Broccoli Cheese Soup

Life has been a whirlwind in our household lately.  With my oldest starting Kindergarten and all of the activities that go with it, my busy time of year at work, my husband's insane work schedule, and nailing down our erratic daycare needs, we just don't have a lot of normal family time lately.  It will be a rare occasion in the next six weeks when we're all home together at the same time.  I'm determined to make sure we can enjoy a family dinnertime together as often as possible, but it's definitely going to take some planning.  I'm working on a collection of hearty, one-dish meals so I don't spend the little family time we have this month in the kitchen. 

This is a quick and easy meal and everyone loved it!  Both the girls asked for seconds, and my two year old actually sat still for an entire meal - because she was eating!  For those of you who are familiar with Panera Bread, you'll be happy to learn that this is a very successful replica of their Broccoli Cheese soup.  It's smooth, creamy and full of broccoli flavor.  Serve it with a warm, crusty bread and you'll swear you ordered it straight off the Panera menu. 

The original recipe doesn't instruct you to puree the soup, but I did run my immersion blender through it briefly - I think the girls would've eaten it either way, but I just wanted to increase my odds a little bit.  These quantities were enough for all four of us with a little bit left over - probably not quite enough for another full bowl.  It would probably serve four adults perfectly.

I'm thinking that I probably need to send some of this over to my Mom, since she's the reason my two year old won't have to spend every day with me at work next month.  Of course, knowing my Mom, I could make her a vat of buttercream and a spoon and she'd be much happier. 

I hope you'll give this one a try.  It would be great with homemade bread bowls - click (here) for a great recipe.  Enjoy!