Homemade Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese Sandwiches!

That's what Mrs. Acevedo is making her family tonight, Ash Wednesday 2022! 

Mrs. Acevedo was busy all weekend making preparations for the Confirmation Mass that happened this past weekend, so she didn't have time to do any shopping. She had to rely on items already in her pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. 

To make enough tomato soup to feed her family (5 servings with no leftovers), she assembled:

enough olive oil for sauteeing
*28 oz. can of chopped tomatoes
3 celery stalks, cleaned/trimmed/chopped
3 smallish carrots, cleaned/peeled/chopped
1 yellow onion
*2 cloves of garlic
*1 cup chicken broth -- omitted today!
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 TBSP butter
*1/2 tsp dried basil
*1/2 cup milk

Add oil to saucepan; heat.

Add celery, carrot, onion, and garlic; cook on low with lid 10 minutes.

Add tomatoes and their juice; add about 1 cup of water to the can, swirl to clean the sides, and add this water to the saucepan.

Add the bay leaf and the butter, and cook covered for 15-20 minutes.

Remove from heat. Take off lid, and let the soup cool.

As you can see from the stove clocks, Mrs. Acevedo waited a while before she added the basil and the milk. This is because this soup has to be blended. Mrs. Acevedo used her regular blender up until Christmas -- Santa brought her a hand blender, so today she used that right in the pot!

This made enough soup for her to have one serving, her husband to have two servings, and her son to have two servings. You'll have to increase the amounts of ingredients if you have a bigger family or want to have more servings.

*Here are some other adjustments:
1- If you love cooking and have the time, you could use fresh tomatoes instead of canned tomatoes. Prehat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Strain the tomatoes and spread on a prepared baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with 1/4 cup olive oil, and baske for 15 minutes.

2-Even though Mrs. Acevedo put a clove of garlic in the first photo, she actually decided to use pre-minced garlic in a jar from her refrigerator. it saved a little time.

3-Today is Ash Wednesday, and faithful Catholics do not consume any meats, so Mrs. Acevedo decided to put the carton of chicken broth away. She used water instead, as described in the recipe.

4-If you have an herb garden at home, or if you have time to go to the store, you could use fresh basil. You'd need about 1/4 cup of chopped fresh basil.

5-You could use heavy cream or half & half instead of milk if you want a creamier soup.

Mrs. Acevedo has a teenage son who LOVES grilled cheese. One day he discovered that he liked using that frozen "Texas Toast" (garlic and butter, not 4 cheese) instead of regular bread.

If you want to give it a try, you have to:
1-defrost the bread in the microwave,
2-spray your frying pan or non-stick with butter-flavored spray,
3-fry one side of both pieces of bread,
4-flip the bread over, add the cheese, place the other bread on top, cover the pan with a lid.
NOTE: the two pre-fried sides have to be on the inside.

PRO TIP: Do not walk away from the stove because this cooks fast!!!

ENJOY!