Potato and Cheddar Soup

2 cups water
2 cups peeled and cubed red potatoes
3 Tbsp melted butter
1 small onion, chopped
3 Tbsp flour
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups milk
1/2 tsp sugar
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup diced ham

Using a medium sized stock pot bring water to a boil, add potatoes and cook until tender. Drain reserving 1 cup liquid. Stir together butter, onion, and flour. Season with salt and pepper. Gradually stir in potatoes, reserved liquid, milk, sugar, cheese, and ham. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.

Cooking Club: Thaw and heat on stove until warm.

Broccoli and Three Cheese Soup--Dana

1 qt chicken broth (or vegetable)

2 cups milk

2 10 oz bags of frozen broccoli florets

1/2 diced white onion

1/2 t black pepper

1/2 t kosher salt

1/2 t ground nutmeg

1 cup each of three different cheeses

Mince the onion into really small pieces. The onions are going to soften in the milk and the broth, and need to be quite small so you don't crunch on onion pieces when the soup is complete.

Add the onion to your crockpot, and top with the milk, broth, and spices. Stir in the two frozen bags of broccoli.

Cook on low for 7-9 hours, or on high for 4-6. The broth is done when the onion is cooked nicely.

20 minutes or so before serving, shred all the cheese you are going to use, and stir it in. The cheese will be stringy and will stick to the broccoli florets---you can use an immersion blender and blend it a little bit.
For cooking club: Thaw until you can get it into your crockpot and then cook as the recipe instructs.

Serve with a salad and fresh bread!
From http://crockpot365.blogspot.com

Black Bean Soup--Dana

3 cans of black beans

1 can of Italian stewed tomatoes

2 cups of broth (vegetable or chicken)

2 T taco sauce (great use for those taco bell packets!)

1 1/2 cups chopped vegetables

Chop up vegetables with a food processor or blender.

I had leftover roasted vegetables, and decided to use those. If I hadn't, I would have used frozen corn, peas, some carrots and some celery---anything I already had in the fridge and freezer. dump pulverized vegetables into stoneware insert.

Empty all cans into the crockpot insert. do not rinse the beans or drain the tomatoes. Add broth and taco sauce. Mix with spoon.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 5-6. Soups taste better the longer you cook it.

Before serving, use an immersion blender to soupify the beans and tomatoes.
For cooking club: Thaw veges and proceed with the recipe...

Serve with some shredded Parmesan cheese and a dollop of sour cream as well as a salad and some fresh bread!
From http://crockpot365.blogspot.com