Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup

I used to use a lot of cans of cream soups.  They are so easy to throw into a casserole to make it creamy and yummy!  One time though, I was completely out of cream of mushroom soup but didn't discover that until after I had started making something.  I needed something quick, so I got out my trusty Betty Crocker Cookbook to see what I could use instead.  It recommended making a thick white sauce and adding in mushrooms.  After finding out how easy it was and how much healthier our dinners could be, I have almost completely quit using canned soups.  I've also done a bit of experimenting to make cream of chicken and cream of celery soup with almost the same recipe.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 cup of milk

Directions:
Saute mushrooms in the butter in a saucepan over low heat.  Stir in the flour, salt, and pepper.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly.  Gradually stir in the milk and heat to boiling, stirring constantly.  Boil and stir for 1 minute or until thickened.

For cream of celery, substitute 1/2 cup celery for the mushrooms.  For cream of chicken, substitute chopped chicken for the mushrooms and 1/2 cup of chicken broth for 1/2 of the milk.

This will make about 1 can of condensed soup, but often I will triple or quadruple the amount and put the extra in jars in my fridge or freezer to save for later.  It's not as easy as opening up a can of soup and dumping it in, but if I have some ready to go, then I only have to cook it up once in a while and the rest of the time it is just as easy as dumping it in!  It is very tasty in Chicken Tetrazzini or Chicken Pot Pie!

Blessings,

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