"I have high cholesterol and diabetes so it is always this foodies mission to take those recipes I love and make them suitable for my lifestyle. When I saw this recipe called for half and half instead of cream I knew I could make a "treat to eat".

I substitute non-fat half and half (don't ask me how they make that!), olive oil for butter, low fat low sodium broth,and skim (or part skim) cheeses in this recipe and I'm good to go with very little sacrifice on richness or flavor. I also hate fishing out bay leaves so I use bay leaf powder.(old bay seasoning also adds a nice zippy flavor instead of bay leaves, about one tablespoon).