Cheese Soup

It was so fun to get together with one of my friends to make several freezer meals.
I hadn't had cheese soup in a while so I was especially excited to make this recipe from my friend's family cookbook. This is how we made it:

1) in large (at least 4-quart) pot combine the following ingredients and boil until vegetables are cooked through:
2 quarts water
4 potatoes washed and diced or shredded(peels are fine if you like them)
4 stalks celery diced or shredded
4 carrots sliced or shredded (peels are fine if you like them)
8 chicken bouillon cubes
1 medium diced onion (optional)
a pinch of garlic powder (optional)
3/4 tsp Accent (optional)

2) in separate pan melt 2 cubes of butter and then slowly add 1 and 1/2 cups of flour a little at a time and stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Then add 4 cups of water and cook and stir over medium heat for several minutes (using a wire whisk really helps prevent lumps) until it thickens. Then remove from the heat. (This has created a thick white sauce)

3) When the vegetables are soft, then puree half of them in a blender and pour it out into a bowl. Then puree the rest of the vegetables and return them all to the pan. (Or for chunky soup just skip this step)

4) Cut 16 oz of Velveeta cheese into small squares and add it and the white sauce into the large pot with the puree veggies and cook and stir over medium-low heat until the cheese melts. (other shredded cheeses will work well too but will take longer to melt in than the Velveeta)

5) If Desired, add up to one quart more water to make the soup the consistency you like.

6) If you want to freeze for later, wait for the soup to cool down and then ladle it into the desired size plastic freezer containers.

Yield: 3-4 quarts of really yummy soup.

Tip: If you cut the amount of water in half when you cook the vegetables and don't add the extra water at the end, this soup can make a really good and healthier (because of the puree veggies) cheese sauce for pasta.