Loaded Potato Soup and Sweet Corn Bread

I like potatoes.  Baked. Mashed. Hash browned. French fried. And in soup!  This is a recipe a tore out of a Cooking Light magazine a while ago and finally got around to trying.  It was thicker than most potato soups I've tried, but it was still good!  And this was the first time I'd tried this corn bread recipe and it was deee-licious!  I think I actually said, "Oh my gosh, this is good!" out loud.  It's sweet, moist, just dense enough, and not gritty at all.

Loaded Potato Soup

from Cooking Light, November 2012

Ingredients

4 (6 ounce) red potatoes

2 tsp. olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 1/4 cups fat free, lower-sodium chicken broth

3 tbsp. all-purpose flour

2 cups 1% low-fat milk (divided 1/2  and 1 1/2)

1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

3 bacon slices, halved

1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese

4 tsp. thinly sliced green onions

Directions

1. Pierce potatoes with a fork.  Microwave on HIGH 13 minutes or until tender.  Cut potatoes in half; cool slightly.

2. While potatoes cook, heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add olive oil to pan, swirling to coat.  Add onion to pan; saute 3 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add broth to pan.  Combine flour and 1/2 cup milk in a small bowl, stirring until smooth; add flour mixture to pan with remaining 1 1/2 cups milk.  Bring soup to a boil, stirring frequently.  Cook 1 minute.  Remove soup from heat; stir in sour cream, salt, and pepper.

3. Arrange bacon on a paper towel on a microwave-safe plate.  Cover with another paper towel; microwave on HIGH 4 minutes.  Crumble bacon.

4. Discard potato skins.*  Coarsely mash potatoes into soup.  Top with shredded cheese, green onions, and crumbled bacon.

*I had trouble removing the skins, and I was pressed for time, so there were still lots of potato pieces with skin on them, but I didn't mind.

Sweet Corn Bread

from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 cup sour cream

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish.
2. Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Mix egg, sour cream, milk, and butter in a small bowl. Fold egg mixture into flour mixture until just moistened; pour into prepared baking dish.
3. Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve warm.