household. Loaded/baked potato soup is one of our favorites whenever we go out and eat, so I decided to give it a whirl and make it at home.

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This soup was a hit and Brian loved it – he even ate the leftovers the next day, which is rare for someone who typically doesn’t care much for leftovers. It’s basically how I gauge how good a meal is – if he’s voluntarily eating leftovers, it must be pretty dang good.

If potato soup is also one of your favorites, you need to make this! Creamy potato soup loaded with bacon and cheese – talk about carb overload! But man it sure is delicious and worth every single calorie. I didn’t feel bad one bit about eating half a pot of this creamy soup. It is winter after all, which is a good enough reason… gotta start on that extra fat storage to keep us warm!

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loaded potato soup
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Ingredients
  1. 6 slices of bacon, diced and cooked
  2. 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
  3. 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  4. 3 and 1/2 cups skim milk
  5. 3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
  6. 2 green onions, thinly sliced, reserving a bit of the greens for topping, if desired
  7. 1 and 1/2 cups freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  8. 1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
  9. Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until lightly browned, then gradually whisk in the milk. Cook and whisk constantly, until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in potatoes and green onions.
  2. Bring soup to a gentle boil, then reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender. Stir in cheese, sour cream, salt and pepper, to taste.
  3. Serve immediately and garnish with bacon, cheese, and additional green onions if desired.
  4. Serves 4
Adapted from Damn Delicious
Adapted from Damn Delicious
Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/
Soft, velvety potatoes in a creamy soup, contrasted with crisp, smoky bacon bits with ooey gooey shredded sharp cheddar cheese – this soup won’t disappoint and is perfect for a cold winter night!

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The soup, eaten by itself, can be pretty plain and boring – it’s the toppings that make it so delicious! Each person can also top it with whatever toppings they want – more cheese, less cheese, no green onions, more bacon (YESS please!), no bacon (who does that?!)… everything tastes better with more cheese and bacon!

I think next time I’m going to double the amount of bacon and put half of it in with the soup as it simmers, so there’s plenty of bacon in every single bite. If any of you try this recipe and make it that way, let me know how it turns out!

Recipe adapted from Damn Delicious

© Simple Everyday Food. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or kindly link back to this post for the recipe.

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After a few months after it came out in theaters, yesterday I finally rented Monsters University on DVD. Has anyone else seen it? The first one was perhaps my favorite Pixar movie ever, so naturally I’ve been itching to watch the prequel to it ever since it came out. I absolutely loved it and thought little Mike Wozowski was the cutest thing ever. I swear I’m just a 12 year old kid in a 27-year-old body….

After lounging around in my PJs all day yesterday, I finally mustered enough energy to go to Kowalski’s to return it last night. You know you’re in the medical field when you say “let me go upstairs and change into something ‘normal’ real quick” before going to store, means changing into a pair of scrub pants. Not yoga pants, not jeans… scrubs. Apparently it’s what I now consider “normal” attire.

I didn’t even notice it until Brian laughed and pointed that out to me at the store. In my defense, I’ve been wearing scrubs 5-6 days a week for the past 8 weeks. I go to work, I wear scrubs. I go to class, I wear scrubs. I go run errands and grocery shop after work, I’m in scrubs. I don’t really go anywhere else so I don’t get to wear a whole lot of “normal people” clothes anymore. On my day off, I don’t really go places so I stay in my PJs.

[sigh]

Since it’s December and December marks the official start of the Christmas season, it’s only right for:

1. Hanging up Christmas decorations around the house…. (Bentley – @boxerbentley on Instagram – helped hang Christmas lights)

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and

2. The first post of December to be something that involved mint and chocolate.

News flash: I’m obsessed with anything that involved mint and chocolate. Every year when stores stock their shelves up with anything mint chocolate, I go crazy and start hoarding all things mint chocolate, enough to last me for the next 11 months. Candy cane coffee, mint M&Ms, peppermint M&Ms, candy cane Oreos, peppermint bark, Andes peppermint candies, all kinds of mint chocolate baking chips, Dove mint chocolates… you name it, I probably have it in my cupboard.

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#mintchocolate4life

This recipe is made in the similar manner I made my pumpkin spice puppy chow back in November – seasonal Hershey’s Kisses mint truffles melted down, poured over gluten free chocolate Chex, coated with powdered sugar. It’s sweet, minty, and really addicting! They’re so addicting that I’m bringing some to work today to share so I don’t eat 5738293 grams of sugar in two days….

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mint chocolate puppy chow
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Ingredients
  1. 1.5 bags of 10-oz Hershey's mint truffle Kisses, unwrapped
  2. One 14.25-oz box of chocolate Chex cereal
  3. 3 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
  1. Pour the Chex cereal into a large bowl and set aside.
  2. Using a double boiler, melt the unwrapped Hershey's Kisses until smooth, stirring occasionally. Pour chocolate mixture over the Chex cereal. Stir to make sure all the cereal is coated with chocolate.
  3. Pour the powdered sugar into the large bowl of cereal mixture. Toss and stir thoroughly to make sure everything is evenly coated with the powdered sugar.
  4. Store in an airtight container for up to 7 days.
  5. Makes about 8 cups
Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/
Along with being delicious, this recipe is also super easy to make. It only requires 3 ingredients! Three! And there are only about 3 steps to the whole thing as well. From start to finish, it took me less than 30 minutes to make. No baking, no cooling, and not a whole lot of measuring.

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Yep, you’re welcome :)

If you’ve been following my blog since the beginning of time, you’ll know that I’m a fan of puppy chow… here are a few other versions for you to try!

pumpkin spice puppy chow

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apple pie spice puppy chow

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orange creamsicle puppy chow

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© Simple Everyday Food. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or kindly link back to this post for the recipe.

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