The Best Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Since fall weather is finally upon us, I have been having the itch to make a hearty homemade soup. Today I am sharing with you the best Broccoli Cheddar Soup recipe. This soup really fills you up and is perfect for a fall night when you need something to warm you up.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 5 cups half and half
• 5 cups veggie broth
• 2 carrots
• 2 small red potatoes
• 4 broccoli crowns
• 16 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Caramelize onion in some butter and put aside.
2. Place stick of butter in pan and melt, then add flour and whisk together for 5 minutes
3. Slowly add in the half and half while whisking.
4. Add in veggie broth.
5. Let simmer for 20 minutes.
6. While the base is simmering chop up your veggies – carrots, red potatoes, and broccoli crowns.
7. Add in chopped veggies & caramelized onions.
8. Season with salt & pepper.
9. Let simmer on low for 20 minutes.
10. Add in the shredded cheddar cheese.
11. Mix on low until cheese is melted.

 

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday Friends! I cannot believe that we have only a week left until Christmas weekend! I have so much to do so little time, but I am in the merriest of moods because I love nothing more than this time of year! Except the artic temps we have here in Massachusetts, I don’t know how it is where yall live but its so cold here it hurts. Here’s a few things I’m loving this week, enjoy!

• Our Christmas Cards! This was my first year using shutterfly and I LOVE them. They seriously provide the most beautiful cards, from start to finish, and the creation process is fun and simple! I love receiving and sending them out and I have so much fun creating them.

• Ugly Hat Yankee Swap: Family friends of ours have a holiday party every year with a $15 limit for yankee swap, it is so fun and one of my favorite events we have during the holidays! This year instead of ugly sweaters, we have to wear ugly hats! I’ll be making my own headband for it, here are some of my fav’s from pinterest!

• These Brown Butter Cinnamon Crinkle Cookies are spot on. My friend Holly made them for a  cookie swap she had and let us girlies have some on our girls night….I ate 4….and I will be making these this weekend!
• Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand. I love all her books and this one is perfect to read around the holidays!

The Blogtember Challenge Day Three: Summer Favorites

This summer has by far been one of the best summers with so many great memories to look back on, so here are some of my favorites!

Book: Most Wanted by Lisa Scottoline.

Recipe: Grilled Honey BBQ Bacon Chicken Kabobs

TV Show: Big Brother, this is my guilty please EVERY summer.

Song: Song for Another Time by Old Dominion, seeing them live at country fest for the second year and hearing this song live was amazing!

Memory: My two favorite memories from this summer were very easy to pinpoint. First would be out trip to Bar Harbor, best most relaxing vacation we have been on since we have started dating! And coming in at a close second is Country Fest, which is always a summer favorite in my book.

Do you have any summer favorites that will be sure to stay with you for a while?

Until Next Time,

Rebecca

Healthy Nacho Dip

Happy Monday Friends! It’s another snow day here in Massachusetts, so today I am staying warm on the couch watching some netflix and working from home. Hope you all had a fabulous Super Bowl Sunday. When trying to eat healthy, attending parties is a lot harder because you are tempted by so much amazing food! Bobby’s cousin gave me this amazing reciepe for a nacho dip that is a healthy alternative to the traditional 7 layer dip.

Ingredients:

• 2 8oz package of low fat cream cheese
• 1 16oz container of low fat sour cream
• Lowery’s season salt
• 1 green pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1 tomato
• 1/2 sweet onion
• Shredded Mexican cheese

Directions:

Let the cream cheese get to room temperaure then mix with sour cream with a hand mixer until well combined (you want the mixture to be smooth and not lumpy). Season with lowery’s salt (you can use as much as you want, but try not to overpower the cheese). Transfer mixture into a glass dish of desired size and place in refrigerator. While cheese mixture is in fridge, dice the veggies. Top the cheese mixture with the veggies. Sprinkle with the shredded cheese. Serve with tortilla

P.S. Want to make your life much easier when dicing veggies? Invest in this – Vidalia Chop Wizard. We received one for Christmas from Bobby’s grandma and it was a life saver for this dish.

Until Next Time,

Rebecca