Who Needs Panera?

Next time I spend nearly ten dollars on a meal of soup and lettuce at a Panera Bread I will remind myself of the totally amazing baked potato soup I made in my own kitchen tonight.

Ok, so that's a little harsh because I am a big fan of the restaurant, but you can save yourself a lot of money by using a good recipe at home. :)

Here's a good one:

4 large baked potatoes
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup flour
6 cups 2% or whole milk
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 green onions, chopped
12 slices of bacon, fried and crumbled
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream

1. Cut potatoes in half. Scoop our pulp and put in small bowl.
2. Melt butter in large kettle. Add flour. Gradually stir in milk. Continue to stir until smooth, thickened, and bubbly (don't give up-this takes awhile).
3. Stir in potato pulp, salt, pepper, and three-quarters of the onions, bacon, and cheese. Cook until heated. Stir in sour cream.
4. Transfer to slow cooker and set on Low. Top w/ remaining onions, bacon, and cheese. Take to a potluck or serve straight from the cooker.

(Taken from the Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook Feasting with your Slow-Cooker pg 62) Check it Out Here

Ok, I wonder if that violates some sort of copyright law...

That is the original recipe, but I used quite a few of my own substitutes. I used a sweet onion instead of green (simply bc the store didn't have green onions), only about 6 slices of turkey bacon instead of 12 of real bacon, only about 1 cup of cheese, and omitted the sour cream because it tasted fine already and I didn't want to gain a pant size after consuming my soup. Also, unless you are cooking for 10, I would recommend halfing the recipe!