Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons

Last week I felt like I was living in Antarctica. Alexa told me it was currently 6 degrees and the high for the day would be 11. I came very close to throwing my pillow at her and telling her to get out of my house. It was one of those days when you feel like you will never be warm again, so what did I do? I turned to food. There is nothing like a hot bowl of tomato soup to warm you right up!

Grocery List: (10 servings)

Soup

1 White onion

7 stalks of celery

3 carrots

5 gloves of garlic minced

2 TBS dried oregano

2 TBS dried basil

2 TBS dried thyme

1 6oz can of tomato paste

2 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes

1 32oz box of Chicken broth

1 16 oz carton of Half and Half

salt to taste

Grilled Cheese Croutons

Thick sliced bread ( I used sliced Italian).

Sliced Cheese of your choice ( I used Manchego and American). 4 slices per grilled cheese

Instructions:

Chop onion, celery, and carrots and add to crockpot. Add remaining ingredients and cook on low for 4-6 hours tasting and adding salt as you go. Pour into blender or use immersion blender and blend until creamy.

20 minutes before serving prepare your grilled cheese. I make mine in a cast iron skillet ;)

Cut grilled cheese into fours (I keep mine a little on the big side for dipping purposes). Pour soup into bowl and top with grilled cheese.

Eat up and warm up!