Celeste's Tomato Soup

Historian's Note:  This recipe was created, taste tested, and perfected by Celeste back in 2014.

Instructions:

Start with a can of your favorite Tomato Soup as a base.  Whether it be Campbell's or Progresso or Western Family.  Add to a sauce pan and prepare as directed.

Add the following ingredients (sprinkle and adjust to taste):

• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Italian / Pizza Seasoning
• 1/4 tsp "Season All" seasoning
• 1/4 tsp Pepper

Heat soup to hot, but without boiling.  

Now cook up some tasty grilled cheese sandwiches and enjoy!

NOTE:  The purpose of the seasoning is to enhance the flavour and give it a restaurant or home-cooked zest!

Summer Garden Salad

 

Summer Garden Salad

Chop tomatoes and green peppers. Crush saltines and add Miracle Whip.

I usually use 2-3 tomatoes and 1 green pepper with about 1/2 sleeve of crackers and probably about 1/2 Miracle Whip.  This can be a main or side dish.  My mom used to make it and we now eat it for a main dish in the summertime when our garden produce is ripe!  Yummy!

Celeste's Tomato Soup

Celeste has been picking up the culinary touch during the past couple of years, and she has created her own blend of spices to enhance the traditional canned tomato soup!  It actually tastes quite good.  My main complaint with tomato soup fresh from the can (even Campbell's) is that it tends to taste bitter, and even a touch metallic, depending on how long it has sat in food storage.

Celeste likes extra flavour too, and her unique combination of spices tastes very good.  It actually reminds me of a basil tomato soup, and it greatly improves the canned experience.  So I made her measure out the ingredients tonight, and thus the recipe has been solidified! :-)  She makes her soup the way all great chef's do... she sprinkles everything into the soup until it tastes just right.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of tomato soup
• Italian Seasoning (sprinkled to taste)
• McCormick Season All Spice  (sprinkled to taste)
• Salt & Pepper added to taste (be conservative since the other spices include salt)

Directions:

1. Bring two standard sized 10¾ oz. cans of Tomato Soup to a simmer.
2. Excepting Progresso, most canned soups call for adding water or milk. Use water. 
3. Add the spices to taste.  These spices really make the soup more flavourful!
4. Have the cheese sandwiches grilling while the soup is heating
5. Only heat to a simmer, avoiding a boil.

Note:  Celeste often swaps one of the cans with Progresso 19 oz. "Hearty Tomato" or "Tomato Basil" soups.

Celeste's recipe goes very well with grilled cheese sandwiches (we cut them angle-wise into two triangles) and dip them in the soup.

Nacho Bake

This recipe was picked up from Noelle McDowell, a good friend of ours while we were living in Provo, attending a BYU Young Married ward.  Great people, and some good recipe's.  She and her husband, and their two daughters, lived in a cozy apartment atop a mortuary.  What does that have to do with this recipe?  Nothing, really... but it exemplifies the interesting lives each of us were living at at the time as our marriages were just beginning. 

I made this for dinner tonight as I was thumbing through our recipe books, and it matched the ingredients we had available.  Celeste and Samuel weren't sure what to make of it, but Ruth and Sariah wasted no time in digging in.  Following their younger siblings example, Celeste and Samuel took a few tentative bites, and then ate with gusto.  They absolutely loved it.

This recipe is not unlike one that mom used to make when we were young.  I swapped in normal diced onions for the green onions, and added sliced black olives.  It turned out great, and since all four of our kids loved it, it's officially a keeper.  With children ranging from 1 to 11 years old, each with their own palette of tastes, not all recipes turn out as successful. :-)

NOTE:  This recipe is best consumed the same night.  Left-overs may keep for a couple of days, but it won't be quite the same experience.  Cover with tinfoil, and reheat in the oven at low heat (not the microwave) for best reheating and retention of crispness.

Ingredients

• 1½ lbs. Ground Beef
• 1 can (14½ oz.) Diced Tomatoes, undrained
• 1 package Taco Seasoning Mix
• 1½ cups Sour Cream (12 oz.) ~ divided
• 8 cups Tortilla Chips (10 oz. bag)
• 8 oz. Cheddar Cheese (shredded)
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup Tomato (chopped)
• ¼ cup Onion (Yellow or Sweet Walla-wall) ~ (chopped)
• ¼ cup black Olives (sliced)
• ¼ cup Green Onion (diced / optional)

 Directions

• Begin browning of meat; as the juices begin to flow, add diced onions to saute.
• Drain meat when no longer pink, and after onions have softened.
• Add tomatoes, water, and seasoning mix.
• Cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes while stirring occasionally.
• Stir in 1 cup of the sour cream.
• Place ½ of the chips into a 13 x 9 inch baking pan.
• Cover chips with half of the meat mixture and half of the grated cheese.
• Repeat layers.  Add sliced olives, distributing evenly across the top.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
• Top with remaining sour cream, chopped tomato, and green onion if desired.
• Or place as condiments at the table for people to individually add per taste.

Serve with a tossed salad, blueberry muffins, or anything else that sounds good with it.

Nancy and Bill's Green Salad

Toss:
Large bowl chopped romaine
1 yellow pepper, diced small
1 orange pepper, diced small
1 peeled cucumber, diced small
3 ribs celery, diced small
8 oz grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
2 grated carrots

With Paul Newman's Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Courtesy of Nancy and Bill Carr at our annual 4th of July picnic.

Skinny Chili

When first fall weather hits, you've gotta make this!

Brown and drain:
1 pound lean ground beef
8 stalks celery, chopped
2 chopped onions
1 chopped green pepper.

Add to the meat mixture and simmer until hot:
4-16 oz. cans of chili beans (in seasoned sauce)
2-16 oz. cans of plain stewed tomatoes
2-16 oz. cans of mexican seasoned stewed tomatoes

Add additional seasoning if desired (but with mexican tomatoes & seasoned chili beans, it is quite yummy!)