Gluten Free Crockpot Cream of Mushroom Soup

This is from the book " Make it Fast, Cook it Slow", by Stephanie O'Dea. I Love this gluten free cookbook for simple everyday crockpot recipes. Her comments, " I'm impressed with the way this tastes, and how it behaves when used in recipes instead of canned soup. It is thinner, and is brown instead of white, but packs a flavourful punch.

• Ready In: 20 mins
• Yields: 10-12 cups

Ingredients

• 2  lbs mushrooms
• 1⁄2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1  tablespoon  dried onion flakes
• 2  tablespoons  italian seasoning
• 1  lemon, juice of
• 4  cups vegetable broth
• 2  cups water
• 1  quart milk, added later

Directions

1. Use a 6 quart cooker.
2. Wash the mushrooms well and cut into quarters.
3. Put into the stoneware and add the salt, pepper, onion, seasoning and lemon juice.
4. Pour in the vegetable broth and water.
5. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
6. Carefully blend with a handheld immersion blender until soupy. If you don't have an immersion blender, carefully blend in batches in a traditional blender.
7. Stir in the milk. You can use any fat percentage you'd like - even heavy cream.
8. Let cool on the counter for a few hours, then pour into freezer bags or plastic containers in 2 cup portions, and freeze.
9. You can use this soup for cooking in lieu of canned cream of mushroom soup.