Loaded Baked Potato Soup on a Crisp Autumn Day

Still no oven, but no worries, I've been making good use of all my appliances and kitchen gadgets for meals. Yesterday was a beautiful Fall day and a bit on the chilly side so I looked in the fridge to see what I had and my eyes went to my red potatoes and I thought to whip up a warm comfort food and change up a WW baked potato soup I had tried last year and make it my own..the key to this healthy version of baked potato soup is using milk...

• 4 (6oz.) red potatoes
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup prechopped onion
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 and 1/4 cups fat free, lower sodium chicken broth (you can use a 1 can)
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 2 cups 1%milk (divided)
• 1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3 turkey bacon slices, halved
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 teaspoons thinly sliced green onions
• 1/2 cup croutons
• 1 tablespoon parsley

1. Pierce potatoes with a fork, microwave on high for 13 minutes; take them out, cut in half, and let them cool.
2. While potatoes cook, heat oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, sautee 3 minutes, add the garlic and add chicken broth. Combine flour and 1/2 cup milk and pour into saucepan. Then add remaining 1 and a 1/2 cups milk. Bring to a boil; stir often. Cook 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream, salt, and pepper, garlic powder and parsley.
3. Arrange bacon on paper towel on microwave safe plate; microwave on high for 2 minutes until crisp (be careful as it can burn fast). Crumble the bacon and set aside.
4. Back to the potatoes-discard potatoe skins, turn on low and coarsely mash potatoes into soup and taste test. Serve in soup bowls and top with cheese, green onions, crumbled bacon, and a few croutons.

This bowl of soup will turn any Fall afternoon into a warm savory night! Enjoy!