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Thank you very much for this gorgeous recipe! I made it today and it was much enjoyed. Very good. Wishing you peace and love.
Leslie Cartwright
I haven’t been excited about much in the last three months.
But here it is: I am, in fact, excited today about the start of a brand-new series.
It’s called Feeding a Broken Heart, and it’s a collection of recipes that are the food equivalent of a million hugs.
As you guys know, life has made me an expert on the topic of feeding a broken heart after the early birth and passing of our sweet baby boy, Afton, just two and half months ago. In the first few weeks after losing Afton, I found myself unable to eat. We’re talking about long periods of time with zero food. I know. Me. Food girl. Not able to eat food. It was all wrong, but my heart was so heavy. I just literally could not. There would be times that I would sit with a bowl of oatmeal in front of me and stir it and mix it and stare at it but literally not be able to take even one bite. “You need to eat,” everyone told me, and I knew it was true. Food would help me heal, both physically and emotionally. But not even the most silky smooth Pad Thai noodles or the warmest gooey chocolate brownies could work their magic on my broken heart. Food was straight-up offensive.
You have to understand: normally, I am a person whose life is built around food. Skipping breakfast, forgetting to eat lunch – who are the people who say these things? I have never understood.
But now I understand, in my own way. I became the opposite of hungry. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner would pass me by, either completely unnoticed, or with some misplaced frustration about how food was supposed to be appealing to me, and it wasn’t, and how could I be expected to like ANYTHING right now? My stomach was full of rock-heavy grief and my heart was – still is – will forever be, in some ways – broken to its core. In the beginning, there was no room for food in this sad house.
How To Make Our Creamy Potato Soup (1 Min):
But do you know what happened?
The helpers showed up. And they started bringing us meals.
Our friends reminded us of how to eat when we couldn’t even remember what we liked to eat or how to pour our own bowls of cereal. Sometimes they brought us Pinch of Yum favorites, and sometimes they delivered restaurant gift cards, and sometimes they introduced us to new recipes. Sometimes they dropped meals off and stayed for a visit, and sometimes they slipped away quietly, just leaving a card and maybe some flowers and a big Pyrex container of soup.
For example, basic + awesome creamy potato soup. 👇🏼
So before we talk about the food, I want you to know that this series is a close-up look at what it means to feed a broken heart, whether that broken heart belongs to you or someone you love. These are the recipes that brought (er, currently are bringing) me back to life.
And this series comes with a challenge: we want you to practice feeding a broken heart, whether that broken heart belongs to you or someone you love.
Join Our Mini-Movement:
- Think of someone who has a broken heart. I know, there are lots. Loss, breakup, diagnosis, anything. Got it?
- Make them one of the extra-comforting recipes in this series. Or… just any recipe. Or give them a restaurant gift card. Or bring them a chocolate bar. Use food to show them that you care.
- Show us your awesome love-sharing by using the hashtag #feedingabrokenheart. (Preferably on Instagram which is where I live my alternate internet life 24/7/365, but I guess anywhere will work. We check ’em all.)
As they come in, we will be rounding up some of your inspiring, love-filled stories and featuring them on our Feeding a Broken Heart page. ♡
And if you make THIS SPECIFIC basic + awesome creamy potato soup recipe, we would love to feature it on this post. 🤗
Alright now. A quick word about this creamy potato soup.
It is the epitome of back-to-basics comfort food. Pair it with a slice of crusty white bread (may I STRONGLY SUGGEST the no-knead bread?) with a thick slather of butter and a sprinkle of sea salt and the long-gone appetite is going to find it’s way back. Better yet, even if the appetite doesn’t show up, this is the kind of food that you can eat with no appetite because it’s mellow and basic in the best possible way. No flashy flavors or ingredients – just good ol’ potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, and bites of bacon in a creamy homemade soup base.
Thank you to my sweet friend Liz for bringing this basic and wonderful soup into my life.
And psst. Guys. Don’t forget the bread.
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Basic + Awesome Creamy Potato Soup
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
Creamy Potato Soup – so simple and all-homemade, with carrots, celery, potatoes, milk, butter, flour, and bacon. perfect comfort food with no canned cream-of-anything soups.
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2 cups mirepoix (celery, carrots, and onions, all minced)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of favorite seasoning (I’d recommend chicken seasoning mix which has thyme, rosemary, oregano, etc. – if it has salt, reduce the salt above)
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1–2 cups chicken broth
- 2 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
Instructions
- Bacon Prep: Bake the bacon on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Crumble or cut into pieces.
- Soup Base: Melt the butter in a soup pot. Add the mirepoix, garlic, salt, and seasoning and sauté until nice and soft. Add flour and stir with the vegetables for a few minutes to cook off any floury taste. Add milk, just a little bit at a time, stirring after each addition until smooth and creamy. The soup should start out very thick and eventually thin out as you add milk. Add the potatoes, and add chicken broth as needed to achieve the right consistency. For a thicker soup, you may not need as much of the broth.
- Simmer Time: Let the soup simmer for 30-40 minutes. The potato soup will thicken as it simmers, and even more as it cools down. I like to wait until the potatoes are almost melty, with their edges softened just a bit, before removing from heat. When ready to serve, crumble the bacon and stir it into the soup.
Equipment
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Buy Now → - Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: potato soup, creamy soup, soup recipe
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our coziest comfort food recipes page. Check it out!
Hey Lindsay, it’s so nice to see you’re healing and getting your appetite back! I love the idea of the ‘Feeding a Broken Heart’ series. Very inspirational and a great initiative! Oh, and the soup looks great 😉
First of all, I am sooo glad you took your time to heal and we can actually see you healing! and secondly, I am so happy you and the recipes are “back”. I have just recently found your blog and besides being thrilled about all of the recipes you post, I was devastated when I read the story of sweet Afton. I think you and your husband are one of the strongest people I (don’t) know and my heart goes out to you guys. Oh and I do believe that food is one of the staples on the “healing a broken heart journey”. Will be happy to make and share one of this series recipe. Note to self I keep forgetting about: go follow POY on instagram. Right now!……….(mission accomplished, POY followed!).
yes!! glad to have you following 🙂
Love this movement you are creating. Thank you so much.
Love this series! What a great idea you came up with to do so much good in the world in Afton’s memory. He’s making such a difference in the world already.
Our little world-changer. 😉
I love that you are taking your heartbreak and turning it into a life and hope giving idea. You truly are amazing and inspiring. Big hugs from your Wisconsin neighbor!
Thanks Crystal – big hugs back!
I’ve been following closely since Afton’s brief excursion into the world, and very much admire the thoroughness, vulnerability, and beauty with which you have shared your grieving. And just this morning I thought I would write to ask about any of the comfort foods people may have brought you over the past few weeks! I’m so sorry you are forced to find a new”normal,” but I really appreciate your work. And your tofu in peanut sauce over zoodles.
haha glad you like the tofu! ❤️ Thanks for the encouraging comment.
This is lovely Lindsay. Thank you for sharing and I love the series idea.
Also, your sweater in the first picture is super cute.
Thanks Aimee! Got it a few years ago from Free People. 🙂
You’re absolutely right, Lindsay! Eating, let alone chewing, with a broken heart is impossible. This is the perfect recipe to ease yourself back into food.
Soups are definitely the perfect recipe for mending a broken heart, and I’ll definitely be trying this one out soon!
This is so lovely lindsay! Thank you for your sharing and very easy steps.
Btw. The pic of the soup is very cute. Love it 💜💜
Thanks Kevin!
Welcome back to the kitchen 🙂 Wonderful to see a new recipe post from you and hear (read?) the progress you’re making.
Thank you April! Little by little. ❤️
What a lovely movement! Sounds like just the thing!
Kari
http://sweetteasweetie.com/
this is such a healing concept..we all are broken in one way or the other..i will be sure to support #feedingabrokenheart movement.
Thanks Dixya! We’d love to have you join us 😀
A wonderful soup for covid craziness thank you!
This soup looks perfect for comforting someone going through their own personal struggle, although to be honest in the past, I typically am the “flowers and gift card friend” and forget that’s it’s the love that went into the meal that counts most, it doesn’t have to be perfect. I remember too when dealing with my years of infertility and knowing few people personally who shared that struggle, that desserts in particular are hard to digest for those with a broken heart. But a fruit salad with this soup delivered to the doorstep, perfect.
So much to celebrate today! Lindsay posted a recipe, we have a “share the love” challenge and I just know this will be an amazing recipe. Hellooooo, it starts out with bacon as the first ingredient! We have missed you so much and our hearts have been breaking right along with yours. Thank you for sharing the non food posts about your experience. I am sure this will help others along the way. I do hope you have felt an outpouring of caring from your PoY community. 🙂
Lindsay, I really resonate with this post. Since losing our Lewis (3 months in a few days), food has been a transaction instead of an experience. And we LOVE good food.
We’ve been so well fed by so many people since Lew’s death. Takethemameal.com was set up for us, and from mid-December until the end of February, we had up to four meals brought to our home per week! Lots of soups and homemade comfort foods – we couldn’t keep up! Many dishes waited for us in the freezer, but it all got eaten.
Many of my tastes have changed since December. I don’t care for sweets at all right now, especially chocolate. Pizza (homemade by Joy, Lew’s favorite and mine) doesn’t agree with me.
But all those foods people made and brought were very personal, tangible acts of love, and we were filled up.
I’m sure more flavors will start to sound good to us again. But grief hits us in the gut, which is where all this good food lands, unfortunately.
Thanks for being you.
Thank you for sharing this Mike – this has been so similar to our experience as well. “Grief hits us in the gut” could not be more true. Thinking of you guys and remembering Lewis all the time with you.
if you’re ever in Astoria (Queens) NY, you’ll have to stop by this place! <3 http://www.sweetaftonbar.com
This is such an incredibly important reminder to be mindful and look out for others, and I can’t wait to participate. So much love and support for you in this experience
I know! Time to get to New York! 🙂
This one resonates with me so very much. My husband and I lost our first baby in December. The grief and heartache have forever changed us. Thank you for sharing your story and honoring the life of your sweet little Afton. We will definitely be making this recipe this week, and I will be sure to tag you on Instagram. Sending love and prayers to you and your family. 😘
I’m so sorry for your loss Brittany. My heart breaks for you. I hope this soup brings healing.
Oh my goodness, Lindsay, I am so very sorry rob hear about the loss of your come son, I had no idea. I follow your recipes, we are kindred spirits in the food department, and you are such a sweet, sweet lovely girl. I also lost a son 23 years ago and my love and ache for him never goes away. What a sweet and lovely way to honor your love and those who’ve shown you love. Stay strong sweet Lindsay ❤
And I’m sorry for the typos! Using my iPhone with old eyes!
A comfort soup beyond!
Do not worry things will get better!
There’s something so comforting about knowing that ache never goes away. I think one of my greatest fears is forgetting that he was here and he was real. Moving on, basically. Thank you for sharing your story Kathy.
This post couldn’t have come at a better time. I am making dinner for the family of my friend and coteacher that passed unexpectedly last month. We have continued what would have been her meal train during cancer treatment to feed her loved ones as they grieve. I just finished making chicken pot pie, but this will be my meal for next week. As much as it helped you to receive the yummy meals, know that it also helps those that love you to work on and pour love into something at a time when it’s hard to know how to help. Although we are strangers, I am so happy to hear that you are feeling like eating and cooking again. I make 1-2 recipes from your blog a week and they mean a lot to me and my family. Thank you!
You are the sweetest. I’m so inspired by you making those meals for those in your circle. And I’m so sorry for your loss.
Hi Lindsay,
1) Love the recipe. I will definitely be attempting this for my friends and family in times of laughter and in times of sadness.
2) I’ve been following your story on IG and on the blog. I’m a new labor and delivery nurse, and the other day I worked with a mom with a similar circumstance, and it reminded me of you. I still don’t know how to process what you and other moms go through during a loss, but I’m learning so much through your story. Your bravery is inspiring so many.
3) Feeding a Broken Heart. This resonates so much with me. Love seeing beauty in the broken. Keep it up! 🙂
Thank you for what you do Samantha! You have a difficult job especially in moments of loss. Our nurses were such hope-and-light-bringers to us in those first few days after losing Afton.
I LOVE the idea of this series! I can just imagine all the people you will help, and I want to be a part of it, too. I will keep my eyes and ears open for someone who needs your potato soup and bread.
This reminds me of a time years ago when I was very sick and my aunt not only brought our family dinner, but she cooked it in our kitchen! It filled our whole house with delicious, homey smells when I was unable to even lift my head off my pillow, let alone cook or clean. While dinner cooked, she spent time talking to me and making me laugh – it was just what I needed at the time. Then she cleaned my kitchen before she went home.
Since then, I have tried to help others the way she always has, just by seeing a need and being bold enough to jump in and take care of people. Thanks Lindsay, for starting this series – I can’t wait to share it and look forward to the rest!
Your aunt is one amazing lady. Thank you for sharing Kristie!
Out of all of this pain, there is this constant stream of love and hope and honesty flowing from you. Thank you for inspiring us!
Thank you for reading it. 🙂
thanks for this recipe! i have a friend who’s expecting a baby with a fatal diagnosis and having blood pressure issues beside – bringing her some food this week and this soup looks like a great idea 🙂 And I’ll definitely remember the bread, I love making (and eating) bread!
Oh, I’m so sorry, Hannah. You are such a good friend. I hope the soup brings healing to a heartbreaking situation.