Creamy Garlic Baked Potato Soup

My husband has been bothering me for literally months to make him potato soup. I, of course, kept saying that I'd eventually get around to doing it. Well, today was the day that seemed like the right time to get creative in the kitchen. I did not follow a recipe for this version of potato soup; I simply threw some of my favorite ingredients together and what I came up with was very, very YUMMY! I give you Creamy Garlic Baked Potato Soup.

Ingredients:
*7 medium potatoes
*9 slices thick cut bacon
*2 tbl butter
*3 garlic cloves (use less if you aren't a huge garlic fan, 2 cloves will work)
*3 tbl flour
*5 cups milk (I used 2%)
*24 oz velveeta cheese (3/4 a box)
*1/3 cup sour cream
*4 tsp cream flavored soup base (optional)
*Parsley
*1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Directions:
*Scrub potatoes and wrap in tin foil. Bake in 425 degree oven for about an hour. After baked, unwrap tin foil and set aside to cool. It helps to cut them in half also.
*Fry bacon in pan and let drain on a paper towel.
*Cut up cheese in 1 inch cubes and set aside.
*Melt butter in large pot on medium heat. Grate garlic cloves into the butter and cook for about a minute. *Turn heat down to medium low after that.
*Add 1 tbl flour and 1/4 cup milk to butter and garlic and whisk together.
*Slowly add in velveeta cheese and the remaining 4 1/4 cups of milk. I alternate, allowing time to melt the cheese and heat the milk. Be sure not to burn the cheese or milk by heating slowly and stirring periodically.
*When the cheese is melted, whisk in the cream flavored soup base and additional 2 tbl flour. It may be lumpy for awhile, but will eventually break down.
*Whisk in the sour cream to the mixture.
*Cut up the potatoes into chunks. I like to leave the skins on some of my potatoes, but remove from at least half of them because the skins make it harder to cut them. It's okay if some of the potatoes fall apart. Once you have them cut up, add them to the soup (which should be creamy by this point, but not real thick) and carefully stir.
*Cut up bacon into small piece. I use scissors because thick cut bacon is harder to crumble. Add this to the soup as well. Save some aside if you want to use as a garnish.
*Add some parsley just for looks basically.
*Allow the soup to cook on low for a good 20 minutes so the flavors can come together.
*When serving, add some cheddar cheese to the top and some bacon pieces.

Soup is chunkier than it looks, but it is hard to get a great picture.

Now, you can also add onion to your soup, but since neither my husband nor I care for them, I skipped putting them in the recipe. If I did like them I would use them as follows: Chop up red onion into small pieces. Add to melted butter in beginning of process and cook down with the grated garlic. I would also use chives as a garnish and for color.

Hope you like my soup and give it a try next time there's cold weather!