Reviving some favorite recipes

This week, I have been home at lunchtime. The new schedule has me reviving my culinary skills to make some of my favorite dishes.

Yesterday I made cheese and onion enchiladas with a surprise element — black olives. It wasn't much of a surprise since I was the only one who ate them. And I finished the leftovers at the end of the night. No worries. I only made a total of five enchiladas.

Some people have a hard time cooking for one. Not me. I just make smaller batches and, if there are leftovers, I eat them until they are gone.

Today, I dug around my brain to revive a potato soup recipe my mom used to make. I
never have had a real recipe, but I knew just the right amount of potato and celery make it just right.

Instead of flying solo for today's lunch, I invited my friend Sam (a fellow vegetarian) to enjoy in the spoils of my kitchen creativity. The picture above, including a shredded cheddar cheese topping and plenty of garlic bread, was the result.

I ate two bowls. So did Sam. There still are plenty of leftovers. Hopefully my at-home cooking will keep me from preparing the same quick-fix meals (burritos, mostly) that keep me from expanding the ingredients in my cupboards.

In case you are interested in making this potato soup, here's the recipe (from my head) I used:

POTATO SOUP
4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
6-8 stalks of celery, sliced into pieces
1/2 white onion, diced
2 sticks of butter (oops)
3-5 cups of milk
2 T flour
Celery salt
Salt
Pepper
Shredded Cheddar Cheese (optional)

Drop potatoes, celery and onion into pot of boiling water. Return to boil and cook for five minutes. Drain half of the water from the pot and replace with 3-5 cups of milk. Add butter and seasoning to taste.

Continue cooking vegetables another 8 minutes. Add flour and continuously stir soup until vegetables are completely cooked, about 5-7 more minutes. Soup is ready once vegetables are cooked to desired tenderness.