Creamy Sausage and Roasted Vegetable Soup

    This soup I came up with one day when I had some veggies that had almost been in the fridge a little too long and needed to get used. I love the challenge of figuring out how to use the left over foods from a weeks worth of meals where you just have to throw it all together and hope it tastes good! I hope you enjoy this recipe, my family certainly did, even my 2yr old! This recipe freezes very well and will easily feed a family of 3 for two meals plus a little left over for lunch when made with the higher volume of milk.

Creamy Sausage and Roasted Vegetable Soup: Preheat oven to 450

•  1/2 to 1 lb regular Jimmy Dean sausage
•  1 to 2 small potatoes (I used about 6 mini potatoes quartered)
• 1 cup (or so) chopped carrots
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
•  1/2 yellow onion minced
•  2&1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper chopped
• 2 pkgs Lipton Spanish rice (prepared)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3 cups chicken broth (about 2 cans)
• 2 to 3 cups milk (I used 3 for freezing left overs)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 to 2 slices american cheese
• 1 tbs veg oil
• 2 high heaping tbs flour
• dash of parsley
• dash of garlic powder
• salt and pepper
• dash of oregano
• dash of dry ground mustard
• olive oil for drizzling

    Heat oven to 450 degrees. Chop potatoes, carrots and peppers. Place on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, season well with parsley, garlic powder, salt & pepper, and oregano. Roast in oven for about 20 minutes or until carrots are barely firm.
    Brown sausage in large soup pot. Add veg oil and onion and cook until onion is transparent, add garlic and cook an additional 3 to 5 minutes. Add flour and cook about 5 minutes stirring continuously. Whisk in chicken broth until well blended, add sliced cheese, cream and milk and bring to a boil stirring frequently to prevent clumping and burning. Add vegetables when ready from oven and season with dry mustard and salt and pepper to taste, cook on a light boil until desired consistency is achieved.