Tag Archives: Soup

Quick & Easy Cream of Tomato Soup

Cream of Tomato Soup is one of those nostalgic kind of meals.  It wraps you up in a warm hug, and soothes your soul.  Most people are used to soup from that red and white can, and there is nothing wrong with that.  But sometimes, for whatever reason, you want more control over what you’re eating or you just want to do it yourself.  I’ve experimented with various recipes over the years, using canned tomatoes and fresh, but I often found problems with texture or the acidity levels of the tomatoes.  My solution?  Garden Cocktail.  For myself, I choose the lowest sodium version I could find, with minimal additives, but commercially produced vegetable juice cocktail is smooth-textured and the acidity from the tomatoes has been balanced.  I personally enjoy the more layered flavours of garden cocktail, but you can always substitute tomato juice.  Best of all, using the garden cocktail as a base means you have just turned this into a 15 minute meal!
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Meal Plan #4

Club packs of chicken pieces are on sale this week, so we’re front loading the week with chicken dishes.  It’s okay, we love chicken.  It’s so versatile and adapts well to so many different cuisines and flavours.  The plan is to roast a lot of Chili Lime chicken and then use the leftovers the next day in Quesadillas.

My son has his activity once a week.  It’s very energetic, so he needs some good fuel for energy, but not something that will weigh him down.  His choice is often some kind of sandwich, so this week we are having that good old classic, Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup, but with a little bit of a spin.

We have someone in our household who really hates mushrooms.  There is no “just pick them out”.  They cannot have come in contact with any of the other food, or nothing can be eaten.  It’s funny, but also frustrating, because some of us (Me!) looooove mushrooms.  Mushroom Hater is working one night this week, so we are jumping all over that opportunity to make one of my favourite pasta dishes: spaghetti in a garlic olive oil, with sauteed mushrooms (I like cremini with this), baby spinach, and a special surprise you’ll find in the recipe link.

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Meal Plan #3

Whole chickens are on sale this week, so we’re roasting two (seriously, this is my best time saving tip!), and having leftovers different ways for a couple of days.  And then I’m pulling in some old favourites to fill out the week.  I’m giving you the links this week!

The Cheesy Pasta Bake is such a great dinner on a cold night.  It’s total comfort food.  One of my favourite things about it is there is always enough for, not only leftovers for lunch the next day, but also for a container in the freezer for those busy days when you need a quick dinner that isn’t fast food.

I have recently discovered a store in our neighbourhood that sells food products imported from England.  They have a great selection–it’s where I go to buy my tea–and they have frozen, bowl-sized Yorkshire Puddings! You can bet I’m going to make use of those beauties.

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Meal Plan for the Week of October 6, 2018

It’s Thanksgiving weekend, but we’re a small group, only three if us, so we’re doing a modified feast.  My parents are coming next weekend, so we’ll go full-fledged turkey feast then.  We’re having a turkey breast and roast veggies, and, yes, there’ll be enough for soup the next night.  We have a couple of things going on during the week that require quick-fix dinner, so that is taken into account with the plan this week.
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Meal Plan for the Week of September 22, 2018

This week is a mixed bag of food.  On Sunday I’m supplying a meal for a friend who recently had back surgery, so Saturday night’s dinner is supplying that–big batch baked pasta.  I’m going old school on Sunday, Mexican on Monday, and experimenting on Wednesday.  How could I not when a local International grocery store is advertising goat ribs?  Goat Ribs!  I have to try that!  Wish me luck, though…
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