Yummy Potato Soup

This is more of a recipe I came across and tweaked to give it an even better flavor than before. It's similar to loaded baked potato soup, except that I don't care for sour cream or chives so I personally do not add them. However, if you would like to make it that way, I recommend a fourth cup of sour cream added in and about a fourth a cup of chives. You can tweak the amounts of those as well, based on how you liked your baked potatoes, but those amounts should give a good even flavor of everything. Please feel free to experiment with the amounts of seasonings if you'd like, but the ones provided should make it just right. I tried to write this so that even the most novice cook would have no troubles, so if you're more experienced please excuse me for pointing out the obvious at times in the directions :)

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 3 -4  medium potatoes
• 2  tablespoons butter
• 1⁄4 cup flour
• 3  cups milk
• 1  tablespoon milk
• 2  teaspoons chicken bouillon
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper
• 1⁄8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1⁄8 teaspoon onion powder
• 1  cup cheddar cheese
• 1⁄4 cup bacon bits

Directions

1. Peel the potatoes and cube them up. Boil until soft.
2. Drain and then mash to desired consistency.
3. In separate pan, melt butter, add flour. This will thicken it to a few chunks of paste. Make sure you have the milk ready before this.
4. Add half of the milk and bring to a boil, stirring once it starts to bubble at the sides to prevent it from scorching.
5. Add in the rest of the milk, starting to stir again when it starts to bubble at the sides.
6. Remove from heat. Throw in the chicken bouillon, salt & pepper, as well as garlic & onion.
7. Pour this mixture over the potatoes and stir.
8. While still warm but removed from heat, add in cheese and bacon bits/pieces and stir well to avoid having the cheese settle at the bottom of the pan.
9. The cheese thickens the soup a bit so add in your extra tablespoon of milk if you want it runnier. Also, if you want more of a bacon flavor, you can add the bacon bits into the milk mixture when you first start making it.