Homemade Tomato Soup

Last year I started a series of blog posts about easy cooking for working parents.  I personally did continue to cook homemade meals for my family as I always have done but the blogging of the recipes sadly dropped off due to the pressures of being a working Mom and all that comes with that.  I am hoping to re-start these posts but plan to do a couple of posts a month as opposed to committing to every week.

This week I am showing you a wonderful simple recipe for homemade tomato soup.  I really cannot tell you where this recipe came from as I have been making it for years.  I remember fondly my student days when we made huge pans of this for the whole house of 6 and it cost very little yet filled us up.

Ingredients

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

stock cube (chicken or vegetable)

squeeze of tomato ketchup

3 slices of bread (great for using up stale bread)

Splash of cream or milk

This will feed a family of four.  I have made double the quantity here as we will be having it for lunch and as a starter tomorrow night.

Method

Pour tomatoes in pan

Fill the can with water twice and add to pan

Crumble stock cube into the pan

Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes

Cut crusts of the bread and cut or break up into small cubes

Add the bread to the pan, stir and simmer for another 15 minutes

Blend the soup

Return to the heat and simmer for further 5 minutes

Add small amount of cream or if none in the house or prefer low fat version add a little drop of milk

Serve & enjoy!

This Year I Will.....February Review

• Kiss and cuddle my little babies at least once every day.  CHECK
• Find something to smile about each day.  CHECK
• Have a minimum of 30 minutes every day of ME time, no children, no TV, no computer, no telephone, just ME.  As selfish as this may sound, it needs to be done for my own health, both physically & mentally.  Again really struggled with this one but have been out and about with friends for coffee & lunch dates.  Had a few personal struggles to overcome this month which has resulted in me taking a couple of weeks of unpaid leave from work.  Financially this will have a big impact but it was necessary.
• Make Fridays (my day off) part housework/errand - frees the weekend to spend time with Liam & Freya - and part 'me' time.  Too much of the housework/errand stuff last year!  Total fail, see above.
• Go for a walk every day, even if it is only for 5 minutes, I will go outside and walk to clear my head and think about life.  Been on crutches all month, Big fail
• Eat 5 portions of fruit & veg a day. Most days achieved this.  On the days I didn't it was down to being ill.
• Have a wonderful Summer holiday; a 3 1/2 week tour of Europe to include my Brother's Wedding in Lithuania.  No progress made this month
• Get organised; 2010 was really not a good year and this year I will get back to the place where I am in control of what is happening and not depending upon others, who quite frankly let me & my children down.  Still totally out of control!  In fact more out of control than last month.
• Choose carefully those people I let into our lives.  Unsuitable person has been removed from our lives
• Start organising presents for Christmas - Its going to be a stress free one this year unlike the mayhem of 2010!  Not done anything this month, want to get our holiday paid for first.
• Have a professional family photo shoot.  Off to Bromsgrove Crop this weekend and Kirsty Wiseman is teaching 3 classes.  I am having a photo shoot with her!  Just need to sort one out for the kids now.
• Do something new every month. With all that has happened this month I've not tried anything new so will need to catch up later in the year.
• Finish decorating my scrap space & bedroom. No new progress made
• Decorate Liam's room.  Not started
• Decorate the lounge.  Started to strip the wall paper which is taking forever as it is vinyl and I'm on crutches (would make an interesting picture but you are not getting one!)  Need to find someone to get on the ladder to strip the top part!
• Decorate the hall stairs & landing.  Not started
• Finish the roof on my garage, laundrette and downstairs toilet.  Not started and getting very wet, well we have to paddle in the launderette and toilet when it rains; and there has been a lot of rain.
• New laundrette cupboards.  Not started, but the rain helped to get one of the old ones down!
• Decorate down stairs toilet.  Not started
• Sort out the plumbing.  Not started
• New window in bathroom and landing.  Not started
• Find a baby sitter so I can go to Bromsgrove Crop on a Saturday.  Achieved!!!
• Attend a retreat.  Booked and first instalment paid
• Complete 12 LO's a month.  Only managed 8 this month
• Complete 12 Granny Squares or stripes a month.  10 completed this month
• Catch up on unfinished scrapping projects from 2010; JYC 2010, Document 2010, LSNED 2010 & Liam & Freyas Year In The Life Of albums.  Didn't catch up on any projects that need completion
• Complete a family scrapbook for 2011; something on the lines of Document 2011.  The first 2 pages for January and February completed.  Waiting for prints to finish the second 2 pages.
• Complete Liam's and Freya's '2011 Year In The Life Of' mini albums. Not started 
• Use more scrap stash than I buy.  Scales still come down heavier on the buying stash side but a bit better this month but only because I have bought less.  Increasing my stash less than previous months in going in the right direction in my book because lets face it, this goal will NEVER be green!
• Finish all the crochet projects I have started before I begin anything new.  Worked on my striped blanket & Liam's big granny square blanket.  Nothing new started and no new purchases.
• Knit myself a pom pom scarf.  Not started
• Take time to rediscover cross stitch.  None done this month 
• Bake lots and lots of yummy things.  Baked 68 cakes!  Stocked the freezer and friends up with cakes and 2 dozen little ones made that were ate in the blink of an eye.
• Win the lottery (got to have one thing that won't happen on the list).  Fail

My Month In Numbers - February 2011

1.....spa day


2.....baby bunnies who keep growing & growing.  Sadly the third and smallest bunny passed away at 17 days old.  They are now 30 days old.

3.....hospital appointments


4.....blog posts


6......coffee & lunch dates with wonderful friends

7.....lb's lost


8.....LO's made


9.....days at work.  Joys of working term time; you get school holidays off work.  Sadly they don't pay you :0(

10.....stripes & squares crocheted

28.....days on crutches

63.....yummy cakes baked

90.....the amount of £'s it will cost for Daddy Snowball to have his bits done; very clear 'boy bunny & girl bunny do not come out for a run at the same time' falls on deaf ears & don't want any more.  Have a feeling we would not be so lucky to have such a small litter next time and we have enough animals in our house with 5 rabbits (yes, I've given in and we are keeping the 2 new arrivals) and 3 cats. Plus I can't stand the hassle of having to re-home them or worryingly not being able to.  However, still plan to have some chickens next year (going away for nearly 4 weeks this Summer has preventing this happening last year or this).

279.....the amount of £'s I spent on a new netbook after the old one had a drink of diet coke!  

And that is my February in numbers!

Finally Scrapping!

Finally done some scraping today, its been a long time!  I have completed the first 2 pages for Document 2011 for January & February.  Come to a standstill now as I am waiting for prints.  Like last year I am using a calendar on my first page but this year I am using the KI Calender pages instead of a cut up desk calender.  I purchased all 12 designs of the KI pages last month and have got 3 of each design so with some luck I can find a colour to match each month.  

This is January:

This is February:

I have taken the 6 x 4 cards out of the protectors to photograph because as hard as I try I just can't get rid of that glare!  I am going to use Studio Calico monthly kits to complete this project.

Ten Days Old...

...3 little baby bunnies!