A Substitute for Canned Cream of Whatever Soup

I have several recipes that call for cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup, and I was thinking to myself that there must be an easy way to make it yourself with fresher ingredients. I did a little Google search and stumbled upon THIS thread where someone asked the same question. There is a lot of great info in the thread, including instructions for making a basic roux and Bechamel sauce, as well as a recipe for dry soup mix that you can make a big batch of and store, then just add water to some of the mix and cook it when you need a can of cream-of-whatever soup. Anyway, just thought I'd pass that along to you guys. Happy cooking!