Family Recipe: Potato Cheese Soup

When I was a kid there was a local restaurant called Piret’s. They served delicious, fresh French food that was unpretentious. One of my favorite dishes to order was their Potato Cheese Soup. They published a cookbook, which my mom bought, and while she cooked a lot of things from the cookbook, the one that was most often made was their Potato Cheese Soup. In fact, to this day when you place the book on the counter, it opens to that recipe.

Today I present my take on Potato Cheese Soup. It’s easy to make, it’s filling, and it tastes sooooo good. Like most soups, it’s better the next day. It freezes well.

You can make it vegetarian by using veggie broth/stock. I do not recommend making it with non-dairy cheese (sorry vegans). You can make it Gluten Free by using GF 1-for-1 flour.

Potato Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

  • 8-10 cups chicken broth or stock (I recommend using stock-homemade is best, but I’m being extra)
  • 2 large yellow or sweet onions, peeled and diced
  • 4 Tablespoons butter, divided in half
  • 1/4 cup white wine (dry- don’t use sweet or cooking wine)
  • 4 large potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 2 Tablespoons AP flour
  • 1.5 cups whole milk
  • 4 cups cheese (I like medium cheddar, but you could use colby, or a sharper cheddar)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. In a large stockpot, melt 2 Tablespoons of butter and saute onions until clear and slightly browned.
  2. Add potatoes and cook for 5-10 minutes until potatoes are slightly translucent.
  3. Deglaze the pan with white wine, make sure to scrape off all the yummy brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
  4. Add all of the chicken broth/stock and bay leaves. Cover pot and cook on low for 20-30 minutes, until potatoes are cooked through.
  5. In a smaller pot, melt remaining 2 T. of butter. Sprinkle melted butter with AP flour and stir until a paste forms over a low heat. The paste should brown slightly- DON’T BURN IT!
  6. Pour milk into the flour/butter paste and whisk briskly. You do not want lumps. Cook over low heat until the mixture thickens. This may take a few minutes. As the mixture thickens and there are no lumps, add the cheese slowly, about 1/2 cup at a time, until it is incorporated/melted into the sauce. Once the sauce with complete, remove from heat.
  7. Add the cheese sauce to the soup mixture slowly, stirring constantly. Once it is fully mixed, remove the bay leaves, season with salt and pepper to taste.
  8. This step is optional but recommended. Remove from heat. Using an immersion blender (like this one) puree the soup. Put back on the heat, and allow to simmer without the lid for another 20-30 minutes. This will give the soup some time to thicken up.
  9. Serve Soup hot with crusty French bread. Resist the urge not to eat it all in one sitting.

Makes 6-8 Servings

Holiday Shopping Alert: $50 Penzeys Gift Card $35! +Much More!

Got a cook in your life? Someone who loves to experiment with flavors? Check out these incredible deals from Penzey’s, but these deals will be over tomorrow- Shop now!!

Here’s your one chance this season to get our best of gifts for less than half the price. Currently, these are in stock everywhere. Don’t risk it, order today!

And there’s more. Free $7.95 Choose Love Mug with any purchase while supplies last. And both Justice and Revolution, a combined $9.78 value, free as well with any purchase. No codes are needed for the Gift Cards, Boxes or Mugs; those are automatic for everyone. For the very tasty Justice and Revolution, once you have any spending at all enter Vote in the apply code box at checkout. No need to place them in your basket, the code will do that for you and for free.

So Get shopping!! If you live near a Penzey’s location, most are open for touchless pickup. Give them a call and start shopping!

99 Cents Only has Deals for Thanksgiving (and a Coupon)

Y’all know I love 99 Cents Only,  and I have for years. I’ve written about my top 10 deals from 99 Cents only before here, and now I’m happy to report that you can celebrate Thanksgiving with an incredible feast frugally from our peeps at 99 Cents Only!

From stuffing, potatoes, cranberries, salads, yams, gravy (canned or pouch mix), canned veggies, cream of mushroom soup (for the green bean casserole), crispy french fried onions, and dessert options for your feast to decor for the table and the rest of the house, 99 Cents Only has you covered!

And this week, there is a coupon to help you save a bit more- Click here for 1 free item (priced up to .99) when you purchase $15 or more. Exclusions apply, the link has them all listed on the coupon.

And don’t forget that you can use cashback apps for purchases at 99 Cents Only! My two faves are Fetch Rewards and Checkout51. Learn more and find links here.

10/30/2020 Friday Freebies and Deals!

bright boxes

This Friday’s freebies and deals have some awesome goodies! It’s Halloween weekend, so get ready for all sorts of spooky freebies and deals!

As always, if you find an amazing deal or freebie, please share it in the comments below.

Freebies:

Free Boo Adventure Drive-Thru Trick-or-Treating at Target
Free Keds Stickers
Free Face Mask
Free Medela Breastfeeding Product Sample Box
Free K-Beauty Products
Free Hot or Iced Coffee at Circle K
Free Sample of Yes Life CBD Oil & Hemp CBD Pain Relief Cream
Free Products for SwagBag Tastemakers
Free Medium Fries w/ Any $1 Purchase at McDonalds – Every Friday
Free 5pc. Chicken Nuggets at Jack in the Box
Free Genexa Kids Allergy Medicine
Free Sample of Daiwa Krill Oil
Free Phocus Naturally Energizing Sparkling Water
Free Sample of Smashbox Primer
Free Jar of Barilla Vero Gusto Pasta Sauce
Free Burger on Your Birthday at Ruby Tuesday

 

Deals:

 

San Diego, CA Area Residents: FREE Produce and Perishable Groceries- 10/30/2020

Every Friday in October, our friends over at Faith Chapel understand that with all that’s going on in the world that some of us still need help finding healthy food during this difficult time. And that’s it not always safe for us to go to the store or hit up a farmers market.

Distribution is happening this every Friday in October (tomorrow is the last- I will find out if there will be more and update the blog), beginning at 10:00am.

This is a drive-thru style event, so you don’t have to leave your vehicles. There is no paperwork, no questions asked. Show up, pop your trunk, and fresh food is loaded for you, and you are on your way!

Here is a picture of what was available in previous weeks! Sometimes you get produce, sometimes is eggs, milk, and other dairy products and meat- it changes weekly!

Faith Chapel is located at 9400 Campo Road Spring Valley, CA 91977

Socially Distanced Halloween Activities for 2020

Halloween is looking a lot different this year, with social distancing, and a lot of places still having quarantine/limited contact with others.

We usually do a lot of Halloween events. We usually go to Brick or treat at Legoland, and we usually go to a pumpkin patch and several Halloween carnival the week of Halloween.

Unfortunately, a lot of the events we go to aren’t happening this year. Instead, a lot of the groups/organizations that put together carnivals and fun events have instead opted to switch to contact list or drive-through trunk or treat/trick-or-treat events. We haven’t gone to any yet, so I’m not really sure how it’s gonna work but will be going to a bunch this week and weekend. We skipped one that was taking place last Saturday because we did not have our costumes prepared.

Here is a small list of trunk or treat/drive-through events that I have found after a quick search on Facebook. If you have any other events that you would like to add, please leave a comment below with a link to the event page. I love Halloween, as do my kids. Any excuse to dress up, and I know there are so many people out there that look forward to Halloween every year.

10/30/2020

10/31/2020

November 1st

 

 

FREE Mr. Mummy Pancake this week at IHOP!

I’m a little late to the game- I usually post about this deal a few weeks beforehand, but… Gestures at the state of the world… You know.

Celebrate Halloween With a Freaky Freebie From IHOP®!
Happy Halloween from IHOP®! Treat yourself to some seasonal stacks & treat the kids to a FREE Mr. Mummy Pancake when you visit your local IHOP® from October 26-30.

The kids and I are going to pass this year. They don’t like frosting on their pancakes, and the big one doesn’t like their butter (it’s really hard and it doesn’t melt on the pancakes, it tears the pancakes when you try to spread it).  I don’t like IHOP’s coffee. I know, I know… We are Denny’s snobs.

The Fine Print: For dine-in orders, kids age 12 & under receive one free Mr. Mummy Pancake between 7 a.m. – 10 p.m. from 10/26/2020 – 10/30/2020 at participating IHOP® locations. Limit one per child. For online orders via the IHOP® website or mobile app of $20 or more, receive one free Mr. Mummy pancake per order. Tax, gratuity and price of Mr. Mummy Pancake excluded. Not valid with other offers, coupons or discounts. No cash value. Offer valid from 10/26/20 to 10/30/2020. At participating restaurants. Further restrictions may apply.

10/26/2020 Weekly Meal Plan

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgI’ve started doing weekly meal planning on Sundays. It’s easier to do it while I’m writing up the weekly calendar/schedule and prepping the snack box for the week. I didn’t get a chance to type this up last night. I fell asleep around 8:30. I was tired.

The kids and I hit up the grocery store yesterday morning and loaded up on some stuff we needed (bread, cream cheese, bagels, grapes, and watermelon were chief among our “needs”).  Our meal plan is super light and easy this week.

Our weather is getting decidedly more “fall-like”. Last night I made a big batch of veggie soup, portioned it out, and popped containers into the freezer for later meals. I’ll be doing the same with the potato cheese soup I make later this week- and yes, I’ll be posting the recipe too!

Thanks to some local deals, offers, and the school lunches the kids bring home, I have been able to keep our grocery budget to $60 per week for the past MONTH! It’s amazing. The extra money is going into our holiday savings account.

If you have kids between 2-18, check with your local school to see if they are offering free lunches and/or breakfasts. You can also check the USDA Website– but it might be a little out of date.

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.

Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2  for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids (they love the Kodiak Cakes Mix).  I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular. recently the Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM. I’ll be posting the recipe for his current favorite this coming week.

Lunches will be whatever the kids want for the time being. The big kid has lunch at school, so it’s whatever he chooses from the lunch box in the cupboard, plus some fruit and juice or milk. Since the little girl is in the morning cohort at school, she has lunch at home. Buttered noodles, yogurt, apple slices, and a popsicle are her go-to lunch.

Usually, I do a crockpot meal on Mondays, but now that we are home all the time, we’ve been having an odd combination of fully home-cooked, scratch meals, and frozen entrees and veggies. I have been posting our meal plans on Instagram too- As well as pics of stuff we are doing to keep busy.

  • Sunday:  Veggie Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
  • Monday:  Sandwiches and Salad (I bought a rotisserie chicken at Costco yesterday, so we had roasted chicken, bacon, and mozzarella sandwiches)
  • Tuesday: Nuggets and Fruit (Big kid has OT in the late afternoon, so it’s always a quick dinner on Tuesday)
  • Wednesday:  Potato Cheese Soup and Garlic bread (I’ll post the recipe this week- it’s super easy and frugal!)
  • Thursday: Bacon, veggie, and cheese frittata,  fruit
  • Friday:  Pizza Night!
  • Saturday: Protein Muffins, fruit salad, and Greek yogurt

Please stay safe you guys! The sooner we flatten the curve, the sooner life can go back to normal- whatever that means.

Talk Back: What are you cooking for dinner this week?

10/23/2020 Friday Freebies and Deals!

bright boxes

This Friday’s freebies and deals have some awesome goodies! Keep your eyes peeled for some great upcoming freebies and deals. A lot of retailers are not doing the usual Black Friday deals to keep the stores open and enforce social distancing.  Deals and freebies will be trickling out slowly from now until the winter holidays.

As always, if you find an amazing deal or freebie, please share it in the comments below.

Freebies:

Free BABE Wine Chatterbox Kit
Tasty Freebies from Social Nature!

Chalkola Chalk Markers Giveaway

Allure Beauty Enthusiasts – Free Beauty Products
Free Kinder Joy
Free Dr. Praeger’s Veggie Burgers
Free Subscription to Entrepreneur Magazine
FREE Amazon Baby Box Samples Back in Stock
Free Boursin Cheese
Free Sample of Vitafol Ultra or Gummies Prenatal Vitamins
Free Coors Seltzer 12-Pack
Free Alpha Foods Breakfast Burrito
Free Dr. Praeger’s Oaties Oatmeal Dippin’ Sticks
Free KVD Vegan Beauty Sample at Sephora
Free Drink at Blaze Pizza
Free Sample of The Nue Co. Beauty Serum
Free UNIQLO Heattech Top Item
Free Positive Promotions 2021 Wall Calendar Sample Pack
Free Latinas en Marcha Pledge to Vote Stickers, T-Shirt & Bag
Free GoGo squeeZ Applesauce
Free Sample of Tom Ford Black Orchid

 

Deals:

Cute Buckle Ankle Booties ONLY $27.99 (Reg $60)
Buffalo Plaid Clutch ONLY $11.99 Shipped (Reg $25)
Medela Advanced Breast Pump with Tote ONLY $107 (Reg. $250)
BIC Xtra-Precision Mechanical Pencils ONLY $5.47 (Reg. $13)
NuWave Brio 7.25-qt. Air Fryer ONLY $67.99 (Reg. $130)
Save up to 30% on Simple Modern Tumblers & Water Bottles
Power Bites Chews Dog Treats ONLY $2.21 Shipped (Reg $7)
Save 50% on Lady Gaga Makeup on Amazon
Dinosaur Bring Along Backpack and Dinosaur Toy $8.32 (Reg. $23)
Hot Wheels id HiWay Hauler ONLY $2.99 (Reg. $7)
Crock-Pot Express 6-Quart Pressure Cooker ONLY $49.99 (Reg $100)
5-Minute Halloween Stories Hardcover ONLY $5.81 (Reg. $13)
MUK LUKS Women’s Patti Boots ONLY $39.99 Shipped (Reg. $76)
Mytex Deena 3-Pc Comforter Set ONLY $18.99 at Macy’s (Reg $80)
Nespresso Vertuo Next Coffee Machine ONLY $99.99 (Reg $193)
MUK LUKS Women’s Clog With Fur Lining ONLY $14.99 (Reg. $32)
Room on the Broom Board Book ONLY $4.00 (Reg. $8)
MUK LUKS Women’s Kathleen Boots ONLY $36.99 (Reg. $89)
Bella Pro Series Coffeemaker ONLY $14.99 (Reg $30)
50% Off 3 Pack Booty Bands – Pay $6.49 with Coupon
Kids Nike Sets ONLY $19.99 at Belk (Reg $48)
MUK LUKS Traditional Scarf ONLY $16.99 (Reg. $40)
Amazon Fire HD 10 32GB Tablet ONLY $79.99 (Reg $150)
Modern Essentials Standard Pillow ONLY $2.99 (Reg $14)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Gel Soother ONLY $3.60 (Reg. $11)
Moscow Mule Copper Mugs 2-Pack ONLY $7.49 with Coupon (Reg. $25)
Blistex Medicated Lip Balm 3-Pack ONLY $2.70 (Reg. $7)
Folding Banquet Table ONLY $40.54 (Reg. $90)
Cuisinart 10-Pc Ceramic-Coated Cutlery Set ONLY $13.99 (Reg $40)
Kids Headphones ONLY $6.79 (Reg. $20)

San Diego, CA Area Residents: FREE Produce and Perishable Groceries- Today!

Every Friday in October, our friends over at Faith Chapel understand that with all that’s going on in the world that some of us still need help finding healthy food during this difficult time. And that’s it not always safe for us to go to the store or hit up a farmers market.

Distribution is happening this every Friday in October (today and 29th), beginning at 10:00am.

This is a drive-thru style event, so you don’t have to leave your vehicles. There is no paperwork, no questions asked. Show up, pop your trunk, and fresh food is loaded for you, and you are on your way!

Here is a picture of what was available in previous weeks! Sometimes you get produce, sometimes is eggs, milk, and other dairy products and meat- it changes weekly!

Faith Chapel is located at 9400 Campo Road Spring Valley, CA 91977