Party, Rest, Soup

What a weekend! I knew it was going to be an interesting weekend just based on the fact that I had work, a Halloween party to go to, and a day off.

Friday was busier than I planned. School went well but Old Navy was having a crazy sale so when I got to work we were really busy. It felt like it was one of the holiday sales. The shift went quickly which was a blessing, but it was a long night.

Saturday was just an interesting day. Work at Mathnasium was interesting, difficult, and perplexing to say the least. I ended up staying an extra hour and a half just to get a little bit of office work done, and even then I wasn't able to get much done. It was a very long shift. The kids were pretty good but my cold made my voice sound like a man when I spoke so talking was a little difficult. Overall it went alright. After work I went home and just relaxed for a few hours before going to a friends Halloween party. I was cheap this year and made my own costume. I was a page out of an "I Spy" book. I took an old tie-dye shirt and printed out different pictures on iron-on transfer paper and ironed them on and then painted a list of what needed to be found. It was kind of lame, but the tie-dye shirt looked kind of cool under black light! My friends went all out and decorated their whole house for the party! It was sweet! We all had a lot of fun! I ended up feeling like crap and being super tired by 12:30 so I left, which I hated doing but I knew I wouldn't be able to stay up as late as everyone else and figured I might as well try to get healthy and get some sleep.

This morning my body decided 6 was a good time to wake up... so I laid in bed until 8:30 and forced myself to try to sleep a little longer which resulted in restless sleep. Then I gave up and read in bed and just relaxed until a little after 10. I still felt like crap and besides being congested I felt as if everything was draining into my chest. Really, having this cold is a blast! I decided that I was going to lay low all day and around noon I figured that I wanted to make soup, and then it seemed logical to invite other people to share it with. Most of the people I invited couldn't come, but a few were able to make it. The recipe for the Baked Potato Soup is below. It turned out alright despite a gluten free substitution.

I'm personally dealing with a lot right now. I'm ready to give up but at the same time know that I can't.

Baked Potato Soup
Ingredients:
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup flour (if gluten free use white rice flour)
7 cups milk
4 potatoes (bakes, cooled, and cubed)
4 green onions, chopped (I used a little less than 4 because mine were really strong)
12 slices of bacon
1 1/4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Directions:
1.) Place bacon in a large skillet. Cook over medium heat until browned. Drain, crumble and set aside.
2.) In a large stock pot melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour, until smooth. Gradually add milk, whisking constantly until thickened. Stir in potatoes and onions. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
3.) Reduce heat, simmer 10 minutes (this gets thick fast so keep an eye on it). Mix in bacon, cheese, sour cream, salt and pepper. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until cheese is melted. Serve and enjoy!