Easy Potato Chowder

I love coming up with easy, cheap, hearty meals for my family. Lately I have been able to buy 20lbs of potatoes for about $5. They are usually $5.49 for a 5lb bag at my local grocery store but the small health food store has had them on special. I have been experimenting with potatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

I started with about 6 slices of bacon chopped and cooked in my dutch oven. I used one potato per person (6 potatoes). Peeled and chopped an tossed in with the sizzling bacon. I also chopped half a large onion and minced some garlic. Saute all of it until the potatoes start to brown and the onion starts to soften.

I like to add a boost of nutrition whenever I can. I have baggies of steamed, pureed and frozen fruits and veggies so that I can easily add it to any meal. In this recipe I added pureed sweet potato and some dehydrated celery. I also used on jar of chicken broth. I added all of that to the potatoes and onions and then covered and turned the heat to low and let it simmer until the potatoes were cooked.

After the potatoes were cooked through I slowly stirred in 2 cups of milk. The milk I used was mixed from powdered milk but fresh or canned milk works just as well.

After the milk has been added and heated you can mash it a little to get a thicker soup. We like a creamy soup with some potato chunks. At this point you can season it to taste. Salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash and whatever else sounds tasty.









After the soup is done serve it with a crusty piece of bread and sprinkle the soup with Parmesan or any good cheese. Our total cost for this soup which served 6 hungry people (two of them teenage boys!) cost less than $2 for the entire pot!