Cook: Tomato and Basil Soup

In honor of National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day today I knew I had to make grilled cheese. Ok, well I cheat, I make "toasted cheese." Doesn't sound as good but it's definitely healthier! No frying in butter! Tastes just as good to me and less mess to clean up!

I searched Pinterest and found two recipes I liked and adapted my version from them. One was from Your Homebased Mom and the other from Food Doodles.

It looks like a lot, but I promise it's easy and you probably have most of the ingredients on hand already!


Ingredients:

• 2 14.5oz cans of tomatoes, crushed or petit diced (I used a quart Mason jar of home-grown and home-canned tomatoes from my parents!)
• 1/4 cup of butter or oil (I used coconut oil)
• 1 cup of chicken broth (I used 1 chicken bouillon cube)
• 1 can of tomato paste
• 1/4 teaspoon of thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon of basil
• 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1-2 cups of water
• 1 cup milk (2%, whole, half & half, whatever you prefer! I used 2%)
• Salt (to taste)
• Pepper (to taste)

Directions:

Add all your ingredients together and mix thoroughly into a medium saucepan. The white blob is just coconut oil, don't freak out! 

Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 10-15 minutes. 

Let it sit until it's cool enough to put into your blender. You can also use a food processor or an immersion blender.

Pour it into your blender, carefully!

Blend until smooth! Anyone know why it turns orange?

This is when I added the tomato paste because I didn't think it was thick enough and the flavor wasn't where I wanted it, but obviously it's better to add it all from the beginning! 

Return to the saucepan or serve this way. At this point I added milk and water until I got the consistency that I wanted. 

Get your grilled (er, toasted) cheese going! 

Mmm look at that melty cheese! 

Once it's the way you want it, serve it and enjoy! 

Garnish with a little fresh or dried basil for that perfect finishing touch! 

And don't forget to cut the grilled cheese at an angle like mom used to do ;) 

Or cut it into tiny bit-size pieces like me. 

Hope you go for this before buying Campbell's again! I promise, this is way better, and healthier!!

Do you prefer to make your own tomato soup or go for the can? What's your favorite way to make a grilled cheese? How did you celebrate National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day?

Till next time,
Catherine

Cook: 3 Amigos Enchilada Stew and then some

Today's recipe is 3 Amigos Enchilada Stew from Leonard Mountain Soups! Except I pumped it up!! You didn't really think I'd leave it alone, did you? 

If you've read some of my previous blog posts, you know I love Leonard Mountain Soups! They're awesome! They're great by themselves but also fantastic when you add other things! They're very Weight Watchers friendly too. You can find my other posts HERE and HERE. 

Confession...I'm a forgetful blogger! I made this recipe recently when my in-laws came to visit and it turned out beautifully! But we were all so excited and hungry I forgot to get pictures of the soup in a bowl! Oops.

Ingredients:

• 3 Amigos Enchilada Stew 
• A jar of your favorite salsa (my favorite is Newman's Own but this is what I had)
• 2 cans of chunk chicken
• 1 can of black beans
• 1 can of pinto beans
• 1 bag of frozen corn
• 6 cups of water

You can maximize or minimize this recipe as you need to. I added a lot because I was feeding 6 people so I wanted more than enough to go around. 

Directions:

Turn your crockpot on low and mix in your pre-made soup mix with 6 cups of water. I cooked this on low for 5-6 hours but you can do it on high for 3-4 if you want. You can also make these soups in a regular pot on the stove! I let it cook for an hour or so.

Then I added the corn and both cans of beans. I let it sit for another hour or so.

Then the salsa, let it sit. 

And last but not least, the chicken. Let it cook for maybe another hour and serve! Don't forget all the fixin's!

The reason I waited so long between adding the ingredients it that I didn't want it to all get mushy. Maybe it wouldn't have...who knows. If you're starting this stew then running errands or doing chores then I'm sure it would be fine to just toss it all in together at once. 

My in-laws absolutely loved it! They devoured the soup! Of course I had shredded cheese, tortilla chips and sour cream too and it was de-lish! Definitely something I'd make again! 

Again, sorry for not having any good pictures. I promise it looked as delicious as it tasted! When I make it again sometime I'll be sure to get some mouth-watering pictures for you all!

Have you ever tried Leonard Mountain Soups? What's your favorite recipe for Mexican-style soup?

Till next time,

Catherine

Cook: Make Your Own Cream of "Something" Soup!

I don't know about you guys, but I feel like I never have cream of chicken soup when I need it. Or cream of whatever else I might be wanting to use. When I saw this post from Pinterest, I knew it was something I wanted to try. Even if it didn't work, it was worth a try to save money and grocery store trips! 

Oh and did I mention it's way healthier? I love making alternatives to store bought items because I actually know what's in the food I'm eating and feeding to my husband. Store bought cream of "something" soups are always high in sodium and full of other junk we don't need. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup non-fat dried milk 
• 3/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup bouillon (beef, veggie, chicken, whichever you prefer. I used chicken)
• 4 Tablespoons freeze dried minced onions
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• 1 teaspoon chives

When you're ready to use it, mix 1/3 cup of your dry mix with 1 1/4 cup of water. This is the equivalent of one can of condensed soup. Cook it until it thickens up. 

Directions:

If you have cubed bouillon you'll need to crush it. I love using my mortar and pestle! It's so fun. I used a total of 10 cubes and that was about 1/4 cup.

Crush it well.

Pour all your ingredients into a medium bowl. 

Stir it all up till everything is well mixed. 

Now fill up a jar and you're good to go! I'm going to make a label for it with the recipe for making the actual soup as well as the ingredients for one batch so I always have it handy. As you can see, one batch made over half of a mason jar full. I haven't cooked with it yet but as soon as I do I'll give you an update on how it was! 

Also, I added the parsley and chives just because but they weren't included in the original recipe. 

Can't wait to try it out! Too bad this post just gave me a mini To-Do list! 

1. Make a label for the jar

2. Actually try out the mix

I'll get right on it...

Have you ever made your own version of a cream of "something" soup? Do you prefer to stick with the cans at the store instead?

Till next time,

Catherine