Tomato Basil Soup, Deep-Fried "Grilled Cheese" Sandwhes, and Fried Hands

Tuesday was an interesting day. It was sort of cold out, so I decided to make some grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato basil soup for Branden and me. I thought a lunch would probably take less time than a dinner. So, with the way I'm always looking for new and improved and more complex recipes, I decided to try something new. I ran to the store to grab the ingredients for a homemade soup and deep fried sandwiches. (I know it sounds really unhealthy, but it was soo good). Freshly armed with pepper-jack cheese, fresh basil, and tons of carrots and celery (I never realized that you put those in tomato soup...or maybe this was just a recipe for people who hate tomatoes) I made my way back into my kitchen.

I chopped and cooked the veggies until they were soft, and once I finally got everything in the pot, I decided to start on what sandwiches I could make. I had to save the sandwiches until the end b/c of course, I forgot to get bread. (But that's what the boys are for right?) The sandwiches were just cheese and bread which I breaded and deep fried. Yum! They were soo good to eat. I got a little assembly line going for myself, so that I had them going in and out of the pan pretty evenly. Then I had to pour the soup into the blender to turn my cooked veggies into a soup. While I was messing with that and getting it going, I realized that it was about time to flip my sandwiches. Without taking my attention away from the blender, I scooped one sandwich up on the spatula and plopped it right down into the hot oil.

I guess plopped is putting it extremely nicely. I flat dropped the stupid thing into 1/4 cup of hot oil and splashed it everywhere! That is one of the reasons I almost always wear an apron when I cook. Unfortunately aprons don't cover hands and wrists. So.... you guessed it! I basically deep fried my wrist. I'm just glad that cold water, aloe vera, ice, and pain meds were all easy to get to. (Just one of the benefits that I'm finding since I've started keeping my room nice an organized).

Branden and Kelly got to my place for food as I was trying to chop up the rest of the carrots and celery for my lunch. I was just glad that I was able to finish up the sandwiches with the bread that they brought and get through the rest of the day with little to no pain.

All in all, I would say it was worth it. The one draw back was that I felt like I was eating fast food for lunch. I think I can figure out how to do it better next time though. The sandwiches were crispy and gooey. The tomato basil soup on the other hand, wasn't tomato-y enough for me. So I guess I'm still on the lookout for something better.

(pictures to come)