Chicken/Cheese/Broccoli Soup w/Bread Bowl

What's for dinner??? When it's really cold
outside (like it has been here) There's nothing
better than comfort food..Something hot,
filling & tastes simply out of this world!!!

One of the great things I have found in doing
this blog for the last 6 months (besides finding new
wonderful people to have in my life..like all
of you!!!) is finding great recipes & rediscovering
old family favorites that have been handed
down from generation to generation.

One of my New Year's resolutions was to use up
the food we have & make meals from the
ingredients I have on hand...
This is one of those recipes..I had a lot of
broccoli, & chicken to use up..So this is what
I came up with...Hope you like it...

So let's begin to make this phenomenal
"Chicken/Cheese/Broccoli Soup"...and
Bread Bowl (next time the bowl will be from
scratch...I promise & I'll give you the recipe)

I love the eye appeal this has when using the
Sourdough French Bread as a "Soup Bowl."
This recipe is from Liz K. as adapted by Sister's
Cafe...

I have changed the recipe to include chicken
(I always like to have more protein if possible)
& mixed Mexican cheese I had on hand...

RECIPE
1 can chicken broth (about 2 cups)
1 small onion, diced

1/3 c. flour
1/4 c. butter
Pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp.)

2 c. milk
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese (sharper...better)
1/2 c. shredded Swiss cheese
1 c. Mixed Mexican cheeses
2-3 c. steamed broccoli florets (chopped in pieces)
3 chicken breasts (skinless/boneless/cooked) diced
1 Lg. Round Sourdough French Bread

Directions:
Simmer chicken broth & chopped onions for
15-20 min. in a covered saucepan, until onions
are soft. Heat milk in microwave for 1-2 min.

In a separate lg-size sauce pan, melt butter
& then add flour and pepper. See Photo Below..
Cook together for a couple of minutes until thickened..

Add warm milk until blended...Then add chicken

broth w/onions, cheeses, steamed broccoli, &

lg. pieces of diced chicken. Stir & heat together

on medium-high heat until soup starts to thicken..

As shown in next 3 photos...

Ouuu..it looks sooo good & smells even better!!!!

I wish you could SMELL IT!!

Now for the Bread Bowl.....I had planned to make

them from scratch, but the afternoon flew by &

(I made Bread pudding instead..that will have to be

for another post) Wish you could smell that too!!!

Anyway I needed this done to take dinner into a dear

friend (& her family) who just came home from the

hospital..So I was fine with store bought...See Below:

Looking further below... shows how I cut the "Top"

off with an electric knife (It's easiest I think) & then

cut a circle around the loaf (leaving about 1/2"

of bread creating the "bowl". Then pull out (by hand)

the soft bread..

(You can use that to eat with the soup..Same with

the top..You can eat it with the soup or maybe with

some spinach dip like we did...)

It is out of this world....Try it & let me know what

your family thinks...

It is so delicious & Comforting on a Cold, Gray

day outside...It's nice to be cozy & warm &

have a delicious nutritious meal that you

know will leave your family cozy & warm on

the inside, too.