Thursday, December 18, 2008

Christmas Memories...Part 4

Chili and Cheese Soup...

Christmas eve is all about the chili and cheese soup. It started out with just chili- for as far back as I can remember. Then when I was about 11 or 12 a lady from church made this amazing cheese soup for a pot luck...she kindly gave us the recipe and we have been serving and savoring it ever since!

For a few years in there we also had cheese frenchies (super YUM)...but it just didn't catch on. So we are strictly chili and cheese soup people come Christmas Eve. This year I'm making the cheese soup (trying a new recipe)...and I super excited about showing off my soup tureen! wa-hoo!


Here's the traditional cheese soup recipe (actually their just guidelines- add or subtract whatever your tastes dictate!)

4-6 med russet potatoes (washed and cubed...you can skin them- but we leave it on)
2 cans of corn; drained
2 cans of green beans; drained
2 cans of carrots; drained
**I usually add 1-2 cups of frozen cauliflower ( thawed and chopped up super small...gives the soup some thickness and its healthy!)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
4 chicken bouillon cubes
1 block of velveeta

peas, broccoli, ham or bacon are other possible additions.

Boil the potatoes until fork tender. Drain just enough of the potato water so that the water level is 1 inch above the potatoes. Add the chicken bouillon cubes, stir until infused. Then add all the veggies and the cream of chicken soup. Stir. Cube the velveeta and start by adding 1/4 of the block. Simmer pot over med- low heat. Once cheese is melted- add another 1/4. Repeat until the cheese soup has your desired 'cheesiness'. We usually use about 3/4 of a block...but depends on how much water you left in the pot...

If cheese gets to thick- you can always add chicken stock to thin it out!

Servings: make a whole heck of alot!

2 comments:

Megan said...

Sounds really good! Too bad my husband has an aversion to Velveeta...

This is our first year doing Christmas/Christmas Eve entirely on our own. I'm trying to decide what to do!

Deb said...

We do the chili on Christmas Eve too. My dad tried to make Oyster Stew a tradition too, but it just didn't stick. Really... who wants oyster stew? (Honestly, I was never brave enough to try it).