It is raining today here in Pennsylvania so I looked through my pantry and decided it was a perfect day for tomato soup and grilled cheese. Although this meal is simple, the quality ingredients used to put it together are really what set it apart from a meal containing canned soup and traditional store bought bread. Did you know Campbell’s uses high fructose corn syrup as the second ingredient in their tomato soup? This is one reason I never purchase store bought soups, they contain the cheapest, most refined ingredients and are very likely GMO (containing either soy or hfcs).
The Soup
I can put this soup together in about 10-15 minutes from start to finish. The best thing to remember about making your own tomato soup is that tomatoes are acidic so you will need a bit of something sweet to balance out the acidity. I use pure maple syrup to do this instead of refined sugars. You will also need some seasoning and salt (unless you are using a salted tomato product). You will also need to know how to make a roux, which is just butter and flour. It is that easy! I’m going to be posting my recipe later today and will link it to this post
The Bread
Most store bought breads are a health nightmare. If you haven’t read my post “Are Trans Fats Hiding In Your Bread” I would recommend reading through it. What I hate about store bought bread is the tricky marketing they use. Just because it says 100% whole wheat, 12 grain, or whole grain doesn’t mean it is a quality product that isn’t hiding a ton of GMO and highly refined ingredients. They are also loaded with preservatives because if you haven’t noticed they don’t go bad! Almost every single big name brand is doing this, so if you are regularly purchasing loaves of bread off of an unrefrigerated shelf in the grocery store you may want to rethink that purchase. There are some great alternatives out there but you have to search for them and read ingredient labels (look in the freezer section of the “organic” section of your grocery store). Here is what to look for when choosing a good store bought bread:
- No preservatives
- No GMO ingredients (soy, corn, hfcs)
- No refined grains (bleach and enriched flours)
- Something that will go bad if not frozen or refrigerated!
The Cheese
In short, no we don’t use Velveeta, American cheese slices, or any other “cheese-like” products. It is also best to buy cheese in blocks as the shredded kind contain additives, specifically cellulose to prevent caking. If it doesn’t have to be there, then I don’t want to eat it.
