Get Out of a Funk Featuring Cheddar Broccoli Soup!

I've been in a funk and creatively blocked. Solution? Wallow in depression for a bit... THEN make a blog worthy soup recipe to combine two of my favorite creative things: cooking & writing.

Here we go!

Creativity Boosting Cheddar Broccoli Soup

Incredibly Delicious Ingredients:

• ¼ cup (½ stick) butter, melted

• ½ medium chopped onion

• ¼ cup flour

• 2 cups half-and-half

• 2 cups chicken stock or broth

• ½  lb broccoli (about 3 cups) chopped into bite size pieces

• 1 cup carrot, julienned (of finely chopped if you're impatient like me)

• ¼ tsp nutmeg (optional but adds a bit of pizazz to the flavor)

• 8oz (about 2 cups) grated sharp cheddar

• salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:

(Hopefully you follow directions better than I do)

To be fair, in my household growing up, and to this day, we don't really use recipes exactly. We reference recipes the first time we make a dish. If we like it, we alter the recipe to our taste and chaotically experiment to make culinary masterpieces. So please feel free to add your own little chaos as necessary.

1. Scour the internet for a recipe that you can steal.

2. Ask your significant other to go get the ingredients for you because you hate grocery shopping. (or suck it up and get them yourself)

3. Melt the butter and sauté the onions until soft. (High heat because I lack patience)

4. Sprinkle the flour over the onion and butter mixture to make a roux. Stir for 1-2 minutes to thicken the mixture.

5. Whisk in the half & half and chicken stock. (Lower heat here)

6. Add the broccoli and carrots. Cook over low heat for 20-25 minutes (28 minutes for my OCD) or until the veggies are tender.

7. You can leave the soup chunky or blend the veggies for a smoother soup.

8. Add back in your mushed veggies if applicable.

9. Add salt and pepper to taste.

10. Add the cheese!

11. Add the nutmeg if you desire.

12. Garnish with more cheese. (because why not?)

13. Serve with bread.

14. Enjoy & remember that life is awesome as long as cheese and carbs exist.

Of course, a Taylor written recipe wouldn't be a Taylor written recipe without side stories and random rambles, soooooooo...... here we go!

• My mother always told me to clean as you cook. I never listen and regret it every single time I look at my kitchen after one of my culinary adventures. So, do better than me and take her advice.

• I have a wee bit of OCD so you'll notice that I will always use an interval of 7 or 3. (Hence 28 minutes or 14 instruction points). Yes, to answer your question, my brain and daily life adhering to this rule, is a nightmare for me and everyone that I love. :)

• I do not believe that there is such thing as too much cheese. Fun fact: I accidentally grated 3 cups of cheese when I misread the recipe I was referencing. Therefore, when I realized this(while typing the ingredients for this post), I used this as an excuse to eat a handful of grated cheese. (It had to be done for the integrity of the ingredients list that I was providing you. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

• I have an Event Management and Hospitality degree. I was about half way through a Restaurant Management degree as well but I did all the fun classes and dropped to a single major workload. So yes, I took cooking classes in an industrial kitchen with the GREAT Professor Ashley Taylor, which received points for not only being an incredible chef but also for having my name (in reverse). RIP and I need to find that cook book ASAP and stop just talking about it. But that's a sidenote of a sidenote. I remember eating some of the most incredible tasting cookies ever that were good for about 20 minutes then turned rock hard and could easily break your teeth. I also remember being made fun of for holding my hands up like a surgeon after I washed my hands because that was before I got my OCD and germaphobic tendencies under control. Then there was my team winning the end of semester competition for taste, presentation and skill. But to get to the point, I learned how to make a roux for the first time in that class and never used that skill again until today. I apologize for wasting your time to relay with that information but also, relevant information so oh well. Here's a picture of my roux. :)

• If you are anything like me, there will be times during this recipe that you will question whether this soup will taste good based off of its appearance. But, give it time and trust in the process and it looks WAY better further along. For example, below are two photos: one of the veggies when first added and. the other after they've been cooked, separated and aggressively smushed to bits with a sturdy spatula because I regrettably don't own a food processor.

• It's not a requirement for the recipe, but if your household allows it, put on Spotify DJ function, and listen to your perfectly curated playlist AS LOUDLY AS POSSIBLE. Scream the lyrics! Piss of your neighbors. Wake the babies in the area. As the great Eminem once said, lose yourself in the music. It's worth the death glares from your neighbors and it feels fucking fantastic if you're someone like me who is controlled by your brain.

• I had a whole plan to make fresh bread to accompany this recipe but gave up on that idea when I found myself looking for recipes and lacking ingredients for the more advanced recipe I found because I only had Micah buy ingredients for basic beginners' bread recipes (because I am a basic bread making beginner). I instead asked my friend who works in the bakery at work, who also conveniently lives 2 buildings over, to bring home bread instead. PROBLEM SOLVED!

• Unrelated to this recipe, Chicken got a bath this morning and wasn't happy about it so he knocked over my plants, zoomied on our walk to dry off and was rewarded with pepperonis. He was not harmed in any part of this process even if his behavior suggested otherwise. He is now comfortably curled up on his plush bed, smelling of oatmeal and happiness (instead of the dried dog crap he rolled in yesterday to his loving parents' horror).

Overall, I would definitely make this cheddar and broccoli soup recipe again. Personally, I added more cheese when I scooped myself a bowl. But the flavors were great and you can taste all the fat and love that contributed to the greatness of this recipe.

I go to work every day and have to fake a smile because I work in a customer service based industry.I must smile as old people tell me how much things that are out of my control suck and deal with people who lack common decency and manners. I have to play nice and pretend that my peers aren't morons and make sure that my facial expressions don't give away my thoughts because I am a professional and need money to pay my bills. But, in my personal life, I am not one to pretend that I have all my shit together. I struggle with my brain and my feelings every single day. Lately, I have been in a funk. If you notice, I haven't posted anything since my birthday... in September. Not because I haven't wanted to write. But because I haven't had the motivation to do much except work, eat, try not to kill my plants, read, sleep and repeat. My creative reservoir has been dry and on the rare occasion that I produce something, my pesky brain and feelings meddle in my affairs and convince me not to post it.

But, luckily, I have a great support system. A loving and encouraging partner who listens to my coffee rambles, keeps me sane, speaks positivity into me and does the chores that I hate to do. A mother who drives 45 mins to an hour to purchase water at the store I work at, just so she can see me weekly, instead of the grocery store conveniently across the street. An adorable sister who somehow got me to continue a Snap Streak for the past 738 days and speaks ruthless truths that others would probably sensor; keeping me grounded and humble. A brother who wants to put turf in every room of my apartment but accepts that that's not possible with my renters' agreement, yet still comes over to bake cookies for his Spanish class video and spend time. (Best cookies ever - video dropping soon). My anti-social book club with two ladies who have been my friends since middle school and high school, that have never met eachother but read books with me and text about it. Friends in far off places, who understand that I still love them regardless of my lack of reaching out because I have been overwhelmed and anti-social. A co-worker, turned friend who encourages me to go on adventures on my days off and yells at me for playing video games while the sun is out; who lends an ear or offers a drink if one is needed. A cousin that I can video call for what seems like 20 minutes, but really is 2 hours of stimulating conversation with a like-mind. & of course, the cutest, most high-maintenance, low-maintenance dog, who grunts like an old man with every move and creates mischief at any given chance, who loves me entirely too much. It's also great to have a house full of candles, plants and chocolate, so there's that.

I found a random, goofy looking guy on IG that just dropped a new song that I am OBSESSED with. I play it over and over again. For starters, I hope that is how my partner feels about me and our life that we are building, because I feel that way about our life together. But, it also talks about having beautiful things in his life and how they can go away but that he hopes that they don't. I think he was primarily talking about a girl but it got me thinking about my life (and Micah) and how I am truly blessed. and grateful for the things and people that I have surrounding me. My funk, anxiety, or depression doesn't take away from that, even if it clouds my vision sometimes. I love my life and I've put in the fucking work to make it here. I hope I can keep adding little bits of happy and creativity to my days more often. And I think a soup full of cheese is a pretty damn good place to start.

I hope you enjoyed the recipe and my rambles.

& when you get a chance, please listen to Beautiful Things by Benson Boone before TikTok and the internet have a chance to ruin it for you.

(Yes, I am aware of the run on sentences. Sometimes a good run on is necessary for dramatic effect!)