Tomato soup recipe + growing herbs year round

Hey there! Can you believe it is almost Thanksgiving?

This year fall has flown by and here we are at the Holidays again!

I have a couple really cool things to share today, one being my favorite homemade tomato soup recipe. But first, I wanted to share a compact way to garden, compost and enjoy your favorite fresh herbs.

The thought of being able to have a balcony garden or patio garden was pretty exciting as you know how much fresh organic herbs at the store can cost. I never use the whole package either and thought having a bit to clip off when I need it would be amazing.

It did not take much time at all to set everything up and start filling the layers with soil. I like to use this organic soil as I have always had great results with it. Once we had it full of soil we planted some of our favorite herbs and we were done. I have to admit I cooked with it almost every night knowing I had live basil on hand 🙂

Now for the soup, my youngest LOVES this soup even though she does not like tomatoes. Since it comes together so fast it is one of our go-to’s for weeknight meals or a yummy lunch on the weekends.

When we have fresh tomatoes I tend to use them as much as I can but my favorite canned tomatoes are what I usually use for this recipe.

Ok, all this soup talk is making me hungry, let’s make some homemade tomato soup!

Homemade Tomato Soup

• 4 T unsalted butter
• 1 large diced onion
• 4 t fresh minced garlic
• 2 – 28 ounce canned tomatoes
• 2 c chicken broth
• 3/4 c heavy cream
• 1/2 – 1 t salt or sodium free salt alternative
• 1/2 t black pepper to taste

Melt butter in a medium stock pot, add onions and garlic and saute until translucent, being careful to keep heat low and not burn. Add the tomatoes, chicken broth, salt and pepper, bring to a low boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Use an immersion blender to carefully puree the soup, turn off the burner and stir in heavy cream. I love to top with a generous sprinkling of parmesan cheese and some fresh basil! There is usually some salt in canned tomatoes so to keep our sodium intake low I love to use the salt alternative (and this allows for me to have more cheese ha!)

I hope this finds you enjoying your weekend and cannot wait to start sharing some thrifty Holiday decor with you in the weeks to come 🙂

As always, thank you for reading & until next time-

xo, Tanya

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