Cheater's Tomato-Basil Soup

I LOVE tomato-basil soup!  I think one of the first time I had tomato-basil soup was right after my youngest daughter was born.  My friend brought over a huge pot of the soup so neither my hubby nor I would have to make dinner.  So, sweet ... thanks, Erin!

I've since made my friend's recipe a few times.  But, recently, I've had the craving for tomato-basil soup and haven't been able to make it for one simple reason: my friend uses a blender to puree her soup, and my blender is packed away in storage.  We don't own a food processor, so that doesn't help either.  And, I'm not too keen on chunky tomato-basil soup ... it just needs to be smooth in texture for me.  One day, I decided to just "doctor" good old Campbell's tomato soup.  And, it wasn't too bad.

CHEATER'S TOMATO-BASIL SOUP

What you need:
2 cans tomato soup (Campbell's is the best, IMO)
1 tsp. olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 Tbsp. onion, minced
1 1/2 tsp. basil, dried
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 cans water

How you do it:
Heat oil in saucepan, add garlic and onion; stir until tender, 1-2 minutes.  Add soup and water; when blended, add cream.  When soup is warm, add basil and simmer for 8-15 minutes.  (We like to ours with floating Texas toast croutons.)