Loaded 'Baked Potato' Soup

After a nice family supper, if you ever find that you have left over baked potatoes, this soup is a perfect way to use them up, of course I also make baked potatoes just so I can make this soup.
Also, you can cheat and just do the potatoes in the microwave on the 'baked potato' setting and you can have this scrumptious soup anytime in a matter of minutes.
My entire family loves this soup, with the exception of my hubby, but he's a big ol' crank so he doesn't count!


Ingredients:

• 2 medium baking potatoes, baked and mashed 
• 10 fluid ounces chicken broth 
• ½ cup milk 
• ½ cup half and half cream 
• 3 strips of bacon 
• ¾ cup shredded old cheddar cheese 
• 2 tablespoon chives or green onion 
• ¼ cup sour cream 
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Fry up the strips of bacon in  the soup pan, when cooked crumble them to bacon bit size.  While the bacon is frying mash the potatoes, I used my electric mixer, just because I'm lazy, it's easier and I'm pretty much guaranteed of not having any lumps.
2. Once the bacon is fried, remove to a bowl and drain all of the fat, except for 1 teaspoon.  Add a bit of the chicken stock to deglaze the pan.  Once the pan is deglazed you can mix in the mashed baked potato to the chicken broth and then slowly mix the rest of the chicken broth, cream and milk together and then heat it.  You can add some pepper to taste but I recommend waiting on the salt, since the bacon garnish adds salt already.
3. Serve in bowls and garnish with sour cream, bacon bits, shredded cheddar and green onion or chives.

Dig In and Enjoy