Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

I grew up eating condensed tomato soup (aka "pink soup"). My kids love it. It's just delicious, especially with a grilled cheese sandwich (aka "toasted cheese"). I felt like I was giving my kids a healthy lunch. But then I took a quick look at the ingredients and was not super excited about what I saw. So I've been wanting to make my own.

What better time to make soup than the best season of the year??

I pinned this recipe on Pinterest and one evening (while Derek was out of town because he doesn't like tomato soup) I made it. YUM.

Unfortunately, Marie's weird texture aversion made her not a huge fan, but my parents, Jack, and I loved it!

First, I'm going to walk you through how I made it, then you can go to where I found the recipe for more details. You can make this a slow-cooker soup, too!

Chop up some celery, carrots, and onions, and sautee in just a Tbs or so of olive oil.

Then add 4 cups chicken stock, Tbs dried basil, tsp dried oregano, half a bay leaf, and 2 cans diced tomatoes with juice.

Bring to a boil then let simmer until carrots are tender. 15ish minutes.

In a separate pot, melt a stick of butter over low heat then add 1/2 c flour. Stir constantly for 5 min.

Then slowly (I forgot the slowly part) add one cup of soup and stir. Add another 3 cups of soup and stir until smooth.

 Transfer this roux to the large pot of soup. Stir constantly until soup thickens.

Add 1 cup Parmesan cheese, 1.5 cups skim milk, 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, salt and pepper.

Let simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Dish some out, top with croutons, and thoroughly enjoy!

Go HERE for the original recipe. Then make this deliciousness. Then come back and tell me any changes you made, especially if you find a way to not use a whole stick of butter!

By the way, I had about a serving left so I stuck it in the freezer for lunch later. Much better than buying a can full of high fructose corn syrup!

I will tell of what He has done for my soul.

I've always wanted to be a woman of prayer. Kinda like I've always wanted to be a runner. In both cases, when it gets hard or I don't feel like it, I fall away and eventually start from scratch.

By the grace of God, I finally became a real runner. There is still so much room for improvement, but in spite of falling away here and there, I don't start from scratch anymore.

It's time to put my prayer life in that place. It truly has been a dream to be the type of person that you could say, "Ask Lindsay to pray for you. She'll do it and God always hears her prayers!" I've said similar things about a couple of women I've known in my life. Things happen when they pray. And you will never come across a woman of prayer who isn't a shining light for her Savior and simply a blessing. God always works in the pray-er first before working on the pray-ee.

The last few weeks have been such an amazing blessing and a huge trial all at once. God has been doing some serious work on me, specifically in the area of prayer.

All this to say, I came across this passage today and was so overwhelmed by it and thinking over what God has done in me recently so I just have to share.

Come and hear, all who fear God, and I will tell of what He has done for my soul. I cried to Him with my mouth, and He was extolled with my tongue. If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear; but certainly God has heard; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer nor His lovingkindness from me.

Psalm 66:16-20

Do you have a verse/passage about prayer that God has used in your life? Please share in the comments! Or share with me a link to your own blog post.