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Broccoli and Cheese Soup

Daycare is canceled this morning. Not that I’m at all surprised. They were alerting parents to check the website and the school’s Facebook page for closures when I picked up last evening. I’m also not surprised at their decision – we have a solid foot on the ground with an expected 20 MORE inches coming between now and tomorrow! We haven’t had snow like this in years.

I’m waiting at home to see if my plan B is able to take the girls today and so until then, I’m being productive (hi!!). But I really need to get to work – yesterday was busy and my to-do list is piling up.

Yesterday was not only busy but WEIRD. Among other weird things, I also saw a coworker in his boxer briefs. Yep, you read that correctly. I was strategizing with environmental services and surgery on a project and together with the EVS supervisor, the manager of surgery (female), and the (male) charge nurse, just standing in the same day surgery nursing station, and the charge nurse starts to retie his scrub pants when all of a sudden…they FELL TO HIS CALVES.

Standing there, in his boxer briefs. A man I’ve never met before. And I was the one standing directly in front of him. We all laughed and were all embarrassed. I’m hard to embarrass, but I was completely red, I know it. We quickly wrapped up the conversation, laughed a bit more, and being who I am, I said, “It was nice to meet you! I can’t promise I won’t retell this story but I do promise to leave you anonymous!” He seemed good spirited even after that comment. Hilarious.

Since it will undoubtedly be a quiet day at work and all of my meetings have been cancelled due to weather, I can be seriously productive. However, it’s tempting to just stay snuggled into the warmth and comfort of home when there’s an accumulating 2+ FEET of snow. Seriously.

I also plan to remake this soup. Stat. Once Mr. Prevention is done with his juice cleanse (are the husband’s of RDs all so bull-headed?!), this will be the perfect recipe to make over this cold, snowy, lazy weekend. Even with the creamy, rich half and half, I was pleasantly surprised to find this soup to be packed with vegetables and flavor…and not with calories. Feel free to add more cheese as I did increase both the amount of broth and broccoli from the original recipe, but we loved it as is!


Broccoli and Cheese Soup
Author: 
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 5 servings (~2 cups each)
 
Ingredients
  • 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
  • 4 stalks broccoli, cut into small florets
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3 Tbsp butter
  • 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup half and half, at room temperature
  • 2 oz (1/2 cup) sharp cheddar cheese, freshly grated
  • 4 oz (1 cup) gouda cheese, freshly grated
  • ¼ tsp garlic powder
  • ⅛ tsp allspice
  • ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ⅛ tsp dried basil
  • ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
  • ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
  1. Heat vegetable broth, ⅔rds of the broccoli, carrots, onion, garlic, and bay leaf in a pot over medium-high heat. Once simmering, reduce heat to medium-low and continue simmering fro 15-20 minutes or until veggies are tender. Add last ⅓ of florets and stir.
  2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Once melted, add the flour and whisk constantly for about 2 minutes. Slowly pour in half and half, whisking until smooth. Allow come to a simmer and thicken, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and slowly pour into the broth.
  3. Add the cheddar, gouda, garlic powder, allspise, nutmeg, basil, cayenne, and black pepper; stir until cheese is melted and broccoli is just tender. Remove bay leaf before serving.
Notes
Recipe slightly adapted from Peas and Crayons
Nutrition Information
Serving size: ~2 cups Calories: 324 Fat: 23.2 Carbohydrates: 16.6 Sugar: 5.4 Sodium: 733 Fiber: 1.2 Protein: 16.0 Cholesterol: 72
Be well,

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3 Comments

  1. Biz
    January 4, 2018 / 2:18 pm

    Sorry about all the snow – but I will always take cold weather over snow any day of the week. I hate driving in it. Glad you got to stay home with the kiddos – and you’ve already got the gym in your basement so you are good to go!

  2. Amelia
    January 4, 2018 / 6:22 pm

    This recipe looks fabulous, even if you’re not snowed in! How many cups of broccoli would you say 4 stalks of florets yields?

    • Amelia
      January 4, 2018 / 6:23 pm

      That is, how many cups of florets would you say that 4 stalks of broccoli yields?

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