Broccoli Cheese and Potato Soup

Today I woke up with what seems to be the beginning of a wonderful cold. So I found it fitting to post about this wonderful creamy soup.
This soup comes together in under 30 minutes and is full of so much flavor you won't even miss the fact that there isn't any meat. This to me is pure comfort food.
Im usually not much of a soup maker, for some reason, but I have decided that this year I am going to branch out a little more and dive more into soups. Why? Because they don't create many dishes to clean up afterwards and they can usually come together pretty quick!
Later this week I was planning to make some baked potatoes with broccoli cheesy sauce so I saw it fitting to post this today, to show another way you could use the exact same ingredients!

I figured it has been a recipe or two since  I have posted about SkinnyTaste. I strongly urge you to check out this site. This lady is amazing. She had created this site because she didn't like a lot of the Weight Watchers recipes that were out there so she created her own and puts all the points and nutritional facts on there for each recipe. Not that I do Weight Watchers, but it does make it really nice if you are counting calories or anything. Not only does she provide that but she provides amazing recipes. I have yet to be disappointed by any recipe of hers that I have tried.

1 small onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour (For GF make sure you use a different type of flour such as almond or quinoa)
2 1/2 cups fat free chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
1 cup fat free milk
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced small
salt and fresh pepper
4 cups (about 2 heads) broccoli florets, chopped into small pieces
1-1/2 cups 2% shredded sharp cheddar (For GF make sure you buy the block cheese and shred it yourself. The already shredded usually contains some gluten in it to help it not stick together)
2 slices 2% American cheese (GF. Same as above)
1 tbsp Parmesan cheese (GF, Same as above.)

1. Chop onion, carrot, celery, garlic in a chopper or mini food processor.
2. In a large soup pot, melt butter. Add chopped vegetables and sauté on low heat until soft, about 5 minutes.
3. Add flour, salt and pepper to the pot and stir until smooth.
4. Add chicken broth, milk and potatoes and set heat to high until it comes to a boil, then cover and cook on low until potatoes are soft, about 10-15 minutes.
5. Add broccoli florets, parmesan cheese, and stir well. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Cook uncovered until broccoli is cooked, about 5 minutes. Add cheddar and American cheese, stir well and remove from heat.
6. Using an immersion blender, quickly blend part of the soup for a quick second or two. If you don't have an immersion blender, remove about 1-2 cups of potatoes and broccoli, place it in your chopper, then add it back to the soup. This helps thicken it a bit.

**Randi's Side Notes**
~ I didn't really think that step 6 was needed because I liked the consistency of my soup. Obviously that step is up to your personal preference. It will not effect the taste of the soup other then you will have smaller pieces in your mouth.
~ For gluten free make sure you use a different kind of flour, I like to suggest almond or quinoa flour.