I'm a 27 year old, newly married, newly living in Washington, librarian trying to find a job in a library. Meanwhile I'm working as a office assistant while I figure out how to live my new life as a wife.
Geoff, my wonderful, caring husband works with computers and, in his free time, plays with video games, lounges on the couch and cooks with sourdough.
Clarabelle and Hermione are our babies! Hermione, who came to Megg as a kitten, loves playing with fur mice and bottle caps. Clarabelle's hobbies include sleeping, lying in the sun and playing with straws. 
Geoff and Megg met through a mutual friend and spent 4 years dating long distance. They were finally able to live in the same zipcode after what seemed like forever when they got married on January 2, 2010! Soon after they bought a house and have been enjoying the Pacific Northwest together while being both newlyweds and new homeowners!Growing up I loved soup. Two different kinds, in fact. Campbells chicken noodle and Campbells tomato soup. That's right, I had no taste! Although I later discovered that adding fat free cheese to the tomato soup makes it very yummy, there is nothing quite like a good, hearty soup.
(Image courtesy of Google images)
Sadly, I wasn't to discover a good hearty soup until very recently. I have never been a creative cook, and I, unfortunately enjoy some very bland foods. I am trying very hard to branch out, however, especially since I married someone who does not do bland foods! Therefore, I've been experimenting more and more with my cooking. Obviously over the summer I did not cook soups, but a recent drop in temperatures has led me to try a few new soups!
One, a hearty tomato soup is a recipe of my grandmother's that is delicious in the winter. I will share that recipe soon, but for now I want to share the Homemade Baked Potato Soup that I recently discovered thanks to The Frugal Girl! I have to say that this is amazing. For someone who loves Panara's Baked Potato Soup, I enjoyed making 6 times the amount of soup for the same price! Or close to, anyway.
With 1 1/3 cup of butter, a cup of sour cream, nearly 2 cups of cheese and a pound of bacon, this recipe is nowhere near as healthy as I should be eating right now. However, I must say that it is not only delicious, but made 7 servings for Geoff and I! And bonus, it was a hit with the hubby!
I did make it slightly more healthy, however, and it didn't seem to suffer. (Although, thankfully since I never tried it with full fat, I don't know what else to compare it to, which is good!) I used light sour cream, skim milk and light cheese (not fat free, though I'm sure that would work too, since it gets all mixed up in there). Even better, I was able to use up some potatoes that were growing eyes! (Don't worry, I cut that part off)
So, what kind of hearty soups do you like in the winter? And a big thank you to the Frugal Girl for turning me onto this recipe!
