Soup in a Can

When people think of "comfort food" a can of vegetable soup does not usually come to mind. However, for whatever combination of reasons, I have loved Campbell's Vegetarian Vegetable soup for as long as I can remember. Once upon a time I was playing with some kids who belonged to a friend of my dad. Our dads were negotiating over some decrepit, non-running VW bug for what felt like hours, and the (evil) kids informed me during the course of our play that meat is a dead animal. I was quite sure this was a lie, so I asked my dad, "Is meat a dead animal?" He was caught off guard and unprepared to answer this question, but I have to hand it to him-- he didn't lie. The (evil) kids said, "HA HA, WE TOLD YOU SO!" I was furious at "not being given a choice" about what I ate and refused to speak to my dad for several hours.

My mother's solution to my vegetarianism was Campbell's Vegetarian Vegetable soup.
Okay, not very creative, but she was young and we were poor. I could make the soup myself, being careful with the electric can opener and standing on my stool at the stove. I ate a friggin' lot of that soup. And because I prepared it for myself and ate it the few times a year my mom let me stay home from school (I feigned illness)
alone, it took on this very pleasant association for me.

Now, I know how to make homemade chicken soup and homemade vegetable soup and potato cheese soup, and I'm not a vegetarian, but I still eat this soup! You know, it has a meager amount of noodles in it and the vegetables are square and small and mushy but I still like it.

I've finally found an acceptable substitute. It's Amy's Alphabet soup, and like my beloved it's got alphabet pasta, a tomato base and some small pieces of vegetables in it. Unlike my beloved, it's organic, and that's really good! We will live happily ever after. And so, Campbell's Vegetarian Vegetable soup has been added to the list of (beloved) conventional foods I no longer eat, along with Diet Coke, Kraft macaroni and cheese, and any number of Dorito-Cheeto type items.