I was so incredibly exhausted last night because of a long week at work, so my dinner will have to count as my “Thing 9”. It’s only soup, but it’s tomato alphabet soup made from scratch without following a real recipe, so it’s sort of creative. I also made grilled ham & cheese sandwiches to go with it. I hadn’t made those in years! There’s something to be said for eating like a kid again. Comfort food. Comfort food that you dip into other comfort food! Wins all around, I’d say.

Here’s more or less how I threw it together, in case you feel like winging it over a soup pot tonight:

I diced three skinny carrots and half an onion and then cooked them in a generous dollop of olive oil until the onions were soft. Then I dumped in a box of chicken stock and a big can of tomato sauce, and some black pepper, oregano, basil, and a bay leaf. I let that boil for a few minutes to let the carrots soften up, then used my immersion blender to puree everything (I took out the bay leaf first). I added a tablespoon or so of butter to make the soup taste creamier, and then I put in half a box of teeny alphabet noodles and kept the pot simmering until they were cooked just right.

It’s just so delicious. And flexible – you can tweak the spices to make it more tomato-basil, or crank up the pepper or even add a handful of red pepper flakes if you like a spicy soup.

You can skip the carrots (and the onions) if you want, but I like the texture they give to the soup, plus it’s a good way to add stealth veggies to your life.