Baked Potato Soup

Potato Soup in a bread bowl from Panera Bread is my usual after surgery!  My hospital in Richardson has a Panera Bread on the way to the hospital from our old apartment so every morning Lee would bring me a smoothie, bagel, and cream cheese and after surgery he'd bring me potato soup in a bread bowl with a half of a turkey sandwich.  I'm not sure which turkey sandwich it is but I know it has Gouda cheese on it, still to this day that is the only thing I have ever ate with Gouda cheese and I love it!!!  Oh and a couple of times after surgery my dear friend Kourtney brought me my usual from Panera that way Lee could sleep.  Those were afternoon surgeries so Lee had to stay up all day and I wanted him to go home and get sleep.  I know that probably sounds odd to some of you that I stay at the hospital all by myself but I actually prefer it that way, most of the time.  But I'm lucky to have had my friend nearby that could help us out!  Anyways enough about the hospital, more about food!  This was really good but I was missing green onions because I forgot to buy them and a bread bowl because I didn't think about one till it was too late...actually scratch that I prolonged going to the store by making this because I had all the ingredients at home already so I figured I could go without green onions for the sake of staying at home in my PJ's!

Baked Potato Soup
2 tbsp butter
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup flour
4 1/2 cups milk
1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth
4 baked potatoes
1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
For garnishing
sour cream
green onions, chopped
bacon, cooked & crumbled

Bake the potatoes in the oven or the microwave before you get ready to make soup, this can even be done the day before if you don't have time to bake the potatoes the same day.

In a large pot melt butter and add garlic and saute for a minute.  Add the flour and mix together and then slowly add the milk and whisk together until smooth.  Once smooth add chicken broth and bring to boil and heat until the soup thickens. 

Turn it on low, scoop the potatoes out of skin and add to soup.  Mix it together until you get the desired consistency of soup.  I like mine completely mashed so I used a potato masher, but if you like chunks then a wooden spoon would work.  Turn the heat up if you need to warm the potatoes and cook for 5-10 minutes. 

Add 1 cup of the cheese, salt, and pepper.  Serve and add sour cream, bacon, green onions, and more cheese for garnish. 

Adapted from Recipe Indulgence.