Cheese and Broccoli Chicken Soup

"This is a thick and creamy cheddar cheese soup with chunks of chicken meat and broccoli florets."

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Ready in: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 10

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
11 cups water
3 cubes chicken bullion
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into bite-size pieces
2 heads fresh broccoli, cut into florets
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup light cream
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. In a 5-quart pot, melt butter over medium heat. Mix in flour, stirring constantly until a thick paste forms. Remove from pot, set aside. (I've found that even 1/2 the butter and flour amounts are usually enough.)
2. In same pot, combine water, bullion cubes, chicken, broccoli, salt and pepper. Bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium low, and simmer for 45 minutes.
3. Stir in the flour mixture a little bit at a time until soup thickens.  Simmer 5 minutes. Reduce heat, and stir in cream. Mix in cheese 1 cup at a time, and stir until melted.


Variation:  Replace chicken with ham. We had leftover ham from Christmas dinner - I just chopped it into bite-size pieces. Omit salt when using ham as it will add a salted flavor already.

My family (2 adults & 1 child) eats about 1/3 of this recipe for a meal.  Here are the amounts that I use when cutting the ingredients into 1/3: (butter & flour are slightly less than 1/3 because I never need as much as the recipe calls for.)
2 Tablespoons butter 
1/4 cup flour
3 cups water
1 cube chicken bullion
2/3 pound chicken or ham
1 head fresh broccoli
1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if using ham)
1/3 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup light cream
1 cup cheddar cheese


source: allrecipes.com