Creamy Cheesy Vegetable Chowder (When You Need to Use Up Some Veggies Fast)

I can proudly say that since I started this weight loss journey almost a year ago, I have not thrown away a single vegetable that went bad because it sat in our fridge too long.  Seriously, I buy a ton more veggies now then I ever have before and they always get eaten!  I'm pretty proud of that!  But this week is Thanks Giving and we are hosting and I need space in my fridge!  So I made this creamy, cheesy veggie chowder!  I basically used up all the veggies I could, to make room for Thanksgiving Prep.  And cheese.  Quite a bit of cheese.

I made this mostly in my crock pot, but of course it would work great on the stove top too.  You could do so many different combos of veggies.  Truly just use what you have you need to use or a combination of your favorites.  Because cheese makes everything better.  Here is what I put in mine.

4 tbsp. butter, divided
1 medium onion, diced
5 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
2 large sweet potatoes, chopped
1 medium head cauliflower, chopped
3 large carrots, sliced
3 stalks celery, sliced
2 medium Yukon potatoes
4 to 6 ounces white mushrooms, chopped
1 box chicken stock
3 tbsp. flour
1 or so cups fat free milk
2 cups shredded cheese (sharp cheddar or Gruyere would be my preference, but most cheeses would be great!)
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional Toppings:
hot sauce
fresh herbs
greek yogurt or sour cream
avocado
extra CHEESE! (ya know, if ya want to.)

Spray a large skillet with cooking spray, plus a half tablespoon of butter.  Heat, once butter is melted add onion, and mushrooms and sauté until translucent.  Add garlic and cook for an additional minute.  Add to crock pot.  Add all remaining chopped veggies and stock and cook on low for 3 hours or high for about an hour and a half.  Once your veggies are cooked to your liking use your skillet to melt remaining butter.  Add flour and whisk until combined.  I like to cook the flour butter for a couple minutes to get rid of that raw flour flavor, but you have to keep whisking.  add milk a little at a time, whisking as you go until it thickens.  Add shredded cheese and whisk until you have a decadent cheese sauce!!  Salt and pepper to taste!  Add cheese sauce to crock pot and cook another 1 to 20 minutes until it's all hot and creamy and glorious!

This recipe makes about 10 one cup servings, at about 200 a cup!!