As it gets colder outside, we tend to eat more and more soups and hot crock-pot dinners.  Something we can throw together and let it cook all afternoon.  One of my favorites to make with left over mashed potatoes is baked potato soup with homemade crutons.  If you have left over mashed potatoes this is an extremly easy soup to make, if not, you can make it using my Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes Recipe.  

Baked Potatoes Soup

Ingredients:

4 Cups Mashed Potatoes

1/2 Cup Sour Cream

2 Cups 2% Milk (I have used Skim Milk too)

2 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Pepper

1 Tsp Garlic Powder

1 Cup Shredded Cheese

1/2 Cup Chopped Bacon

First, mix the mashed potatoes and sour cream in a large sauce pan or crock-pot on low heat.  Next, slowly stir in the milk, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.   Cook until heated thoroughly, and top with shredded cheese and chopped bacon.  For an extra touch you can add some homemade crutons(see below).  This is a tasty soup that is great for those left over mashed potatoes.

Homemade croutons are easy to make and go well with lots of soups and salads.  My husband loves these croutons for just about any dish, in fact he will try to eat them all before it is time for dinner.

Homemade Crutons

Ingredients:

1 Loaf of French Bread Sliced

Butter of Margarine (enough to butter all the slices of bread on one side)

3 Tsp Garlic Powder

1 Tsp Salt

First, butter all your slices of bread on one side. Then, cut all your bread into cubes.  There is not really an easy way to do this. I usually stack to or three slices and cut each stack.  Next lay all the cubed bread on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with garlic powder and salt.  Put the cookie sheet under the broiler in the oven for about 3 minutes or until the edges start to crisp.