Well….I’m just going to go right ahead and say this recipe is a certified cheese-bomb! Shall I shamelessly explain myself or blame it on the pregnancy? 
Ok, now that the cheese-bomb cat is out of the bag, let’s talk about why I needed this in my life today… You know because it was 85 degrees here in Central Pennsylvania and I needed a bowl of hot, creamy, comfort-food style soup. Obviously. Again, the baby. The hormones. The cheese. Oh my!
But then I realized this soup was so deliciously dreamy, creamy, and oh-so cheesy that everyone needs this in their life once in a while. You know, like when your friend gets dumped and she is not that into chocolate… Or when you realize one of your kids just peed all over the bathroom (Oh, I’m sorry.. Is that just MY kids??)… Or that time you realized your cheat day just turned into a cheat month and you must have one final “Hoo-RAH” before getting back on track. And let’s not forget this soup contains tomatoes and tomatoes = healthy fruit/vegetable or whatever you classify a tomato as. So there…it’s not that bad after all.
Now let’s review.
TOMATOES = HEALTHY.
MY KIDS = PEE EVERYWHERE.
The End.
AND Moving On…Not only is this soup a cheesy-hot-mess, it is also really versatile. A versatile dinner is a great thing in my world because let’s face it… Taking 3 (soon to be 4) kids to the grocery store before dinner to pick up ingredients is basically a tantrum roulette. Maybe someone will have a meltdown, maybe we will all pretend to be normal. Who knows? And better yet, WHY risk it? If you are missing one or two ingredients, chances are you can make a simple sub and all will be well in tantrum land. Plus you won’t have to fight the after word crowds at the grocery store.
Just a few quick substitution suggestions:
- Sub tortellini for 100% whole wheat elbow macaroni (If you are wondering about my stance on the tortellini, check out my Spinach and Tortellini Salad post). I would go with 1 cup of macaroni.
- Omit beef, sub 4 Tablespoons butter. Melt butter in saucepan, add flour, then slowly add liquids.
- Sub freshly grated parmesan cheese for asiago cheese. If you decide to go the powdered parmesan route, I would suggest cutting back a little because it may turn out a bit salty.
*For reference, here are the tomatoes I always use for soup. FYI, this is a bulk listing so the price looks very inflated.
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