Broccoli and Cheese Soup

Its that time of the year....Soup Season! Its time to cuddle up on the couch, watch some Netflix, and eat some tasty soup. Try out a (vegetarian friendly) bowl of broccoli and cheese soup!

Ingredients:

• 4 heads of fresh broccoli 
• 1 whole onion, diced 
• 1 stick or half cup of butter 
• 1/3 cup of flour 
• 4 cups of whole milk 
• 2 cups of half and half 
• 1 pinch of nutmeg
• 3 cups of grated cheese. (Mild cheddar, sharp cheddar, or both)
• salt to taste 
• ground pepper 

Cooking Instructions 

Start off by melting the butter in a pot. Add onions and cook for about 3 mins or until they are translucent. 

After the onions turn translucent, add the 1/3 cup of flour. Let that cook for about 1 minute. 

Once your done with that it is time to add the milk, half and half, salt and pepper, pinch of nutmeg, and broccoli. Make sure you cut the broccoli up into smaller pieces so the broccoli cooks all the way through. 

Let that cook for a good 20-30 minutes on medium low heat. Or until the broccoli is tender. Once its cooked long enough you have a couple of options. You could blend it to make the soup nice and creamy or you could leave it how it is to add some texture some texture. I choose to put the soup in the bender. After bending the soup add the 3 cups of cheese. 

Now its time to snuggle up on the couch and enjoy your vegetarian friendly soup! Enjoy friends! 

It's Okay to Cheat..

I've been a vegetarian for about 6 months now and it has definitely not been the easiest life style change for me. Let me first make it clear what my new diet consists of. The formal definition for a vegetarian is eating only plant based food with or without eggs or dairy. However, I am technically a pescetarian because I eat fish but no other meat products and when I do eat fish I try to make sure that it is wild caught fish. Taking meat out of my diet was a drastic change for me since I grew up on meat and potatoes. That's one reason why I have kept fish in my diet because it would have been way to drastic of a change for me. After 6 months I have narrowed it down to only eating fish about 3 times a week. I hope to eventually take fish completely out of my diet and only have a plant based diet. Since I started my new diet I have not been perfect. There has been a handful of times were I could not resist my roommates cooking up some bacon or my dad bringing me some of his homemade chicken noodle soup. It's okay to cheat! Just as long as you stick with it!

Philly Mushroom Sandwich

Philly Mushroom Sandwiches
6 portobello mushrooms
2 medium onions
2 green/yellow/red peppers
2 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons of cilantro
3 table spoons of soy sauce
3 table spoons of olive oil
1/4 cup of vegetable broth
2 table spoons of all purpose flour
6 submarine buns
Sliced Provolone cheese

Begin with olive oil in a large pot heat set to medium/high. Add the onions and cook till soft roughly 2-3 mins. Then add mushrooms, peppers. onions, cilantro and garlic. Stir occasionally till vegetables are soft . Once all vegetables are soft reduce heat too medium low and sprinkle flour over veggies and stir till they are all coated. Then add soy sauce and vegetable broth. Let it simmer till thick. Preheat the oven to 425 to toast the buns. Be careful not to burn the buns! After the buns are nice and toasty add the provolone cheese and the philly mushroom mix to the buns. And now you got yourself a tasty vegetarian philly mushroom sandwich!