Broccoli and Cheese Soup (Mrs. J)

I feel like I am in a little of a cooking slump.  For awhile I was finding and trying new recipes constantly.  I am still browsing through the cooking blogs I follow and pinning recipes on pinterest, but I have not found anything exciting enough and not-too-time-consuming enough to try.  We are still cooking almost every weeknight, but we keep circulating through the same old recipes.  So, if you have any good recipes, please send them my way!

I did get this soup recipe recently from a fellow teacher, Mrs. J.  I held on to it for a few weeks because I thought it would be a little time consuming for a weeknight, but it really was not bad.  Especially because I had Derrick beside me chopping the broccoli!

I adjusted it just a little, omitting the onions (since we do not care for them), substituting a few spices based on what was in our cupboard, cutting down the butter, and using milk instead of heavy cream to lighten it up.  It really has a great flavor - Mrs. J says the nutmeg is the secret ingredient.
Ingredients
6 tablespoons butter
2 cups yellow onions or sliced leeks (we left this out)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper (I used black pepper since it's what I had)
pinch nutmeg
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves (I used dried)
6 tablespoons flour
6 cups chicken stock or chicken broth
2 (16 ounce) package frozen broccoli, thawed
2 cup milk
2 1/2 cup shredded medium cheddar (works best to buy a block and shred yourself - I used closer to 3 cups)

In a medium pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat.  Add the onions, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Cook, stirring, until soft, 3 minutes.  Add the garlic and thyme and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 minute.  Add the flour and cook, still stirring until well blended and smells fragrant, 2 minutes.  Slowly add the chicken broth, whisking constantly, and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes.  Add the broccoli and cook, until tender, 10-15 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat and puree with a hand-held immersion blender or in batches in a blender or food processor.  I skipped this step since the last time I made broccoli cheese soup and blended it, we had an explosion.  Derrick chopped the broccoli extremely fine with a nut chopper and it was just fine!

Add the milk and bring to a bare simmer to heat through.  Add the cheese and cook over low heat, stirring, until melted.