Panera broccoli cheddar soup

This is what we had with the chicken fingers.  The recipe again comes from my sister Karley.  My boys automatically think everything from Karley is wonderful because she gave us cafe rio pork, and that is a favorite of theirs.
This too was tasty.  I did lighten it considerably.  I used 1/2 the butter it called for and I used fat free half and half.  I have actually laughed at the fact that they make a fat free half and half when I have seen it in the store.  While I wouldn't try it for ice cream, I didn't think it would change the quality of a soup too much, and it cut the calories from the cream in half.  The soup turned out good.  Again, everyone with taste buds :) liked it.  Aaron first used it to decorate his chicken finger.  Benjamin complained about it, but everyone else wanted more.  I thought it was a nice change to a regular veggie dish.  I'm writing this how my sister gave it to me with what I did in parenthesis today.

Ingredients

• 6 Tablespoons butter (I used 3)
• 1 small onion, chopped 
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups half and half (I used fat free)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (I actually freshly grated my nutmeg - so proud.)
• salt and pepper to taste - I used 1/4 teaspoon of each
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cups broccoli florets
• 1 large carrot, diced

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large dutch oven or pot over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.  Whisk in the flour and cook until golden, 3-4 minutes (I only did this for 1 because I had less butter so it was a more pasty mixture.)  Gradually whisk in the half and half until smooth.  
2. Add chicken broth, bay leaves and nutmeg then season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered until thickened, about 20 minutes.
3. Add the broccoli and carrot to the broth mixture and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes.
4. Discard the bay leaves.  Puree soup in batches in a blender until smooth;  (I used my immersion blender and just did short bursts until it was the consistency I wanted.)  If using a blender, return to pot and add cheese to the soup and whisk over medium heat until melted.  Add up to 3/4 cup water if the soup is too thick (I thought it was thick, but fine.  I added no water.)