Tomato cauliflower soup with pan-fried cheese curds

And feeling all the feels at the dentist

Hi there, how’s your week?

I have a tomato soup and fried cheese recipe for you today, along with sappy thoughts on watching babies grow and ramblings about the dentist…

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My oldest- my boy Maverick- turns 10 today and double digits feels BIG. I was reminded of how big 10 is the other day when he sat in the dentist chair for a procedure, all stretched out, his lanky legs almost reaching the end of the chair.

I could tell he was not too thrilled to be in the dentist chair (he shares my same dental work anxiety) and so I reached out to hold his hand. But then I paused and opted for an awkward pat on the knee in an attempt not to embarrass him or make him feel like the little boy that he still is in my mind.

I watched him get his filling like a champ, wondering how the last 10 years went by so quickly, and how in the world is this tall, quick-witted boy the same child that used to smear spaghetti noodles all over his face? Or toddle around the house giggling and searching for his dad in his favorite game, hide-and-seek?

I sat there, teary-eyed, as I contemplated bittersweet MOTHERHOOD THINGS, and then I was the awkward one crying at a dentist appointment that wasn’t even my own.

Anyways, my first baby— Maverick— the one who made me a mother, is 10 today and so I’m feeling extra sappy and I can’t not mention it. The seasons of raising children are all so different and each have their own joys and struggles. But they all share one thing— they’re lightening fast, as any parent and every clichè will attest to.

One day you’re playing cars and dinosaurs with a 2-year-old and then it’s kindergarten and Marvel costumes and learning to read and wondering who God made this little person to be. There’s the blur of Saturday soccer games and homework struggles and (too many) sibling rivalries, and then all of a sudden they’re 10, and they’re too cool to even bring birthday treats to school to celebrate (this one shocked me). I try to embrace every sweet stage. “These are the days,” as they say. I dare not blink.

Toddler Captain America Mav; 10-year-old Mav with his baby sister Millie.

After the dentist appointment, he gladly took a token and used it at the small toy vending machine, because, even though he’s big, I was happy to see that he’s still small enough for that.

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A creamy, all-weather tomato soup

This week’s recipe is a fun spin on the traditional “tomato soup and grilled cheese” pairing, which is always nostalgic and still an all-time personal favorite meal, regardless of what the weather is doing.

Homemade tomato soup is so easy and straightforward and is most certainly 1000x better (and healthier) than anything store-bought.

My version adds fresh cauliflower into the mix, which creates a thicker, creamy soup that you can easily prepare without any dairy at all.

However. If you are okay with dairy, I recommend a small amount for even more creaminess, and while you’re at it, go ahead and make the pan-fried cheese curds, which are seasoned with Everything Bagel Seasoning.

You can eat them as a side or toss them directly into the soup for a lovely, cheesy finish. They melt - just a tad- and add a delicious melt-y cheddar component that I think any tomato soup is incomplete without.

This recipe and printable PDF is viewable below to paid subscribers and is #2 in my Back-to-school Bites series, a month of simple and kid-friendly meals that you can quickly and easily get on the table, hopefully without any protest from little eaters.

If you’re not a paid subscriber, I’m offering a 20% discount on annual paid subscriptions this month for Back to School, so it’s a great time to upgrade your subscription, gift a subscription, or forward this email to a friend!

Paid subscriptions allow me to continue to share creative, low-carb, healthy dinner recipes and other related content. If you have a recipe request, please let me know!

If you’re a paid subscriber, you might’ve also seen that I started my very first Thread here on Substack, essentially a chat feature that I want to keep open for you if you have a recipe question, comment, request, etc.

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What I’ve loved this week

I wanted to take a quick moment to share some other reads I’ve found valuable and have enjoyed this week.

Recently, I saw a post that compared Substack to Instagram. I can’t remember what it said verbatim, but it was essentially this: Instagram shares things while Substack shares ideas.

I don’t 100% agree with that but I do think that there’s a different nature of Substack that cultivates learning in the form of reading, learning, and connecting. And it’s not as easy to do that on other social media platforms that prioritize short-form video and “showing up for the algorithm.”

So here are some Substack posts and accounts I loved this week that I wanted to share with you:

• Christi Flaherty’s list of 10 “Me Time” Activities Masquerading as Healthy Habits. She lists activities like walking 10,000 steps, eating healthy fats, and even preparing my lemon-ginger wellness shots as self care. I love this idea of framing up healthy habits as self care, rather than a must-do to check off a list.

• Bess Stillman’s heavy, yet beautifully-written essay on letting go and saying goodbye to her dying husband. Her newsletter “Everything is an Emergency” tackles topics of cancer, healthcare, love, and life. I can relate to a lot of what she writes about given our experience navigating Ian’s brain cancer, and I think these topics (like how the FDA regulates patients to death) are not talked about enough.

• Beth Bollinger shares tips on longevity from her 82-year-old parents. I love this list, plus how cute are her parents?

• How a Harvard doctor is treating mental illness with a ketogenic diet, from Leslie Taylor with Fast Well, Feast Well. I was just talking with friends this week about fasting and the health benefits and there’s so much research that supports fasting and fasting-mimicking diets for all types of health issues.

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Tomato Cauliflower Soup with Pan-Fried Cheese Curds

This tomato cauliflower soup can stand alone as a main dish and if you want to up the protein, you can add leftover chicken or ground Italian sausage. It’s creamy and hearty and the cheese curds add a fun element with big flavor, as both cheddar and Everything Bagel Seasoning do.

If you don’t like cheese curds, substitute it with bread cheese or paneer or halloumi. All of these cheeses hold up well when seared in a pan. In fact, I was originally going to make this recipe using pan-fried halloumi but my local store didn’t have it in stock so I went with cheese curds instead. Use what you like and what’s available!

You’ll need a few basic kitchen tools like a large soup pot and an immersion blender (also known as a hand blender or stick blender which can blend the ingredients together right in the pot). If you don’t have one, you can blend the soup in batches in a regular blender (check out the recipe notes for some tips on how to do that carefully).

Nutrition

Nutritional information is an estimate based on 6 servings, calculated by My Fitness Pal.

Calories: 248

Total fat: 20 g

Cholesterol: 49mg

Sodium: 374mg

Total carbohydrate: 8 g 

Dietary fiber: 2 g

Total sugar: 5 g

Protein: 10 g

Total net carbs: 6 g