Cheesy Broccoli Soup

I went shopping this morning for the ingredients for this week's soups.  I (hopefully) remembered everything except the clams!  So sorry, clam chowder is postponed until later this week.  

While shopping I was struck with two things:  1. making homemade soups is surprisingly inexpensive, and 2. my homemade soup recipes are really NOT that healthy.  Yes, maybe they aren't laden with sodium and preservatives, but some of them are laden with CALORIES!  The soup I made tonight, for example, must contain a ridiculous amount of fat, but it is delicious.  So try it anyway, just don't eat half the pot!  =)

I created this recipe by combining a few different recipes I had, and I really liked the results.  

Cheesy Broccoli Soup

• 1 pound of frozen broccoli
• 3 cubes of butter (really...)
• 1 + 1/3 cups of flour
  
• 4 c. water
• 2 c. half & half
• 2 c. milk
• 2 tsp. chicken bullion
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 2 c. sharp cheddar cheese, grated
  

Put the broccoli in a blender or food processor and chop until in tiny pieces.  Cook the broccoli bits on low heat without water until tender.  In another pot, add the chicken bullion to the water and bring to a boil.  Turn down low and add the broccoli, half & half, and all the other ingredients except the cheese.  (With the flour, I started with only 1 cup.  I wanted my soup a little thicker than this, so I ended up adding about another 1/3 cup for thickness.  You can experiment with how thick you want your soup.)  Warm through.  Add the cheese, and stir and cook on medium heat until the cheese is melted and the soup is thick and warm.  Serve.  Yummy!  Note that if you read this recipe Monday night or before 8 a.m. Tuesday morning, it contained a typo!  It has now been fixed.

Thanks to those of you who sent me your yummy soup recipes!!  I'll have to share all the great recipes I get at the end of the week.  Anyone else have any great soup recipes to share?