Red Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese

My first food post and it was a recipe I'd never tried before. I like grilled cheese. I like tomato soup. But I really like them best when they're served together. I wanted to try this tomato soup recipe since it was very healthy and I like homemade soups better than the canned stuff.

Our verdict: it was just o.k.
Steve didn't like it at all really because of the texture--it had a little bit of a grainy feel to it because you're supposed to blend a bunch of vegetables up and our blender couldn't get it super smooth--I think it was really only the celery that we couldn't make completely smooth. I thought the texture was a little bit of a turn-off but the taste wasn't half bad. AND it was good for you. Autumn downed like three helpings of it (a relief to this mother's heart), but Jackson wouldn't touch it--he just wanted to stick with the grilled cheese.

So if I make it again, I might try not blending it and serving it more as a vegetable soup and maybe just blending the kids' portions. Huh, we'll see.

RED TOMATO SOUP
(adapted from Better Homes and Gardens' Kid Favorites Made Healthy)

Makes 6 servings (about 4 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup chopped carrot (1 medium)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 T. butter or margarine
1 (28-oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (5 1/2-oz) can vegetable juice
2 t. sugar
1/2 t. dried Italian seasoning, crushed
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. black pepper
1/2 to 1 cup water (I didn't add any)
Can serve with Italian-style croutons and parmesan cheese, but we didn't do this since we had grilled cheese to go with it

1. In a 2-quart saucepan cook carrot, onion and celery in hot butter for 5-8 min. or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add undrained tomatoes, vegetable juice, sugar, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Bring to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 min. Remove from heat.

2. If desired, cool slightly. In a blender container or food processor bowl place half of the tomato mixture. Cover and blend or process until smooth. Repeat with remaining tomato mixture. Return all of the soup to the saucepan. Add enough water to reach desired consistency. Heat through. (I didn't add any water because it was fine like it was already.)

3. Serve topped with croutons and parmesan cheese, if desired. (Or cook up some yummy grilled cheese like we did).