Cream of Mushroom Soup

There are many recipes that call for adding a canned soup to give a dish some body, extra flavor, and the soupy goodness that comes from canned soup. For many years, I have had to make my own cream of mushroom soup because there were no commercial soups that were gluten free. Then Progresso started making cream of mushroom soup, and I was in heaven. I used it in a ton of things: rice hotdish, tater tot hotdish (Okay, mostly I used it in hotdishes, or casseroles, for those of you not from North Dakota or Minnesota). Then we discovered that Dona couldn't have milk; what's a major ingredient in cream of mushroom soup? Milk! So, now I'm making my own soup again.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

• 1/3 cup soup mix (recipe below)
• 1 1/4 cups water 
•  1 small can mushrooms pieces stems or 3-4 mushrooms, chopped
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp celery salt
• 1/4 tsp onion grains

Mix everything together and bring to a boil, stirring.

Soup Mix

• 2 cups nonfat dry milk (or lactose free beverage mix; I use soy milk powder)
• 1 cup corn starch (or potato starch)
• 2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Broccoli Cheese Soup

One of Samantha's and Cassaundra's favorite dishes that I make is this one. I don't make it a lot, and I'm not sure why because it is relatively easy, tastes good, and is probably good for you. At least, it has plenty of vegetables, so it should be good for you. The cheese and cream I used shouldn't negatively affect your diet, heh, heh.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 cup diced potato
• 1/2 cup sliced carrots
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1 head broccoli, separated into smallish florets
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 teaspoon salt ( I usually don't add salt to my recipes. There's salt in the butter and cheese)
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1/4 cup potato starch
• 2 cups milk 
• 8 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 3-4 slices American cheese (or Velveeta)

Put all of the vegetables and the pepper into the stock. Cover and simmer 10-12 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. (At this point you can puree the vegetables if you need to hide them from your kids or if you like smooth soup. If you don't have to hide the vegetables and like a chunky soup, leave everything as is.) Prepare a white sauce with the potato starch, and milk. Add the butter or margarine and allow to melt. Stir in the potato starch/milk mixture and keep stirring until it thickens. Especially if you use potato starch you have to make stir it. Potato starch gets sort of like snot if you just add it in and don't stir. Snot, as I'm sure you have noticed, doesn't taste good. Add the cheese and let it melt. Don't let the soup boil. Once the cheese is melted, you are ready!