Wisconsin Cheddar Beer Soup

is a winner!   The secret ingredient to this soup is a chunk of American cheese.  You put it in the freezer for easy shredding – it melted really well!   In their test kitchen, the decided all cheddar cheese made the soup grainy.

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, chopped fine (obviously, I left this out!)
• 1 carrot, peeled and chopped fine (mine was 3 ounces)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 chicken broth ( or one can)
• 1 12 ounce lite beer
• 2 cups 1% milk
• 3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup shredded American cheese
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch (I completely forgot about this step!)
• salt and pepper to taste
• Italian seasoning (which I added after adding salt and pepper)

1. Melt butter in large pot over medium heat.  Cook until onion and carrots are lightly browned, about 10 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Stir in flour and cook until golden, about 1 minute.  Slowly whisk in broth, beer and milk.  Bring mxture to a simmer then reduce heat to low and simmer gently (don’t boil!) until carrots are soft about 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, toss the shredded cheeses and cornstarch in a large bowl until well combined.  Puree soup in blender (I used my stick blender) until smooth.  Remove from heat and whisk in cheese mixture, a handful at a time until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper.   This will stay in the fridge up to 3 days.

Makes 6 one cup servings:  359 caloires, 25 fat, 13 carbs, .5 fiber and 17 protein

I ended up making ham and cheese pinwheels for dinner.  No real recipe.   When you open the can of crescent rolls, form two triangles into a rectangle.  You’ll have four rectangle.  For each roll, add 1 ounce ham, 1 ounce cheese and roll up, using your fingers to close up the seems.  Cut each roll into four pieces and bake on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes at 350.

Here they look out of the oven:

I added a schmere of spicy brown mustard to each of my rolls:

Paired with my soup and Tabasco sauce:

Off to relax, but quick question:  I am going to Cheesecake Factory for lunch tomorrow – any suggestions that may be on the healthy side?   I may just stick to an appetizer – its been years since I have been there, but I remember their portions being huge!

See you tomorrow for breakfast!