Bacon, Cheese, and Potato Chowder

For some reason, I am usually drawn to potato soup recipes.  Well, it's no secret that the potato is my favorite vegetable.  This recipe, originally found in Kraft Foods magazine, is very easy to make.









Ingredients:
3 cups fat free milk (I used whole milk.)
1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of potato soup
2 cups frozen Southern-style hash browns
1 cup shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese (I used whatever shredded cheese we already had, probably the Mexican four cheese, one of our favorites.)
2 slices bacon, crisply cooked, drained, and crumbled/
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions

1.  Mix milk and soup in a large saucepan.  Stir in hashbrowns.  Bring to a boil on high heat, stirring occasionally.
2.  Reduce heat to medium-low, simmer 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
3.  Ladle into soup bowls (makes 6 one-cup servings)
4.  Top with the cheese, bacon, and onions.

I used the green onions that I froze in the water bottle which turned out great.

I started out frying the bacon in a skillet like I normally do.  I wanted to cook the whole package of bacon to have for quick-and-easy breakfasts, but I didn't want to use the griddle on top of the stove (it gets really gross and I haven't been able to clean it since I was pregnant.).  I wondered if bacon could be baked in the oven.  I did a quick search online and saw that, yes, bacon can be baked in the oven!  I put the oven on at 350 and lined a baking sheet with foil.  I laid out the bacon strips and cooked for about 20 minutes or maybe a little longer.

I really liked how easy this was to make.  I did NOT like the sodium content.  I found a recipe via Pinterest that shows how to make "Cream of Something" soup and am going to try that out in the near future (future blog post).  Also, I have had better potato soups, but they are more labor intensive.  This works out just fine for quick-and-easy.