Copy Cat Soup and Breadsticks!

So I realized, after deciding that I was going to slack off a bit until my husband got home that I didn't like that idea one bit! I regretted not doing anything the week before and was determined to change that this week! So, on a bit of a spur the moment idea, I scrounged up some recipes from pinterest and got to it! My husband is not a fan of soup, but I happen to like it a lot, so I decided to try to squeeze in a recipe I was wanting to try for a bit in before he got home. Broccoli Cheese soup is one of my all time favorites, but I'd never made it from scratch before, so I decided to try my hand at that using a Panera copy cat recipe. It really was pretty good and very very easy, but next time I think I might even double the amount of cheese as it didn't really have that cheesy goodness I was looking for. What better to go with soup than bread sticks? And (in my opinion) the best bread sticks come from Olive Garden, so I had a copy cat recipe of that floating around that I tried too. These really were great, they weren't quite as light and fluffy as the ones at olive garden, but they still had a good texture and the salty garlic butter you put over them was mmm to die for! The best part was I had all of the bread stick ingredients just sitting around the house! I don't have pictures right now as I'm in Florida visiting my grandparents, but I will upload them as soon as I'm able :)

(Olive Garden) Bread sticks

• 1 1/2 cups warm water (between 110 - 120 degrees F) 
• 1 package active dry yeast 
• 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 
• 2 tablespoons sugar 
• 1 tablespoon salt 
• 1 stick unsalted butter ( I used unsalted)
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder 
• 1 teaspoons salt

In a large bowl, dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water and allow to sit for 10 minutes or until mixture starts to get frothy. In separate bowl, combine flour and salt, then add to yeast mixture. Add melted butter and mix with paddle attachment (or hand mix, as I did) until fully combined. Knead dough for a few minutes just until dough is smooth. Grease a cookie sheet and pull off pieces of dough and roll out into strips (It should make roughly a dozen bread sticks, more or less depending on size). Cover the dough and let sit in a warm place for 45 minutes to an hour. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees . In microwave, combine the rest of the ingredients. After bread sticks have cooked for 6 or 7 minutes, brush the bread sticks with half the butter mixture, then continue to bake. Bake for 5-8 more minutes. Immediately upon removal from the oven brush the other half of the butter on the sticks. Allow to cool for a few minutes before eating.

(Panera Bread) Broccoli Cheese Soup

• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups half-and-half ( or skim milk)
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 pound fresh broccoli ( florets only)
• 1 cup carrots, julienne
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 8 ounces grated cheddar cheese

Saute onions in a little butter in a small pan until they get soft and set aside. In a large stockpot melt the butter then add flour and mix for 3 minutes. Slowly add half- half – mixing the entire time followed by the chicken stock. Let simmer on low for 20 minutes before adding broccoli, carrots, onions and cook on low for 25 minutes.Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Place soup in a blender or use an immersion blender and puree, I stopped a bit short of it being smooth as personally I love to have some little chunks of vegetables in my soup. Heat soup over low heat and add cheese and mix till melted. Serve and enjoy!