Southwest Cheddar Cheese Soup

Those of you who have read my blog for a while now, know that I have twin boys who started kindergarten this year.  Those of you who have had children in kindergarten most assuredly know that it is the most darling of all the grades. Am I right? There is just something so endearing about cute 5 and 6 year olds braving the world of school, learning the rules and working hard to achieve…all with the bright eyes of discovery.

A few days ago I left my boys in the charge of my TeenDaughterAnna. I asked that she get out the kindergarten homework for the day and have my boys complete it before I got home. (It was one of those busy days when there are more things on the to do list than there is time for, okay? I wasn’t trying to shirk my duties or anything…just making sure everyone was able to get their responsibilities taken care of. Thank you for your understanding.)

When I arrived home MyLittleTwinBoyNate met me at the door and said “Hey Mom, Aaron didn’t want to do his homework today, so I just did it for him so we could go down together and play the wii.”

So I promptly rattled off all of the reasons why we shouldn’t do each others homework, and that it was kind of like cheating and cheating isn’t allowed at school and your teacher wouldn’t like it, and Aaron needs to learn on his own without you taking over for him…and so and so forth. He said he would be sure and remember. Then, I kind of forgot about it while we raced around during the evening putting out fires and taking care of family life issues.

The next morning when I was packing up their kindergarten backpacks, I found two sheets of finished homework laying on the kitchen table. Both papers had a very neatly written “Nate” at the top of the page.

What a thoughtful boy, thought I…to complete his brothers homework so thoroughly.

Kindergarten.

It’s really cute.

This Southwest Cheddar Cheese Soup is very tasty, can be made in 30 minutes or less and is perfect for a cold snowy day. A touch of  salsa and some green peppers give this cheesy soup its southwestern flavor. It’s a nice twist on regular cheese soup. My family loved it and gobbled it all up in one sitting. It would be wonderful served with the Fluffy Honey Wheat Rolls I posted last week.  Hope you enjoy it!

 Southwest Cheddar Cheese Soup
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Time: 30 minutes, start to finish
Yield: 6 servings
Recipe from my fabulous Mother In Law

4 medium-sized russet potatoes
3 C water
3 chicken bullion cubes (or 3 t bullion granules)
1 onion, chopped
1 C carrots, chopped
1 C green pepper, chopped
1/3 C butter
1/3 C flour
4 C velveeta cheese, cubed
2 T salsa

1. Chop up the potatoes, onion, carrots and green pepper. Toss them into a big soup pot and pour 3 cups of water over the top. The water should cover the veggies up with about half an inch of water remaining on top.

2. Add 3 chicken bullion cubes or 3 teaspoons of bullion granules to the pot. Give it a nice stir to incorporate. Turn the heat to medium high and let the veggies cook until they are fork tender.

3. While your veggies cook, find yourself some velveeta cheese. You will need just a little bit more than half of a 2 pound block.

Or in other words, 4 cups of velveeta cheese cubed up nicely. Open up that package and cut up the cheese with a sharp knife.

4. In a skillet (or medium-sized sauce pan) melt 1/3 cup of butter over medium high heat.

5. Add 1/3 cup flour

and immediately whisk it around to form a thick paste.

6. Pour in 3 1/2 cups of milk

and whisk it around to combine. Keep stirring it and watch for it to get nice and bubbly and thick. Should take just a few minutes.

7. When your veggies are cooked through, add the thickened butter and milk mixture to the soup pot. (Don’t drain any of the liquid the veggies were cooking in). Give it all a nice stir.

8. Add your velveeta cheese

and 2 tablespoons of salsa. (Feel free to add a little bit more, if you enjoy that kind of thing). Stir it well to combine. The cheese will melt quite quickly. When it has been incorporated into the soup remove the pot from the heat, serve and enjoy.