Soup--It's What's for Lunch!

“Mmmm, mmmm. Good!” That’s the first line of the Campbell’s Soup jingle…and it as the truth. While those plump, apple-cheeked pair calling themselves the Campbell’s Kids danced across the screen, I’d be slurping down my tomato soup and eating my peanut butter and honey sandwich.

“Mmmm, mmmm, Good!” My favorite might have been tomato soup but other soups held different memories. Take chicken and rice, for example. Whenever I came back from the dentist with a new filling, I was always served Campbell’s Chicken and Rice soup. Why? Because my dentist recommended it. “Give her something soft to eat tonight,” he’d always say. “Like chicken and rice soup.” So…when suppertime came, my mother would reach into the pantry and bring out that familiar red and white can… My father had a different memory of chicken and rice. That was what his mother always served when he or one of his siblings (of which there were five) were ill. Sore throats always demanded chicken and rice soup!

“That’s what Campbell’s Soups are…” Once there was just vegetable soup and then there was alphabet soup. We were always given vegetable soup. Now, there isn’t a difference. Alphabet soup always has alphabet pasta in it. Not being a beef-eater, I go for the vegetarian kind because apparently you can’t get vegetable soup with any meat in it except beef.

“Mmmm, mmmm, Good!” Below is my own recipe for vegetable soup (with or without beef). My granddaughter and I had some today, in my own Campbell’s Soup mugs. (NOTE: In either the 70’s or 80’s, there was some concern about the appearance of the Campbell’s Kids. Wanting to bolster a more healthy appearance for their young consumers, the couple.)

Grandma Toni’s Vegetable Soup

2 C garden peas

2 C whole kernel corn

1/5 fresh chopped onion

1 medium diced Irish potato

2 C diced tomatoes (for more spicy soup, use 1 can Ro-Tel Mild salsa tomatoes)

1 package stew beef (or one C chopped pork or pulled chicken)

2 C water

3 C vegetable juice

Seasonings: salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder to taste

NOTE: canned peas, corn, and tomatoes may be substituted for fresh vegetables)

Combine ingredients, season to taste, cook until vegetables are tender and meat is well-done. If using crock-pot or slow cooker, cook for 8 hours on “Slo” setting. Will make sight single servings.