Crock pot Cauliflower Soup

I have found myself wanting to "doctor-up" recipes to make them a little more healthy. Besides the benefits being active, Both my husband and I have found that it is important to teach our son how to eat the right foods without having to give up on taste. While I have always said that I wanted to feed my family as much healthy food as possible I also don't want them to miss out on the favor. Just because something is good for you doesn't mean that it has to taste bad. Thus the reason I think soups are a great source of nutrition and favor.

I also have to admit that I have become bored with my veggies and decided that I would buy a head of cauliflower so I could make some cauliflower soup. A friend of mine served this rich creamy soup once at her dinner party and when I asked her for the recipe I wanted to die just thinking of how many calories I took in that night. Of course I wasn't about to use her recipe so I turned to the ladies on the nest and Mary-Ellen was sweet enough to share her's with me. I did follow her recipe to the tea, but I did add a few things and made mine in the crock pot, which was great because all I did was add everything in and let it cook. It was so good that I can't wait to make it again.

adapted from Mary Ellen link below if you would like to see my reference.
http://mecookingcreations.blogspot.com/2007/12/cold-night-comfort-food-soup-and.html

What you will need:

Coarse salt and coarse black pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (I just eye ball it)
2 tablespoons butter,
1 large cauliflower cut into small bunches of florets
3 ribs celery chopped in big chucks
1 medium onion, chopped in big chucks
2 cloves of garlic (or you may use garlic powder)
1 carrot chopped into large chucks
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 12oz chicken broth (I almost always use home made chicken broth but this time I ran out and had to use LOW SODIUM stock)
1 12oz of water
1 and 1/2 cup milk (I use 2% but Maryellen recommends heavy cream because it would make it creamer.)
2 tablespoons hot sauce (It is amazing, it adds a little kick and is not over powering)
chopped fresh parsley leaves or chives, for garnish (I skipped this part because I didn't have any)

Directions

-Add all ingredients listed above toss into your crock-pot.
-Let everything cook for about 4 hours on high. Then turn to low.
-Remove all the carrots, onion, celery chunks and put into blender along with half the cauliflower florets. left cool a little before blending.
-Once everything is blended add puree into crock pot. Stir with a wooden spoon to blend everything together.
-Let it cook for another 1 hour on low. After that hour pour yourself a big blow and serve some toasty french bread.

ENJOY!