Tomato Tortellini Soup

This is a Pinterest recipe. When I saw the picture (not MY picture but the picture on Pinterest the original poster took), I knew I wanted to try this. Here is the original link. As usual, I used the recipe as a guide though I changed a few things to fit our family.

Oh, ironically at one time I would have turned my nose up at the word "tomato". I still cannot sit down and eat a tomato. Or even tomato chunks. And I still eat spaghetti plain...no tomato sauce. But I use tomato sauce/paste in cooking. And in this recipe, the tomato soup is just one ingredient...it doesn't give it a strong tomato flavor, just a little taste...

Ingredients:
1 package (9 oz) refrigerated cheese tortellini (I went for the big package which was 20 oz) to give a little more for my family. However, next time I think I would stick with the smaller package, just for cost's sake.

2 cans tomato soup (the original recipe calls for reduced sodium...I just used regular tomato soup)

2 cups vegetable broth (I could only find one kind of vegetable broth at our grocery store, and it was organic and really expensive...so I went with beef broth)

2 cups milk (recipe specifies 2 percent, we only use 1 percent)

2 cups half and half (I would have used fat free but I think I accidentally grabbed the regular)

1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (I did NOT add these...my family would have balked)

1 tsp onion powder (or for us, minced onion)

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp basil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (and more later to top off soup if wanted)

We also added 1 pound ground beef (browned) to add a little more to the soup and make it go further...

Directions:
Cook tortellini according to package directions (which basically involves boiling in water).

Meanwhile, add all of the other ingredients but the cheese to a Dutch oven. Okay, I do NOT have a Dutch oven. Maybe I need to ask for one for Christmas. I used my crockpot instead. My only regret is that I wish I had had more time to let it heat before we ate. It was nice and warm but not steaming hot like I would have preferred. That is my fault, not the recipe's. Anyway, drain the tortellini when tender and add to the soup. Add in cheese. Heat through.

I did add extra Parmesan on top. It just looked pretty. And of course I love Parmesan.

I served this with Grilled Cheese Rolls (also Pinterest).

It was good.

Only one child completely balked.

I will make this again.

Reba