Clean Eating Healthy Homemade Creamy Tomato Soup

Makes 6 Servings, about 1 cup each
You know when you find something that is totally awesome but so simple and it rocks your world? (Like the first time I made yogurt in the crockpot!) Well this is one of those things! This is hands down the best tomato soup I've ever had IN MY LIFE. Which is not surprising since I got it from my amazing friend, Crystal. (Hi, Crystal!) She is one of the best cooks I know and I swear if she cooked me a rubber ducky I'd eat it and it would be delicious :) Crystal is one of those cooks that just throws things together and never measures anything... ANYTHING. As you know I'm one of those cooks that measures everything. But no matter whether you are a measurer or a dumper, I promise you this will come out good. 

The original recipe called for 2 cups of milk but, here in Japan, milk is expensive and tofu is cheaper than dirt. So I used some silken tofu in place of some of the milk which actually bumped up the protein level a bit and made the soup even creamier. The boys and Matt oohed and ahhed over this and licked their bowls clean. After eating it, Matt said, "Okay, I ate it. So what's in it?" I repeatedly told him there was nothing hidden in it. Then a few minutes later I said, "Well there's tofu in it," and he said, "Oh, that doesn't count." We are now "those people" where tofu in our soup is normal. I'm okay with that. Best. Soup. EVER.

Few things are better than grilled cheese and tomato soup :)

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• dash of peppet
• 2 28oz cans no salt added tomatoes, undrained (diced, crushed, whatever you have)
• 4 leaves fresh basil
• 1 bay leaf 
• 2 Tbsp sucanat/honey (can use sugar/brown sugar but it won't be "clean")
• 12oz silken tofu pureed plus milk to equal 2 cups total (about 1/4 cup milk)
• 1 tsp baking soda

ONE: Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute the celery and onion with the salt and pepper until the onions are translucent and the celery starts to soften, about 8 minutes.

TWO: Add in the tomatoes, basil, bay leaf, and sucanat. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes.

(At this point, Crystal removed it from the heat, blended it, strained it, and froze it in a freezer bag. On the day of serving she will defrost it and heat it in a stockpot with 2 cups milk/milk-tofu mixture and 1 tsp baking soda. I tried to blend it and strain it but it made a HUGE mess so I just removed the bay leaf and pureed it.)

THREE: Blend silken tofu until it is liquid and mix in enough milk to equal 2 cups. Stir the tofu-milk mixture into the tomato mixture and add 1 tsp baking soda. Mix well and heat through. (The baking soda seems weird but makes such a difference! It creates this light, fluffy texture and it's almost like tomato soup mousse.)

Freeze leftovers in 1 cup portions using the medium/large portions method to feed your freezer stash. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.

Nutrition Info:
Per 1 cup serving - 124 Calories (21 Calories from Fat), 2.3g Total Fat, 0mg Cholesterol, 478mg Sodium, 8g Total Carbs, 0.5g Dietary Fiber, 6g Sugars, 4.5g Protein, 12% DV VitA, 9% DV VitC, 6% DV Calcium, 6% DV Iron

Saute onions and celery with salt and pepper

Add in tomatoes, basil, bay leaf, and sucanat. While I was cooking:
Theron - "What are you making mommy?"
Me - "Miss Crystal's Tomato Soup."
Theron - "Oh. You gonna take a picture." Hahaha.

Add in tofu-milk mixture and baking soda, stir well and heat through

:)